I was born in the south of England in 1964 and build traditional guitars using traditional methods and materials. I am always aware that all timbers were once living trees and deserve great respect. For this reason, I strive for the highest level of craftsmanship, working predominantly with traditional hand tools. This approach allows me to understand the flexibility and grain structure of the wood in a way that machinery cannot provide.
My aim is to create guitars that are lightly built, have a low body resonance, and offer a comfortable and easy playing experience. I admire the work of José Luis Romanillos and appreciate that many players have compared the tonal qualities of my instruments to his.
I use only the finest selected European spruce for the soundboard, stored in my workshop for at least five years. While I have long worked with Indian rosewood for the back and sides, I have achieved excellent results with non-endangered woods such as maple and walnut. When used thoughtfully, these timbers can produce instruments of outstanding musicality. I believe that a remarkable tree deserves the opportunity to become a remarkable guitar.
The Craft
Richard Newman works in the tradition of the classical guitar tradition — a tradition that prizes hand work, careful wood selection, and the pursuit of tonal balance across the instrument's full range. Classical guitar construction at this level requires deep knowledge of wood acoustics, the ability to read and shape individual pieces of timber rather than treating them as interchangeable, and a patience that cannot be hurried. A concert guitar typically demands several hundred hours of work from raw materials to the finished instrument.
