After many years of research on historical Spanish guitars, and thanks to my recent appointment as curator of the “Torres Anniversary Exposition” in the Cremona Museum, I have tried to use all my knowledge to create my tribute to the Spanish traditional system of construction that first came into manifestation with the work of Antonio de Torres. “My Torres Interpretation” is simply my way to respect as much as possible the great Spanish master and at same time make a guitar that satisfies the needs of the modern player. At the time Torres was building in the mid- to end- of the 19th century, his instruments were fitted with gut strings and played with a technical style developed by Julian Arcas and Francisco Tarrega. Since that time, several new developments have emerged, and today, players use nylon strings and a different technique which applies more pressure to the string to produce a strong attack. So my intention is to save the pure Spanish sound of the Torres design but with a few minor modifications to the bracing – largely with their shape. I seek to achieve good balance from the deep basses to the higher trebles, good dynamic range, no missing “wolf” notes and the correct sustain, particularly on the first string which is very particular for the Torres sound.
Other than these slight modifications, the rest the guitar is very similar to an original Torres in terms of thickness of the top, sides and back, with a lower body resonance in between E/F . Neck shape is wider, as is the fingerboard, so as to be immediately comfortable to a contemporary player. The shape is based on the SE113 Torres.
The woods used are very close in quality to Torres’ instruments, it are selected not just for the esteatic looks but to became part to the harmonic distrubuition of the tension that works across the body. All woods are well-aged and have been stored since the 1970s.
For this guitar I decide to follow the construction steps development that I realize was the original Torres one. In order to close the sound box with the joint of the top. In this way top are not trained by the construction tension of the others components of the guitar and so it is more free to work in best way.(see pictures)
Of course I adopt my last alteration on the shape of external fan structs across transversal brigde line to have more stable solution in this two areas that for me are very important to support dynamic range and sustain. For same reason I add a 0.2 mm spruce paper glue in between its. (see pictures)
As well, bridge thikness is more big in compare to the original one to be more stable and so garantee to the top area around it a long life in best vibrating system.
Aesthetically, the guitar is inspired by the first two Torres guitars (both of flamed maple) that had belonged to Francisco Tarrega. I use Torres replica tuners by Alessi. The bridge is CSA rosewood with typical mother of pearl decoration in the sides and ivory tower surface.
This is my way to attract the new generation of players to the Torres sound, because I consider it the most important reference still for today!
Gabriele Lodi
Carpi, Italy – October 2, 2018
(click to enlarge)
before close sound box
before close sound box
detail fan struct shape
detail fan struct shape 1
rosette and purfling making
rosette and purfling making