| Kenny Hill's Master Series
guitars are beautiful hand made classical and flamenco instruments
based on works of historical guitar makers. Made in California from the
finest woods available, these instruments have been some of the most
popular concert grade nylon strung guitars in our store for the last decade!
The guitar I am featuring today is the Torres
1856 model which is based on an instrument early in this master's career.
Antonio de Torres was born in 1817 in Almeria, on the southeast coast of
Spain. He left his hometown to eventually settle in the legendary Andalusian
capital of Sevilla. He was first trained as a carpenter. Although he may
have dabbled in guitar making earlier, his first professional instruments
start to appear in the 1850s, when he was in his mid thirties.
In Kenny's words: "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."
Kenny Hill, an accomplished concert
classical guitarist himself, tells me that the Torres " 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."
There is certainly no arguing that this instrument has a powerful and expressive
voice that is surprising considering it's size! |
