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I attended for the second year the guitar making class of Jose Romanillos in Siguenza, Spain which was held the first 2 weeks of August.

The class is typically 20-22 people who range from first time builders to pros who have many guitars under their belts. Each year the class is made up of people from all over the world. This year there were 2 builders from Japan (Osaka and Kyoto), 5 from the US (VA, VA, IL, NY and CA), 3 from Germany (Koln and 2 Bavarian), 5 from Spain (Malaga, Barcelona, Cartagena, Sevilla, and Cordoba), and 5 from England.

Joshua French is the only other OLFer that I know of that has attended Jose's class in the past.

In the class in two weeks of long days you build a Spanish classical guitar to Romanillos's design from raw materials (except for the neck which is built before the class) and other than the finish, the result is a completed guitar that is built to a high standard that will sound very good. Each morning Jose gives a lecture/demonstration of some aspect of construction and his son Liam and an assistant (this year and last Steve Rees, a former student of the class) help people if they are stuck or need help. Everyone works at their own pace on the same set of objectives so that the benders stay busy and people are not waiting for jigs or forms.

By the end of the first week the sides are surfaced (by hand) down to 2mm and are bent, the top is surfaced and bracing installed and the sides, neck and top are put together. Then the back is prepared and the box is closed. The second week is focused on getting the guitar bound, the fingerboard surfaced, tapered, fretted and installed. Additionally the bridge is made is installed and by the 10th day or so most of the guitars are about to be strung for the first time.

All of the wood and tools needed for the course are brought so it means lugging as baggage all of the stuff but then returning it is a complete guitar in a case (you can pack tools and wood in the case when going) and then a smaller box for the tools and whatever wood you did not use.

The purpose of the class is to promote the Spanish guitar and the method is the way that Jose Romanillos builds it. Jose is a very humble and gracious man and does not try to draw attention to himself but only to the importance of the Spanish guitar as the guitar started in Spain yet there is no museum to the Spanish guitar in Spain (more on that later...).

Some builders never seem to mentally connect how the various pieces are being made specifically so that once they are brought together you dont have to fuss with the nuisance things like setting the neck angle, string clearance and other things that are made easy building the Romanillos way.

Jose uses a solera (workboard) that is different than a workboard in which the dome of the top is dished out from the workboard but rather the domed section is raised to 5mm at the tail end tapering to zero at the waist on the workboard so that instead of the traditional way to placing the bent sides on top of the inverted top.

The Romanillos method is to cut the soundboard to the finished internal shape, place it on the raised section of the workboard and then clamp in place the sides against the raised section of the dish and around the top. This gives much better alignment of parts and a more consistent shape to the guitar.

The top is attached to the sides by a series of individual glue blocks called dentellones (not tentellones as they are sometimes mistakenly called). Dentellones comes from the root word dente meaning of the tooth which is the same word we get the term dentil moulding as it resembles teeth. This alows the top to move more freely and also gives a more handmade look and is traditional to the Spanish guitar.

Each year for the past 6 years the Romanillos class was held at a monastery facility in Siguenza, Spain which provided private rooms with baths and group dining. As Joshua French mentioned in another post, unfortunately the monastery has been sold so there will not be another Romanillos class this next year which is a bummer. It was a great facility that has been purchased by developers.

On the positive side, Jose Romanillos is publishing a book on his method of Spanish guitar construction next year that should surpass for classical guitar construction what Cumpiano, Courtnall, Sloane and others have written on guitar construction. This is the next best thing to being at the class and should be a great book. It is close to final now with only finalizing the draft to be done.

As to the future of the Romanillos class, one of the things that Jose Romanillos has wanted for a long time is a museum in Spain to the Spanish guitar. The Spanish government has been very lax in doing something about this and doesnt understand the cultural impact or the tourist revenue potential for a permanent museum to the Spanish guitar.

I am looking at Real Estate in Spain for a place that would be big enough for a museum as well as a permanent home for the workshop. One possibility is a castle that could be renovated. Because Spain was occupied by the Moors for over 800 years there are many castles, stoneholds, keeps and watchtowers all over Spain which range from a pile of rubble to nearly intact and restorable. It would be cool to be able to have a Castle as the home for the museum as it has additional tourist eye appeal.

