It was nice to build a guitar for a fine local musician. We sat down and both agreed about how much we love the recordings and musicianship of Julian Bream so it was a natural choice to build him a guitar based on a Jose Luis Romanillos; one of the guitars that Julian played in some of his favorite recordings.
It is a good fit for me as I build a guitar very much in that style. I usually do a bracing that is a take on the work of Jeffrey Elliot and Elliott's bracing is his take on the bracing of Romanillos. For this guitar I took a step back in the progression and went back to a plan of a 1973 Romanillos guitar and much more closely copied the bracing dimensions and angles. The resulting instrument was extremely balanced and lyrical.
Most importantly, the player is enamoured and inspired by the instrument. Ryan, is a great local musician and he also opted for a K&K Sound combination pickup system to suite his amplification needs. You can learn more about him and his work at www.ryanwalshguitar.com
