Joaquín Alonso (Almería, active c. 1876)
Joaquín Alonso was a guitar maker active in Almería in the late 19th century. He briefly apprenticed with Antonio de Torres between 1870 and 1873, as indicated by his label, which describes him as a disciple of Torres. His workshop was located on Calle de la Alcazaba.
Juan Castillo (Almería, active c. 1900)
Juan Castillo was a guitar maker in Almería at the turn of the 20th century. His workshop was located at Calle Granada, No. 12.
José Pedro Damián Cruz Giménez (Almería, 1912–1989)
José Pedro Damián Cruz Giménez, born in Almería in 1912, was trained by Juan Iglesias González. A part-time luthier, he supplemented his income through other woodcrafts.
Andrés García (Almería, b. 1807, active c. 1840–1850s)
Andrés García, born in Almería in 1807, was a carpenter who also built guitars during the mid-19th century.
Juan Miguel González Abad (Almería, 1906–1989)
Juan Miguel González Abad, known as Miguel "Cojo" after a disabling accident, was born in Almería in 1906. Initially a cabinetmaker, he transitioned to guitar making after his injury. Using materials like scrap wood and antique furniture during his early career, he later crafted instruments from high-quality woods, including cypress, rosewood, and mahogany. His workshop in Barrio Alto evolved into a music store, Casa González, managed with his sons. He specialized in classical and flamenco guitars as well as mandolins, earning recognition as a National Master Craftsman in 1973. He is regarded as a pivotal figure connecting the work of Hermanos Moya with Gerundino Fernández.
Antonio Jiménez de Soto (Almería, active c. 1850s)
Antonio Jiménez de Soto was a luthier active in Almería during the mid-19th century.
José López Beltrán (Almería, b. c. 1847, active c. 1900–1910)
José López Beltrán, born in Almería in 1846, assisted Antonio de Torres in his later years. His label identifies him as Torres's "only disciple," and his workshop was located at Teatro Apolo.
Juan Moya Castillo (Almería, b. c. 1875–d. 1937)
Juan Moya Castillo, born around 1875, was the son of Miguel Moya Redondo and trained by his father. Influenced by Antonio de Torres, his guitars reflected Torres's designs. He also built bandurrias and guitarros. His workshop was located at La Palma, No. 33.
Andrés Moya Martínez (Almería, b. 1861, active c. 1880–1930)
Andrés Moya Martínez, born in 1861, was trained by his father, Melchor Moya Redondo. He worked with his brother Juan at the Moya Hermanos workshop on Calle Granada, producing guitars, bandurrias, and laúdes.
Juan Moya Martínez (Almería, b. 1859, active c. 1880–1930)
Juan Moya Martínez, also a son of Melchor Moya Redondo, won a first prize for his guitars in 1895. He collaborated with his brother Andrés at Moya Hermanos on Calle Granada.
Melchor Moya Redondo (Almería, 1827–1891)
Melchor Moya Redondo, born in Almería in 1827, opened his workshop in 1845. A friend of Antonio de Torres, he trained his sons Andrés and Juan, establishing a family tradition in guitar making.
Miguel Moya Redondo (Almería, b. 1827–d. c. 1915)
Miguel Moya Redondo, younger brother of Melchor, also worked as a guitar maker and was a friend of Torres. He reportedly completed several guitars left unfinished by Torres upon his death.
Emilio Peralta Gil (Alicante, c. 1870–d. after 1924)
Emilio Peralta, born in Orihuela, Alicante, was a prominent regional luthier. He built guitars, bandurrias, and laúdes, often working with his son, Emilio Peralta Pérez.
Joaquín Ruíz (Almería, b. 1804, active c. 1840s)
Joaquín Ruíz, a carpenter and luthier born in 1804, was an accomplished guitar maker active in Almería during the early 19th century.
Juan Ruíz (Almería, active c. 1815)
Juan Ruíz, active around 1815, is likely the father of Joaquín Ruíz. He was an early guitar maker in Almería.
Antonio De Torres Jurado (Almería 1817-1892)
Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–1892)
Antonio de Torres Jurado is as revered among guitarists as Stradivarius is among violinists. His pioneering work established the shape, design, and construction of the modern guitar. Torres was born on June 18, 1817, in San Sebastián de Almería, the son of Juan Torres, a local tax collector, and María Jurado.
