The guitars
Each one is a unique work of art at the service of the player’s freedom and expression, through its palette of colour, sustain, dynamics and balance. It is built by hand and to commission: there is no stock. For more than twenty-five years he has worked exclusively from a waiting list.
Red cedar top
A concert guitar with a red cedar top, built by hand and to commission. Its voice is better heard than read: it is in the videos.
Details
- Top: red cedar. Back and sides, agreed with the player.
- Construction: Spanish, traditional fan bracing, by hand.
- Finish: French polish (shellac).
- Played by: Steven Lerman — watch the video.
Uruguayan Blackwood · Cedar
Uruguayan Blackwood stands out for its beauty and its elasticity. The latter adds to the sustain. Being lighter than rosewood, the basses are less deep, which makes the mid range more present.
“Uruguayan Blackwood” is the name Ariel gave to Acacia melanoxylon, an Australian species from Tasmania, invasive in Uruguay. Manuel Ameijenda was, as far as we know, the first builder to use it on classical concert guitars, back in the 1960s.
Details
- Woods: Uruguayan Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), cedar top.
- Construction: Spanish, entirely hand assembled.
- Finish: French polish.
- Listen: the video recordings.
Alerce top
A concert guitar with an alerce top. Like every guitar, it is built by hand, one at a time.
Details
- Top: alerce. Back and sides, agreed with the player.
- Construction: Spanish, traditional fan bracing.
- Finish: French polish.
- Played by: Laurel Harned — watch the video.
Precision in wood
Studio photographs by Félix Salazar, courtesy of Guitar Salon International.
The tops
Ariel works with three different materials for the tops. Balance, sustain and dynamics come from his more than forty years building guitars. Each of the three varieties has characteristics of its own that lead to different tonal colours: they can be heard in the videos.
For back and sides he uses any number of materials —Indian rosewood, Brazilian rosewood, Uruguayan Blackwood, maple— depending on stock and on each player’s choice, to be agreed.
Antonio de Torres
Besides his own personal styles, on request Ariel builds copies of the Antonio de Torres Second Epoch no. 81 (1885), in homage to the Master of Masters and a source of inspiration in his work.
Torres Second Epoch no. 81 (1885)
Ariel is the first builder to replicate this instrument —discovered in Uruguay in 2016— working from detailed plans. Of all the surviving Torres guitars, it was the one in the best state of preservation — which makes it possible to reproduce its original thicknesses with precision.
Its body is slightly smaller than the traditional template and its string length is 64.2 cm. The bracing has five fans instead of the usual seven.
Let's begin your own story
Tell me how you play and what you are looking for, and we will think through the instrument together: the woods, the voice, the feel.