There are many other ideas as to how to continue the class and establish the museum that are being explored. We are hoping that the publicity over the book on How to build a Spanish Guitar will generate interest and help to further the cause.

I am also consulting with the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC and other museums as to how to setup a not for profit foundation that would be the way for the museum to accept donations towards the establishment of the museum as well as a way to to get tax advantages through the donation of instruments to the permanent collection of the museum.

Today I know of a guitar builder in Spain that has a collection of Spanish guitars and is old enough to retire but has no way to dispose of his collection and doesnt want it to be sold piecemeal. With a museum to the Spanish guitar, such a collection could be acquired and preserved.

One last thing of interest from this years class... In the past the plantilla (top shape and bracing pattern) was the same as the Romanillos guitar that was built for Julian Bream. In the past 2 years Jose built two guitars using the Romanillos plan but with the Torres bracing he took from a Torres he repaired.

He said that he is still finding subtle things in the Torres design that we have not yet explored. These two guitars are the best sounding ones he has built including the famous 1973 guitar that Bream played for most of his recording career.

This year each person had the option to use the Romanillos bracing pattern or the Torres and after hearing Jose's best guitar with the Torres bracing, most chose the Torres. By the way both of the best Romanillos guitars were Swiss Spruce with Cypress for the back and sides. Last year I built a Cypress with the Romanillos bracing so this year I again built in Cypress but with the Torres pattern.

Nice summary, Shawn.  Keep us informed on the book and the progress on the property for the museum and class.  Thanks for sharing with us.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Did you take your camera?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Shawn, thanks for sharing.

Would you tell us about this Torres pattern. Is it the one with tornavoz and outer fan braces passing through the transverse and connecting with the donut ?

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Build log

Shawn - great report! I hope there is a way for the class to continue. If you look around the world of classical guitar makers there are numerous students of Jose Romanillos who have gone on to become some of the best makers in the world.

You're right that the course isn't at all self-serving. I think that int he next ten years there will come to be known a "Siguenza style" of guitar making, much like there is for Madrid and Granada. Really Jose, Marian, Liam and everyone else involved in offering the course is doing the world of Spanish guitars a great service. Its nice to see their love of the instrument develop into something that that will continue for generations.

The Museum is a great idea. Your help with that will be a great service to the world.

It would be a perfect place for FE17... that guitar belongs in a museum and since she'll be up for grabs at Christie's in October, maybe there is an opportunity. That guitar, despite everything its been through, should be a huge source of national pride for the Spanish. To see it returned to Spain and under the careful watch of a museum would be a very nice thing.

Were you able to see Jose's 1768 Francisco Sanguino either year you attended?

Also, did you meet Joan Pellisa? I met him while vacationing in Barcelona this July when I went to the Museu de la Musica to check out the cardboard torres and the Llobet Torres. Very nice guy.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Thanks for that report Shawn, I'm insanely jealous, I'd love to do the course but it's going to have to wait for 3 years or so until my retirement. I've heard so much about the course from you and Joshua that it's on the 'must do' list, so I do hope the course will be able to continue.

I hope you can find space for the museum and a permanent home for the course. The problem in Spain is that tens of thousands of Brits a year are moving there so property, especially renovation stuff has shot up in price over the last few years. However, I have a spare barn,so anyone who wants to donate the odd Torres or Santos Hernandez to me I'd be happy to put them on display. And I think we should have an OLF collection to buy FE17 (or whats left of it ) and I'll look after it too.

My solera is similar to the Romanillos style with the raised radiused section behind the soundhole.

Great report.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Great Report Shawn!!! Thanks for sharing.

al-dente = to the tooth in Italian.

So you have many teeth in your guitars!

Sounds like it was a great class. I really love that sort of thing. Why did you go back for the second year, was it more advanced or simply to freshen up? I know I could go back to Ervin's for a 2nd class anytime.

Also, what was the cost?

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Dave...

old joke... "Al Dente...wasnt he a lounge act in Jersey?"

The glue blocks are two different sizes, big and small so that any variation in block size is not seen. The larger block is 10mm high by 8mm wide by 8mm deep with the top face planed on an angle so that the ledge at the front and top edge is 2mm. The smaller block is 6mm high by 8mm wide by 8mm deep, also with the front face angled to a front and top ledge of 2mm.