At the age of 12, Torres began an apprenticeship as a carpenter, a common trade for boys of his era. In 1833, during the outbreak of the First Carlist War, he was conscripted into the army. However, through his father’s interventions, Antonio was dismissed as medically unfit. To further exempt him from future drafts, his family arranged a swift marriage to Juana María López, the 13-year-old daughter of a shopkeeper.
Antonio and Juana married in 1835, and children soon followed: a daughter in 1836, another in 1839, and a third in 1842, who tragically died a few months after birth. His second daughter also passed away. In 1845, Juana died of tuberculosis at the age of 23.
These years were marked by immense personal and financial hardships for Torres. Struggling with debt and the demands of supporting his family, he sought more stable and lucrative employment, ultimately dedicating himself to the craft of guitar making, which would later define his legacy.
Around 1842, Antonio de Torres appears to have worked for José Pernas in Granada, where he quickly learned the art of guitar making. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Seville and, for a time, shared a workshop with Manuel Gutiérrez Martínez and María Gómez at Calle Cerrajería 36 (renumbered as Cerrajería 7 in 1869). He later moved to Cerrajería 32, which became Cerrajería 25 after the renumbering.
Although Torres built some guitars during the 1840s, it was not until the 1850s, following advice from the renowned guitarist and composer Julián Arcas, that he fully committed to guitar making as a profession. Arcas not only encouraged Torres but also offered insights into guitar construction, sparking Torres's transformation into a relentless innovator in the craft.
Torres concluded that the soundboard was the key to a guitar's sound. To increase its volume, he designed guitars with thinner, lighter soundboards arched in both directions. This was made possible by his innovative fan-bracing system, which provided strength without adding unnecessary weight.
To demonstrate that the soundboard, rather than the back and sides, was the primary source of a guitar’s tone, Torres built a guitar in 1862 with back and sides made of papier-mâché. This guitar, housed in the Museu de la Música in Barcelona, is unfortunately no longer playable.
Another remarkable experiment, perhaps more of a showcase of his craftsmanship, was a guitar constructed like a Chinese puzzle. This guitar could be assembled without glue and, when disassembled, fit into a shoebox. Both examples highlight Torres’s ingenuity and his profound impact on modern guitar construction.
Antonio de Torres was a secretive man and had no formal disciples. In a letter to his friend Juan Martínez Sirvent, Torres explained:
"My secret is one you have witnessed many times and one that I cannot leave to posterity because it must go to the grave with my body. It consists of the tactile senses in my finger pads, in my thumb and index finger, which tell the intelligent builder if the top is or is not well made, and how it should be treated to obtain the best tone from the instrument."
In 1868, Torres remarried, taking Josefa Martín Rosada as his wife. Shortly after, he met Francisco Tárrega for the first time. Tárrega, then a 17-year-old from Barcelona, had traveled to Seville to purchase a guitar from the maker of Julián Arcas's instrument. Torres initially offered him a modest guitar he had in stock, but after hearing Tárrega play, he gave him a guitar he had made for himself a few years earlier.
Around 1870, in his 50s, Torres closed his shop in Seville and returned to Almería, where he and his wife opened a china and crystal shop on Calle Real. About five years later, Torres began his "second epoch," as he described it on his guitar labels, building part-time while running the shop. After Josefa's death in 1883, Torres increasingly devoted himself to guitar making, producing approximately 12 guitars per year until his passing.
Torres's guitars are divided into two distinct periods:
The First Epoch (Seville, 1852–1870): During this time, Torres laid the foundation for modern guitar construction, establishing designs that profoundly influenced guitar making.
The Second Epoch (Almería, 1871–1892): After his move back to Almería, Torres continued innovating and refining his craft, creating guitars that further cemented his legacy.
The superiority of Torres's guitars compared to those of his contemporaries revolutionized guitar making, first in Spain and later globally. While not particularly loud by modern standards, Torres's guitars are renowned for their clear, balanced, firm, and rounded tone, with excellent projection.
Torres never signed his guitars and only numbered those made during his second epoch, which has led to many imitations and forgeries over the years. Some of these forgeries were crafted by well-known and skilled makers, further complicating the authentication of his work. Despite this, Torres’s legacy endures, and his guitars remain among the most influential and celebrated in the history of the instrument.