LUTHIER · PIRIÁPOLIS · URUGUAY
Handmade classical concert guitars
Second-generation luthier, forty-five years at the bench. Every guitar is made by hand, one at a time and to commission. Today they are played in more than thirty countries.
“The sound is quite unique — it has its own character entirely. Although it has some of the warmth and deeper resonance found in cedar, and the extreme clarity and balance found in spruce, it is unlike anything we’ve heard before: lush, rich with velvety overtones stacked beautifully behind the clear fundamental of every note.”
— GUITAR SALON INTERNATIONAL, on a guitar with an alerce top
THE GUITARS
Each one a unique work of art
At the service of the player’s freedom and expression, through its palette of colour, sustain, dynamics and balance.
Red cedar top
A concert guitar with a red cedar top, built by hand to commission.
Uruguayan Blackwood · Cedar
Uruguayan blackwood back and sides, cedar top: lighter than rosewood, with a very present midrange.
Alerce top
A concert guitar with an alerce top. Like every one of them, built one at a time.
Studio photographs by Félix Salazar, courtesy of Guitar Salon International.
MEDIA
Hear how they sound
A concert instrument is chosen with the ears.
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Adrián Batista — “Las Campanas”
2026 Ariel Ameijenda guitar
Adrián Batista composed and dedicated this piece to Ariel. It was inspired by Las Campanas in Lavalleja, Uruguay: the native woodland conservation project where he carries out the most delicate work on his guitars —rosettes, French polishing—.
THE LUTHIER
From father to son, since 1963
“Building one instrument takes me a month of work, and I believe that if I spent any less I would be lying to the instrument and to myself.”
Ariel Ameijenda was born in Montevideo in 1963, son of the guitar maker Manuel Ameijenda. He began helping with repairs at fourteen alongside his father, and in 1987, at twenty-four, opened his own workshop.
The craft reaches him through a line that traces back, via Juan Carlos Santurión, to the Fleta workshop in Barcelona: the Spanish school of construction, with its traditional fan bracing and French polish.
Read the full storyWhat the players say
“I have tried Ariel Ameijenda’s guitars and I can testify to the extraordinary quality and consistence of his work, his deep knowledge of the different woods and his attention to detail. His instruments not only have a beautiful tone, but also exhibit evenness in the various registers, remarkable transparency and are obedient to the wishes of the player. These instruments are so human they only lack the gift of speech… but that would be the task of the player. I recommend them without any reservation.”
Maestro Eduardo Fernández
Concert guitarist · Uruguay
“I found him to be a charming person and a luthier of the highest calibre. I was particularly impressed by one of his recent guitars, beautifully built, highly refined and an eminent musical instrument. He deserves to be widely known among guitarists.”
William Kanengiser
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
“The sound is very focused, with a firm and clear fundamental at the core of each note, surrounded by a warm layer rich in overtones. This is a great concert instrument by any standard, from the most respected luthier working in Uruguay today.”
Guitar Salon International
Los Angeles, USA
“From your instruments comes a sound which reminds me of what is, for me, the golden chapter in the guitar history of the 20th century. Time of Llobet, Luisa Anido, Domingo Prat. Sweet, tender sound.”
Pavel Steidel
Concert guitarist · Czech Republic
“Ariel Ameijenda makes wonderful instruments; they are sweet, balanced and have wonderful sustain and are very ‘hand-friendly’ to play.”
John Feeley
Concert guitarist · Ireland
“The Ameijenda guitar is as aesthetically beautiful as it is sonorous. The generous volume and strong sympathetic resonances make playing deeply rewarding, and give a great sense of musical freedom.”
Siccas Guitars
Karlsruhe, Germany
Would you like your own Ameijenda?
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