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David "José" Rubio - 1966

David "José" Rubio - 1966

Overview

David „José” Rubio is one of the most famous English guitar makers. After having moved to Sevilla and then to Madrid, to learn flamenco guitar performance, he developed a strong interest for guitar making. It is in New York, USA that he opened his first own workshop in 1963. His first meeting with Julian Bream happened a few month later and is the starting point of a close friendship. Julian Bream played several of Rubio’s guitar, noticeably a very similar guitar to this one: a 1966 instrument on which he recorded “Julian Bream and his Friends” (1968). From 1967 on, D. J. Rubio moved back to England. He stayed until 1969 in Julian Bream’s house in Semley before opening a workshop near Oxford in 1969. Not only did he build guitars, but also lutes (played by Julian Bream), vihuela, theorboes, harpsichords, violas da gamba, baroque guitars, etc. He eventually moved his workshop to Cambridge in the 1980s.

This beautiful guitar is a marvellous example of David “José” Rubio’s work. This is a highly collectible guitar, hand-signed by Rubio himself and built the same year as Bream’s famous instrument, as well as an incredibly performing instrument. It has plentiful of tone colours, an infinitely rich timbre and a mature open volume.

Luthier: David "José" Rubio
Construction year: 1966
Top: Spruce
Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood - CITES certified
Scale: 664 mm
Nut: 52 mm
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Video overview

Jan Depreter plays No. 3 of Five Bagatelles by William Walton on a 1966 David “José” Rubio

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