In total to do the top takes approximately 120 blocks. The blocks are applied one at a time and if you are using fish glue or hot hide glue only need to be held in place to a count of 5 or so and will then stay in place. The blocks are spaced side by side touching but at the harmonic bars there should be a 1mm gap to prevent any buzzing. The easiest way to apply the tiny blocks is to use a pin or other sharp probe, pick up the block by sticking it with the sharp object and then press it in place.

It doesnt matter if you start with a small or a large block but for consistency it is usually better to start in the center of a section and work toward a harmonic bar, the heel or tail block so that if you need to adjust the size of a block to fit that it blends in with the pattern.

The reason why I attended the second year was to learn more and talk more with Jose Romanillos. It is just like talking to Ervin...it is more about absorbing the collected wisdom than any one thing you could point to...Another aspect is that by attending again it helps to connect the dots for those things that you do the first year but because it is all new you dont see the big picture. There are a number of people that have attended more than once with a few that attended 3 or more years.

I also attended as I had alot to talk to Jose about concerning the museum.

I forget the price of the course but I think that it was around 2000 pounds or something close to that. Because the dollar to pound ratio is not favorable to Americans at the moment the course was more expensive for me than last year.

I fly alot for work (I am an engineer with Microsoft's US government sales office that sells to the US Federal Government) so I was able to travel to Europe using frequent flyer miles for both the airfare and rental car. You can take a train to Siguenza from the airport in Madrid but it takes the better part of a day. A cab ends up costing about 120 euros each way but if there is someone to share a cab with that is attending the class, it is less and is easier than train.

Shawn,

Thanks for the wonderful reports on your experience. I have wanted to attend jose's course for some time. Now, it looks like I'll have to wait at least a couple more years! Oh well, maybe that will give the dollar a chance to increase vs. the Euro. The hopes/plans for a guitar museum are very exciting.

Many thanks,
Max
Brighton, Michigan

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

That's a really great report. I hope the museum thing works out. I'll be willing to bet that there are folks in the US who might also be willing to help finance it through donations. If I hit the Powerball big one tonight, I'll be one of them!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Hi Joshua, To introduce myself, I'm David LaPlante and I too am just back from the Romanillos course in Siguenza. To pick up on the discussion, yes, we saw the Sanguino and it was indeed magnificent. Unusual to see something that ancient in such good condition. We also greatly enjoyed Jose's collection. In particular I took a very close look at the guitars by Jose Recio as I just acquired one in July and gave Jose' a collection of photos of it for his archives.

Joan Pellisa worked at the bench right next to me and indeed is a very nice fellow (as all the Spanish attendees were). Jose took special time out to deliver the lectures to them in Spanish, and seemed to pay extra special attention to their progress. Fitting in that they are the rightful heirs of the tradition he is so dedicated to preserving.

Speaking of the FE 17 guitar, I hope to get to NYC (I'm in Albany NY) in October to see it, Jose' was saddened at what had been done to it, but, it isn't often one can see something like that. I saw the "cardboard" Torres among others when they were at the Met in 1993..... a wonderful exhibit.

Great to meet you too Shawn! I'm sure our paths will cross again in the future. I feel very fortunate to be among only a dozen or so Americans who have been lucky enough to attend this course.

Best! 

 

   

 

Welcome  to the OLF Davd.  Hope you hang around to talk shop from time to time.  Some of us are actually interested in the  classical side of guitar construction.  We're not all experienced, but we're interested.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

It was great meeting David. David had first contacted Jose about a Torres he had come across and that is how the relationship had started. He resells alot of Martin parts and parts made to martin specs (for those steel string builders).

He was there from New York, There was another guy from Virginia, Robert Robb of Roanoke. There was a guy from Chicago, Jason who unfortunately got sick for quite a bit of the class which took him away from some of the shop time. The other person, I think a couple of people here in the forum might know.

I recall someone from Southern California mentioning Monica Esparza who leads the classical guitar part of a guitar club in So Cal...one of the people in her group Laura Thomas was there from So Cal, building her first guitar as her first woodworking project ever. She brought really nice expensive handtools which she got to try for the first time in Siguenza. She managed to get her guitar closed but not bound, fingerboard made and bridge attached but Monica and the others in the group in So Cal will be able to help her to finish it. Amazing to start from scratch and for a first project end up with a really good guitar.

