Customer Reviews

The Art and Craft of Making Classical Guitars

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a proud owner of a Manuel Rodriguez e Hijos guitar I was eagerly looking forward to reading this book. However, I am very disappointed to report that this book did not meet my expectations. The title says "The Art and Craft of Making Classical Guitars" but there is very little information on either art or craft in this book.

I had briefly met the author in his shop in Madrid and purchased a guitar from one of his sons, Norman. As thrilled as I am with the quality of the guitar I now play daily, this book is not a match for his guitars.

The book is not logically arranged, poorly edited and wanders from subject to subject and back again. Chapter headings promise to tell the history of the guitar, woods used in fine guitar construction and techniques. In my humble opinion, this book incompletely delivers on these topics.

The history of the guitar starts with observations from Sr. Rodriguez on historical examples and some small line drawings of ancient stringed instruments. Added into the middle of this light discussion is a table of "transmission times" for various types of woods. Interesting in and of itself, but it illustrates just how illogically this book is laid out. The science is mixed into historical discussion in a haphazard manner. What did luthiers accomplish with one design and how did it contribute to the next design? That's not present in this book.

Next, the reader is treated to a paragraph or two on many of the individual luthiers from the "Madrid school" of guitarmaking. Doubtless, Sr. Rodriguez or his father have known all of these famous luthiers and could tell a fascinating story. But he doesn't. What did these luthiers do to contribute to the history or sound of guitars? We very rarely get any real information about what these builders added to guitarmaking other than where their shops were located or who was the chief handyman at the shop.

Sr. Rodriguez also includes a short history of his family, from flamenco artists to industrial and artistic producers of guitars. We are treated to what seems to be the Rodriguez family photo album. It could be fascinating if the editor could have woven a coherent history from these pictures, or given the reader some insight into guitar building improvements or philosophy. Very unsatisfying.

The last two chapters are titled "Exhibitions and Schools" and "The Guitar in Europe" but it is little more than lists of names with a paragraph here and there of Sr. Rodriguez's reminiscences of those he has met.

As involved and important to fine guitarmaking as Sr. Rodriguez is, he didn't communicate that very well in his book. Buy his very fine guitars, they're much more satisfying than this book.

I enjoyed reading this book. This is not a book about how to actually make a classical guitar. It more like a historical narrative from Sr Rodriguez where he shares many of his experience and knowledge.

This book did provide me with insights of the history of the classical guitar in Spain and the genealogy of the famous makers. At least I understand how a guitar is made and what are some of the differences that goes into constructing the guitar which we all love and appreciate. I also get to know the thoughts behind the lengths and sizes of the guitar, the fan bracings that are used, the kinds of wood that they use for the construction and who are the better master luthiers in Spain.

This is the book to get if you are looking for some general knowledge about the classical guitar.

Thank you Sr Rodriquez for sharing your thoughts and life long experiences with us.

Although I share many of the same criticisms of the reviewer who gave this book only two stars, I'm giving this book my highest rating. Like that reviewer, I love to play my Manuel Rodriguez guitar and was really looking forward to the English language version of "The Art & Craft."

Where we differ is that I see this book as a supplement to the other Spanish guitar literature that's out there. Rather than a more definitive work such as "A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present" and "The Classical Guitar: A Complete History," this is more along the lines of a senior master guitar builder/artist sharing his wealth of knowledge of his craft and culture.

However, this book could have benefitted greatly from a more involved editor. There are organizational problems that a better editor would have sorted out. And perhaps a better title would be "Things About The Guitar"--oops, that one's already taken. Maybe "Thoughts About The Guitar" would be more appropriate.

If Spanish guitar's your thing, then "The Art & Craft" deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

This is a great piece of writing aimed at those who want to get behind the mind of a luthier. Well worth reading and re-reading. It is not a how-to guide, but more of a behind the scenes look at the early 20th century Spanish guitar making culture.

A reprint of an old first edition.

This was not obvious to me when I purchased the book.

Useful for historical informaton about spanish luthiers.

Bill

This book offered so much promise in both its title and the pedigree of its author. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to follow in that there seemed little logic in its chapter headings and subheadings. At times I wondered if the English version had gone through two translations, perhaps from Spanish to German and then to English. Many sentences were nonsensical and it was dotted with more literals and proofreading "misses" than a professional publication should have. I am a guitar-maker, although not with the international standing of the author and his family, and was eagerly looking forward to consuming lots of valuable information... however there was almost no usable information, much of the "information" was emotional and somewhat out of date. I would not recommend this book to either a maker or a player. Perhaps it may be of interest to a historian, in which case the title is very misleading. Bad buy.

Historic review of guitar builders is ok, but destilling usefull building tips from this book is not easy.

I thought I had read most all the books about the luthiers in Spain but this book taught me lots of new things. I met the author once and what a nice man. 5 stars from me.

This book is an excellent historical book about the great guitars made. Many pictures. Not a How-to book. If you are interested more in the history of the maker than this is a book for you.

This is a rambling narrative of the author's life with history lessons and a few discussions of wood, techniques, tools and mathematics sprinkled throughout. The author admits that he is a luthier and not a writer. His editor did him a great disservice. The information in this book is valuable, but one must data mine the book for the odd tidbit or morsel.