1917 Garcia - Villa Lobos Prelude #3

Enrique Garcia is one of those luthiers who's name you hear, who's influence is undeniable (he was Francisco Simplicio's teacher) and in so in my case, has so far eluded me. With this fantastic example from 1917 I am happy to report that last part is no longer the case.

It is remarkable to me that such guitars can survive over 100 years so gracefully and remain so utterly alive and compelling. The top shows almost no signs of age other than one well repaired hairline crack. This particular guitar is fitted with a tornavoz, which made assessing its originality a bit more challenging than it would be otherwise but I was able to see enough inside to recognize some very specific aspects of his hand and verify that the top was not removed or replaced at any point in its life. Which makes the structural integrity of the top that much more impressive. Its quite lightly built but apparently all the strength and tenacity of the top is exactly where it's needed and not any more than that.

This instrument is a smaller Torres-esque model. It is not as heavily decorated as some others I've seen pictures of but to me as a luthier, I consider the simple approach to aesthetics the most challenging of all. There is simply nothing to hide behind and the form itself becomes that much more apparent. Especially when things aren't as good as they could be. Which is not the case here. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gloriously beautiful silver gears. They may not be original to the guitar but they are at least 80 to 90 years old and they are works of art themselves that function as well as the custom finest gears we enjoy today.

There isn't much I can comment about the sound that Frank can't relay better in this recording; other than to say that it is apparent to me that Garcia was a great genius of a luthier. His guitars may be few and far between but in this case this instrument would satisfy the most discerning player as well collector.

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[marczammit]

Merci Frank Wallace. Je connais très bien cette guitare. Elle a les performance d'une guitare contemporaine avec l'âme de l'âge d'or espagnol. le travail de Garcia, ici vers la fin de son parcours, atteint les sommets de la lutherie... toujours dans la plus grande simplicité apparente. Pour moi, c'est une guitare magique, de la famille des très belles Torres ou Bouchet.