Making classical guitars: A bibliography

A variety of classical guitar making books for the autodidact.

This is a selected, English-language bibliography of literature about or directly relevant to classical guitar making (lutherie). It relates to the making of the modern classical (‘Spanish’) guitar, i.e. the design of instrument going back to Antonio de Torres in the mid-19th century, not the steel-stringed (‘folk’) guitar (although I acknowledge the overlap, but want to keep it focused). There is a lot of literature aimed at or about players of the classical guitar, much of which is not included here unless it is likely to be of interest to luthiers. Finally, there is a constantly growing number of articles published in scientific journals that could also be listed here but on the whole have not been included. Books in the ‘Science’ section offer a sufficiently in-depth discussion of acoustics, and structural engineering and make reference to the peer-reviewed literature.

Suggested additions from enthusiasts, luthiers and organologists are very welcome in the comment box below. Thank you. 

The craft

Bogdanovich, John S. (2007) Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design

Courtnall, Roy (1993) Making Master Guitars

Cumpiano, William and Natelson, Jonathan D. (1994) Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology

Cuzzucoli, Giuseppe (2015) Classical Guitar Design

Doubtfire, Stanley (1983) Make Your Own Classical Guitar

Friederich, Daniel (1998) The classical guitar soundboards and their bracing 

Gore, Trevor and Gilet, Gerard (2011) Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build (2 vols.)

Guild of American Luthiers (1985-2005) The Big Red Book of American Lutherie Vols. 1-7

Hofmeister Jr., Theodorus M. (1954) Torres. The Creator of the Modern Guitar, Guitar Review

Hoing, Clifford A. (1955) Making a Guitar, Woodworker

Huttig, H. E. (1965) Guitar Construction from A to Z, Guitar Review no.28

Huyn, Peter et al. (1966) A Guitar Manual 

McLeod, Donald and Welford, Robert (1971) The Classical Guitar. Design and Construction

Middleton, Rik (1997) The Guitar Maker’s Workshop

Oribe, Jose (1985) The Fine Guitar

Overholtzer Arthur E. (1974) Classic Guitar Making

Ramirez III, J. (1993) Things about the guitar

Ridge, Eric V. (1956) The Birth of a Guitar, Guitar News

Romanillos, Jose L. (2013) Making a Spanish Guitar

Romanillos, Jose L. (1979) The Classical Guitar. In: Ford, Charles (Ed.) Making Musical Instruments: Strings and Keyboard. London: Faber & Faber.

Sharpe, A. P. (1957) Make Your Own Spanish Guitar

Somogyi, Erwin (2010) The Responsive Guitar (2 vols.)

Sloane, Irving (1966) Classic Guitar Construction

Wallo, Joseph F. (1965) How To Make a Classic Guitar

Williams, Jim (1998) Guitar Makers Manual

The science

Bader, Rolf (2005) Computational Mechanics of the Classical Guitar

Bucur, Voichita (2016) Handbook of Materials for String Musical Instruments

Caldersmith, Graham (1995) Designing a Guitar Family

Catgut Acoustical Society Newsletter and Journal

Falk, Robert H. (2010) The Wood Handbook

Fletcher, Neville H. and Rossing, Thomas D. (1998) The Physics of Musical Instruments

French, Richard Mark (2008) Engineering the Guitar

French, Richard Mark (2012) Technology of the Guitar

Gore, Trevor and Gilet, Gerard (2011) Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build (2 vols.)

Hurd, David C. (2004) Left-Brain Lutherie. Using Physics and Engineering Concepts for Building Guitar Family Instruments

Jahnel, Franz (1981) Manual of Guitar Technology

Jansson, Erik V. (1983) Function, Construction and Quality of the Guitar

Jansson, Erik V. (2002) Acoustics for Violin and Guitar Makers

Kasha, Michael (1971) The Scientific Development of a New Classical Guitar

Lewney, Mark (2000) The Acoustics of the Guitar

Pavlidou, Maria (1997) A Physical Model of the String-Finger Interaction on the Classical Guitar

Richardson, Stephen Jon (2001) Acoustical Parameters for the Classical Guitar

Rossing, Thomas D. (2010) The Science of String Instruments

Taylor, John (1978) Tone Production on the Classical Guitar

Walker, Gordon Peter (1991) Towards a Physical Model of the Guitar

White, Tim (1979-1982) Journal of Guitar Acoustics

The history and culture

Archee, Ray (2014) The Australian School of Lutherie: Origins and AchievementsInternational Journal of Humanities and Social Science

Bower, Rudi (2009) Between Scylla and Charybdis: a South African perspective on guitar building

Tobias Braun, Karel Dedain, Siegfried Hogenmüller, Gerhard Oldiges and Alberto Martinez (2021) Vicente Arias

Busch, Otto. V. (2012), Man–machine–music: Resonances of craft and technology in a study of guitar building, Craft Research

Button, Stuart (1984) The Guitar in England 1800-1924

Coates, Kevin (1985) Geometry, proportion, and the art of lutherie (Original PhD thesis)

Coelho, Victor Anand (2011) The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar

Dawe, Kevin with Moira Dawe (2001) Handmade in Spain: The Culture of Guitar Making, in Andy Bennett and Kevin Dawe (eds.) Guitar Cultures.