BobC...I had brought some of the Pink Ivory wood bindings I got from you and she was so taken by the color that I gave them to Laura to finish her guitar with as her rosette also had pink in it.

It's nice to see David LaPlante here!
He has a great amount of experience and knowledge to bring to the O.L.F. !!!

Mike Collins

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Mike Collins

Hello Mike!

Many thanks for the kind words.

Hope to see you in Saratoga this September!

One of the things that was different about this years Romanillos class was that there were 5 people from Spain in the class, more than any other year. They came from Sevilla, Cartagena, Malaga, Granada and Barcelona.

Some of these builders earn less than 1000-1200 euros a month so for them to spend 2-3000 euros to be at the Romanillos class, it is a big committment compared to those of us from the US or UK that have relatively higher income.

A couple of these builders had very good skills and lots of drive to build a Spanish guitar but had little to no money and poor tools.

What David LaPlante and I did was to give these Spaniards much of the tools and wood that we had brought as for us we can just call up StewMac, LMI, BobC or any one of the fine OLF sponsor/suppliers and replace things within a day or two. To us to keep all our stuff to take back to the US would have been selfish and these guys were so appreciative of every little thing we were able to give them.

I can get in the car and within 10 minutes be at a Woodcraft store. For these guys in Spain there is MadInter (great people but much small than an Allied or LMI) and Madera Barber. That is pretty much it. The selection I can get at a big box Home Depot or Lowes is still lightyears from the selection they have in Spain, the place where the guitar was born.

One of the traditions of the class is that at the end of the two weeks there is a silent auction for bits of Jose's inlays, purfling scraps he assembled and even bits of his famous rosette. Several people donated items of their own to add to the auction. David LaPlante donated an EIR back and side set as well as a woodcraft tool bag and a bearclaw top.

The purpose of the auction was to collect money to distribute to the staff of the monastery who cooked and served meals to us as well as cleaned and did laundry. For the people that served us while we were at the Romanillos class, this was part of the time they would be with their families for holiday (vacation) but instead use it as a way to earn some extra money.

David - welcome to the forum! Great to have you here. I really hope you do make it to Christie's in October to view the FE17 guitar. There was a lot done to it over the years and it appears as though Luca Waldner did a phenonemal job considering everything he's had to undo on that guitar. Hopefully it will be preserved and be available for others to view in the future since despite its tragic history it is still a very important instrument.

Great that you got to see the cardboard Torres. How funny that guitar is... look at its lienage: Torres-Tarrega-Llobet. Amazing.

Man that Sanguino is something else though too...

David hopefully you and I will cross paths someday. If you're ever in Houston (or I in Albany) I'll buy you a beer. Same offer to you Shawn (actually, I'd like to buy you a Mahou).

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

And Colin, I'll serve you up a glass of Absenta.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Joshua, I looked at your website, lovely work!

 I suppose if there is to be a "Siguenza" school, count  me in.

I started building in 1966 and it wasn't until 1981 that I made my first strictly classical guitar. I have developed my design over the years and now after this experience I am looking at ways to blend the new information into what I have been doing all along. Jose's basic approach is pretty much the same as mine has always been so no problem there. It is also hard to deny that he has reached an aesthetic which is really at the pinnacle of the craft. 

Shawn, after dragging all that stuff via Iberia Airlines to Spain it was a relief to divest myself of having to drag it all back home. Much of the stuff was inexpensive and I had bought it specially for the course and most likely wouldn't use it much at home. As you know, several of the Spanish attendees have real talent and I'm looking forward to seeing their instruments offered at prestigious outlets someday. It was a real pleasure to in a small way contribute to that. In fact it's time for a shop reorganization and clean out...........hopefully some more stuff will be heading their way.

Best!

Hello everyone, especially former Romanillo students.
I just spoke with Liam and he informed me there would not be another class. I attended one a few years ago and found it to be a wonderful experience. I consider it the best working holiday I have ever been on. A great lost for those wishing to go.
Thank you Shawn and Joseph for the memories. It brought back so many moments I also experienced.

Todd