“Syrinx” model in flamed maple and spruce

In my search as a luthier, for years I have been thinking about building a traditional guitar model, but with kind of a special touch. This search in my case is always based on the study of the work of great master luthiers such as Antonio de Torres, Santos Hernandez, Enrique Garcia, the Ramirez family, etc. The goal was therefore getting a more resonant and expressive guitar. On this path, I had the opportunity to try some guitars with the typical bracing scheme from Granada, which I liked enormously, precisely because of their ability to react to the guitarist’s touch. Those guitars “sang” in a way that I found very beautiful. And so, with the aim of that singing guitar, birds came to my mind, of which I am a small admirer, among other things thanks to the work of Oliver Messiaen, whose work I esteem almost as much as birds.

I then remembered that the organ that allows birds to sing is called the syrinx. A precious term, not only for the function it has, but also because it is named after the myth of Syringa and Pan, and has a lot to do with music, specifically with the mythological story of the invention of the pan flute. That’s when I knew that the guitar I was looking for had to be called simply Syrinx.

Scale: 650 mm
Neck width at nut: 52 mm
Bracing pattern: five fanned braces and a transverse bar under the bridge, following Robert Bouchet.

Soundboard: European Spruce
Back, sides: flamed Maple
Bridge and purflings: Indian Rosewood
Neck: Brazilian Cedar
Fretboard: Indian Rosewood
Tuning machines by Aparicio
Finish: French polish

Year of construction: 2024

The importance of the soundboard is essential in the design of a guitar. Thus, what really makes the Syrinx model different is precisely the internal bracing of the soundboard. For him, after trying some guitars with a similar scheme, I decided to make a hybrid between Antonio de Torres and Robert Bouchet. Thus, keeping the spirit of Torres in the minor lobe of the guitar, in the major lobe I introduced five fan-shaped strings plus the famous Bouchet bar under the bridge.