GEAR 23_COVER - JHS

MANUEL
RODRIGUEZ Sr. 1926-2008
Manuel Rodríguez II, one of the finest luthiers of the Madrid
school, died on December 25th 2008 in this city, where he
was born in 1926. In the very early years, he started working
with his father, a constructor of flamenco and classical guitars.
They had their own workshop in their home, while also working
in the renowned Ramírez workshop. There, legendary masters
such as Jose Ramírez III taught him the love of fine woodworking
using simple tools and materials and the struggle for quality in
often difficult economic and political times, with only a limited
availability of proper woods and other necessary materials.
Flamenco singers and players would often get together at that
time in the guitar workshops, playing, dancing and singing
until the sun started to rise on the following day. But
Rodríguez, though fond of this bohemian ambiance, was
always concerned about organising a stable base from
which he could produce handcrafted instruments, always
striving for a strong, balanced sound from strikingly
beautiful guitars.
LUTHIERY SKILLS
Driven to develop his luthiery skills, he emigrated to
the USA under the patronage of the musician Theodore
Norman. In 1959 he established himself with wife
Emilia in Los Angeles, where his two boys, Manuel Jr.
and Norman were born. He spent 14 years in the US,
building many instruments for the lively musical world of Los Angeles
and Hollywood. He also conducted research together with engineers at
UCLA to improve design (bracings, frets, tieblocks, etc.). An important
result was the mobile bridge for correcting the temperamental tuning
challenges all guitars must deal with. He also learned English, which
would prove very helpful in his later life.
After returning to Spain, he soon realised that the business
needed to be set on a more diverse footing, developing a
dual approach constructing both fully handmade concert
guitars in the workshop – where his sons received their training
as luthiers – and using machines. His guitars have been praised
by no less than Andres Segovia, Regino Sáinz de la Maza,
Angel Romero and Theodore Norman and many others.
A true family concern, the Rodriguez stable is still today
located near Madrid in the Toledo province, where Manuel Sr.
continued to work until just a few weeks before his death.
He defined himself as '...simply a luthier and guitarmaker, neither
a good nor a bad one', stressing his pride of belonging to this fine
group of creators, underscoring the humility and goodwill of this
master builder.
Manuel Sr. is survived by his two sons, Manuel Jr. and Norman, who
are both actively involved with the family company.
EC does it...
58
An ardent guitar fan after seeing The Shadows at
age 9, Alan Burridge, from Poole in Dorset, who is
now 58, decided to catalogue the bands he’d seen
between 1960 and 1980. This resulted in a book
titled ‘Bournemouth Rocks!’ which will be available
in July from Natula Publishing – details at
http://www.natula.co.uk.
Whilst researching the book, Alan
remembered an early gig by Cream
at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Ballroom
in August 1966, which he missed.
“I was 15, still at school and the
gig took place at quite short notice.
Either I was broke, unable to get
to the gig on the night, or both!”
he remembers. “Transport was more
difficult then, and not being there was
heartbreaking for a fan like myself.”
To make up, he attended
Cream’s legendary Royal Albert
Hall ‘Farewell Concert’ in
November 1968. “I adored Eric
Clapton’s ‘psychedelic’ Gibson
SG which he’d played since
early 1967, but when he walked
onstage with a Gibson ES335, I
felt so disappointed. But the hippy era
that that SG so beautifully represented
had run its course, so Clapton did the
right thing by moving on.”
Recently, the local Bournemouth Daily
Echo caught up on Alan’s ‘missing gig’
dilemma, and tried to help find
details of this elusive Cream show.
“A lot of people remembered it and
phoned the paper with anecdotes,”
said Alan, “but the gig isn’t listed in
any of the Cream biographies, so we
need proof by way of a ticket stub or
newspaper advert – can anyone help, please?”
A lifelong guitar fan but with little self-confessed aptitude for playing
them, Alan made guitars at school and always has one around his
home, ‘..to have a strum on or polish!” But Clapton’s psychedelic SG,
known today as ‘The Fool’ after the Dutch artists who painted it, has
always been his favourite. “It is the guitar of my generation, so when
I found Vintage Guitars had a tribute style guitar available I just had
to have one,” he enthused. “After a heart operation in 2006, I gave
up smoking and drinking and saved the money, so what better way
to spend it?”
The Vintage V6MRF 'Fool' is exclusive to London-based music retailer,
Ivor Mairants Musicentre (0207 636 1481), who commissioned it.
Each Fool guitar is hand made and hand painted, and production of
this fabulous tribute instrument is very limited.