The Spanish luthier Casimiro Lozano Carrillo was born in 1954 in Casasimarro. As a young man he began to frequent the workshop of Vícente Carrillo, run by his widow Gabriela Casas. In 1969, he started a long apprenticeship with the 16 guitar makers employed there, among whom were Juan Mondéjar, Antonio Bernal, José Maria Escriano, Eufemio Casas, and Teófilio Escobar. Eventually, he became the foreman of the shop, and married Gabriela's daughter. However, after some professional differences with his mother-in-law, he decided to strike out on his own.
In 1992, he moved into his current shop. Lozano is a guitar maker who works alone. Since he uses traditional methods, building completely by hand, his production is very limited. He does not believe in innovations for innovations sake. Although he had used various master builder's plans, once he obtained Ignacio Fleta's design, he enthusiastically adopted it. Lozano does not, however, make a Fleta copy. Rather, guided by his intuition and experience, he continues to make small improvements, and his classical guitars continue to evolve.
He makes three models of classical guitar and uses top grade premium woods that have been aged a minimum of seven years in construction of his 1a concert models. Casimiro Lozano is rapidly gaining an international reputation; I think he his one of the finest luthiers in Spain building handmade concert classical guitars. Read independent reviews: (Review 1) (Review 2).