Antonio Marin Montero – 2020 – 64 cm

Description

Antonio Marín Montero was born in Granada in 1933. In 1957, he joined master Pérez’s workshop and two years later, in 1959, his father advised him to visit Eduardo Ferrer for whom he worked until opening his own workshop. A milestone in Antonio Marin Montero’s career was his meeting with the French luthier Robert Bouchet in the 1970s. The two artists became friends and built several guitars together. The confrontation between Marin Montero’s Spanish building system and Robert Bouchet’s very particular bracing construction was a great source of inspiration for Antonio Marin Montero, and he continued to build a model with the ” Robert Bouchet ” bracing throughout his career. Today Antonio Marin Montero is one of the most sought-after Spanish guitar makers.

This superb guitar is the archetype of Antonio Marin Montero’s guitars, with the exception that it has a scale of only 64 cm. This rare detail, barely noticeable for some guitarists, makes a huge difference for players with small hands or difficulties with large note intervals.

In fact, this one centimeter difference makes left-hand playing more comfortable and enables one to approach the repertoire of composers such as Agustin Barrios Mangoré, Fernando Sor, Napoleon Coste, etc. with great ease. On the other hand, this guitar is an excellent concert instrument with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. The bracing is made on the model of Robert Bouchet’s, with a transversal bar added to the fan bracing, called “barre d’âme”.
In addition to being extremely easy to play, this guitar has real potential as a concert and recording instrument. Surprisingly open for a guitar coming out of the workshop, the sound of this instrument is generous, very precise and clear, and has all the charm of Antonio Marin Montero’s guitars.