| To quote Kenny Hill directly; "In the middle of the
19th century Antonio de Torres redefined the guitar. He was the deciding
innovator of his time, bringing various elements of guitar making together
in a new design that has shaped the work of every guitar maker since, and
even shaped the growth of the guitar as a concert instrument on stages
and in concert halls world wide. Torres himself might be surprised at how
important his life's work still is today. Even now, the vast majority of
classical guitars are quite close in design to the Torres formula, and
even the most experimental builders start from the design that Torres intuitively
perfected a hundred and fifty years ago. Even concert guitarist owe their
work to Torres, regardless what brand guitar they might play, because with
the Torres breakthrough the guitar became a more viable concert instrument,
giving a new range of power, dynamics, color and expression for new generations
of performers and composers to exploit. In the 20th century it was Andres
Segovia who took the classical guitar into the spotlight of the concert
stage world wide, playing guitars based directly on the Torres tradition,
as carried on by Manuel Ramirez and later Herman Hauser."
Kenny Hill's Torres model is modeled after the
model FE 12 built early in Torres career. It has classic Torres bracing
with the 7 bar fan, and a beautiful body shape slightly smaller than the
current standard. The remarkable thing is that although the size is smaller,
the sound is not. It is very strong, with singing highs solid, big chested
bass. There is no compromise in sound. This guitar is well-suited for players
with smaller hands or limited reach. |
