Description
José Luis Romanillos Vega was born in Madrid in 1932, where he started his cabinet-making apprenticeship at the age of thirteen. In 1956, he moved to England to work in a hospital in Epsom and a few months later in a hospital in London. Five years later, José Luis Romanillos, made his first Spanish guitar in London.
Encouraged by the English guitarist Julian Bream in 1970, J. L. Romanillos set up a guitar-making workshop in the village of Semley, Wiltshire. Romanillos’ guitars have received recognition for their sound quality as well as for their aesthetical appearance from guitarists worldwide. Pure sound and harmonic balance of the strings are what Romanillos looked for and achieved in his quest of the subtle “Spanish sound”. The Daily Mail has called him “the Stradivari of the guitar” and the Italian magazine Sei Corde “the most important living stringed instrument maker”.
J. L. Romanillos has given courses on Spanish guitar making in numerous countries as well as lectures and seminars about the organology of the instrument. He has also given lectures on the history and development of the vihuela de mano and the Spanish guitar. In addition, he was a member of the Crafts Council of Great Britain for ten years. He is living in Guijosa, a rural district annexed to Sigüenza in the northern part of the province of Guadalajara in Spain, since 1995. In collaboration with his wife Marian, he published a dictionary of stringed-instrument makers and guitar-makers of Spain titled “The Vihuela de Mano and the Spanish Guitar” in 2002.
What a lovely “golden age” guitar from José Luis Romanillos’ brilliant 1980s period. This remarkable instrument is named “La Pagés” and was built in 1984 in Semley. It is one of the very few guitars by José Luis Romanillos built of Brazilian rosewood (CITES certified) and with gorgeous marquetry on the back. There is a crack, that was well repaired by the Danish luthier Kenneth Brögger, on the top of the guitar and is perfectly stabilized. The excellence of the tone, the uniformity of the registers, and the subtlety of the colors are absolutely breathtaking. This magnificent guitar is absolutely unique and definitely a must-have.
Luthier: | José Luis Romanillos |
Construction year: | 1984 |
Top: | Spruce |
Back and sides: | Brazilian rosewood with CITES certificate |
Scale: | 650 mm |
Nut: | 52 mm |
Weight: | 1440 grams |
Air resonance frequency: | G# |
Tuners: | Rodgers |
Case: | Calton |
Condition: | Very Good |