A third year BA (Hons) Musical Instrument Crafts (Guitar Making and Repair) degree student has completed the design and craft of a guitar within a guitar.
Sofia Suarez constructed the double body guitar based on a model made by Manuel Ramirez around 1908 in Spain.
The guitar is made with a secondary back and side built around the primary body, in some ways similar to a Russian doll.
There is a universal separation of 6.5mm between the internal and exterior guitar body.
Speaking of her creation, Sofia said:
“There is no defined idea of why the original instrument was made in this way. It would have cost a lot of money to make the model especially in that time period. One of the theories is that the guitar was designed to project an increase in volume for concert hall performances.
“Decoratively, I’ve made and designed the inlayed pieces of wood of the guitar to be a combination of both traditional and modern styles.
“The rosette of the guitar consists of 5,716 individual pieces of stained wood that measures between 0.6mm to 1mm in thickness.”
The design and construction of the guitar took Sofia eight months to complete at Newark College’s School of Musical Instrument Crafts.
How does the double body sound - is it any different?
“The guitar’s volume projects nicely and it’s lovely to play. It’s been fantastic and rewarding to hear different opinions from professional musicians playing it” added Sofia.
Sofia will finish her degree by making a highly decorative guitar based on the Torres FE08 guitar model from 1858.
After completing her degree, she plans on opening her own workshop to specialise in making and repairing traditional classical guitars.
Find out more about studying BA (Hons) Musical Instrument Crafts (Guitar Making and Repair) here.
