Although Jose Albeto Pantoja Martin died in 2013, his son, Francisco (Paco) Alberto Pantoja, who was trained by his father, and grew up in the workshop, has taken over the workshop and continues to offer classical and flamenco guitars of impeccable craftsmenship and superb tone. In addition to years of informal training under his father, Paco has earned a professional degree in guitar craftsmenship, and has also studied guitar and laud at the Conservatory of Sevilla, believing strongly it is very important to know how to play guitar in order to build a good one.
Jose Alberto Pantoja Martín was born in 1931 in Marón de la Frontera, and learned the rudiments of the art in the workshop of Manuel Ortega Sousa, the guitar maker in Sevilla who also trained Andres Dominguez Guerrero. He acknowledged, that he received valuable advice from other guitar makers, such as Juan Montero Aguilera in Cordoba, with whom he had a special friendship.
Jose began building guitars in 1962, and opened his own workshop in 1967. J. A. Pantoja Martin has trained a number of luthiers, among them Frank Reijkers of the Netherlands and Maximiano Fontiveros Sola. He works alone, using traditional methods and designs, building his guitars completely by hand. His flamenco guitars are vibrant and have been bought by such great guitarists as Paco de Lucia, Sabicas, Los Panchos and the Mariachis de Santa Rosa (Mexico)