Dudley, Kathryn Marie (2014) Guitar Makers. The Endurance of Artisanal Values in North America.

Evans, Tom and Mary (1984) Guitars: Music, History, Construction and Players from the Renaissance to Rock

Greenberg, James B. (2016) Good Vibrations, Strings Attached: The Political Ecology of the Guitar, Sociology and Anthropology 

Grondona, Stefano and Waldner, Luca (2001) La Chitarra di Liuteria—Masterpieces of Guitar Making

Hanusch, Christoff (2011) Guitars by Richard Jacob

Huber, John (1994) The Development of the Modern Guitar

Kies, Thomas J. (2013) Artisans of Sound: Persisting Competitiveness of the Handcrafting Luthiers of Central Mexico, Ethnomusicology Forum

Kies, Thomas J. (2008) Aesthetic Judgements of Luthiers: A Case Study of Mexican Guitar-MakersThe Galpin Society Journal

Martin, Darryl (1998) Innovation and the Development of the Modern Six-String Guitar

Martinez, Alberto (2018) 34 Classical Guitars in Life Size

McCreadie, Sue (1982) Classical Guitar Companion

Melo, Josep (2020) José Luis Romanillos – Guitars, The Guijosa Period

Morrish, John (1997) The Classical Guitar: A Complete History

Nex, Jennifer Susan (2013) The Business of Musical-Instrument Making in Early Industrial London

Ray, John (2014) The Granada School of Guitar-Makers

Ray, John et al., (2016) A review of basic procedures for an organological examination of plucked-string instruments, Journal of Cultural Heritage  

Rodriguez, Manuel (2010) The Art and Craft of Making Classical Guitars

Romanillos, Jose L. (2002) The Vihuela de Mano and The Spanish Guitar

Romanillos, Jose L. (1997) Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker – His Life & Work

Schott, Howard (1975) Instrument Makers-1: Luthiers. Howard Schott Visits the Workshops of David Rubio and Michael Lowe

Schramm, David (2005) The Definitive Elements of the Hermann Hauser Spanish Guitar

Sharpe, A. P. (1954) The Story of the Spanish Guitar

Southwell, Gary (1983) The Panormo Guitar and its Makers

Suwa, Kazu (n.d.) Interviews with classical guitar luthiers

Turnbull, Harvey (1974) The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day

Tyler, James and Paul Sparks (2002) The Guitar and its Music. From the Renaissance to the Classical Era

Urlik, Sheldon (2015) A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present 

Usher, Terence (1956) The Spanish Guitar in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Wade, Graham (1980/2012) Traditions of the Classical Guitar

Wade, Graham (2001) A Concise History of the Classical Guitar

Westbrook, James (2009) Investigative Methods for the Study of Historical Guitars: A Case Study of the Work of Antonio de Torres. MA Dissertation. London Metropolitan Univesity.

Westbrook, James (2013) Louis Panormo: ‘The only Maker of Guitars in the Spanish style’

MAGAZINES

Orfeo (2013 – )

Classical Guitar (1982 – )*

American Lutherie (1985 -)

Soundboard (1974 – )*

Guitar News (1951 – )*

Guitar Review (1946 – 2009)*

Banjo Mandolin & Guitar (BMG) (1903 – 1976)*

*Primarily focused on classical guitar playing but often contain profiles of luthiers and articles on the history of lutherie.

3 thoughts on “Making classical guitars: A bibliography”

  1. Dear Joss. Thank you very much for all your work and publications about classical guitar in your blog. I often used them to increase my knowledge of Classical guitar. I bought several book that you mention. With the help of former members of the ICGA, I attempt to have a complete set of the “applebys” Guitar News magazine. A dozen are still missing. Could you tell me if there are some issues here or there I can buy ? You have certainly so many contacts in your florishing career. I am french and live in France. Nobody is perfect !!!

    1. Thank you for your comment, Daniel. I don’t know of where to buy old issues of Guitar News. The British Library have them to study. I do know that there were 119 issues between 1951 and 1973, so plenty for you to collect. Graham Wade wrote an appreciative account of Appleby and the magazine in BMG, May 1973, which you can find online at the link in the bibliography. I think you will enjoy it. BMG, Guitar News and Guitar Review are essential sources for the early history of classical guitar in the UK and USA. Guitar News and Guitar Review had a very international outlook so we can learn a lot about what was happening outside of those countries, too.

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