{"id":4351,"date":"2016-06-08T15:02:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T22:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2016-06-08T15:03:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T22:03:07","slug":"american-luthier-stephan-connor-travels-to-granada-to-build-a-pair-of-custom-guitars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/american-luthier-stephan-connor-travels-to-granada-to-build-a-pair-of-custom-guitars\/","title":{"rendered":"American Luthier Stephan Connor Travels to Granada to Build a Pair of Custom Guitars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Cape Cod, Massachusetts\u2013based Stephan Connor has been building top-quality classical guitars, based in the Spanish tradition, since 1994. Long before that, however, he\u2019d been seduced by the music: \u201cOne day, I put on Andr\u00e9s Segovia playing Bach and something happened,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat music resonated with me on such a deep level. I would come home from school, turn the lights off, put on Segovia playing Bach, and it took me out into space. So when I went to college, I was lucky there was a classical guitar teacher there, and I fell in love with playing classical guitar.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Later, he became interested in making guitars, and he learned the craft by studying the work of old (and recent) masters of lutherie. After building around 50 guitars from the \u201crecipes\u201d of those illustrious predecessors, \u201cI treated myself to one of my own design, and quickly adapted an interlocking bracing pattern with my sound portal design, which can be closed with a magnetic door.\u00a0I had listened to players and knew they wanted a powerful sound with good-quality tone. So I explored ways to keep the best of traditional tone colors, but with more horsepower.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Evidently, Connor\u2019s design experiments and his meticulous craftsmanship, using both woodworking and metalsmithing techniques, spoke to many guitarists. His custom instruments have shown up in the hands of such illustrious players as the Assad\u00a0<\/em>Brothers, Eliot Fisk, Angel Romero, David Tanenbaum, Adam Holzman, Marc Teicholz, and Juan Martin, among many others.<\/em><\/p>\n

When we learned that Connor was planning to go to Granada, Spain, in the spring of 2015 to build a pair of guitars there\u2014to be captured for a documentary video project\u2014we asked if he would write about his experiences for the magazine. Here is his report<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Grananda<\/p>\n

The city of Granada, in the region of Andalusia in southern Spain, is the ancestral home of the modern guitar. With a fascinating history involving everyone from pioneer Antonio de Torres\u2014one theory is that sometime around 1842, Torres may have gone to work for Jos\u00e9 Pernas in Granada\u2014to Andr\u00e9s Segovia (his first concert was given there), the city has inspired countless creative minds: Composers such as Francisco T\u00e1rrega, artist M.C. Escher, the American writer Washington Irving, and so many others. The crown of Granada, resting on top of a high hillside, is the Moorish fortress known\u00a0as the Alhambra. The elaborate patterns,\u00a0arabesques, and striking architecture make this a beloved axis point for the city. The vibrant guitar activity continues with more than 40 active guitar makers and many cuevas on the outskirts of town (the Sacromonte\u00a0neighborhood), where flamenco continues.<\/p>\n

As a guitar maker, I was long curious to visit this focal point of guitar activity, and was fortunate to go there for my honeymoon. The city put a spell on me, as it does to so many who visit. Ever since that first magical visit, I dreamed of returning to Granada and building a guitar there\u2014it felt like a Siren\u2019s call guiding me back. After eight years, the puzzle of how to make it happen came together and led to an adventure of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Over my years of guitar making, I had collaborated occasionally with filmmaker Sky Sabin, and one day we talked about the idea of going to Granada together and then decided to go for it. I would set up a mobile workshop there and build guitars inspired by the Alhambra. This would be an opportunity to immerse myself further in guitar history, music, and lutherie, and Sky thought it would make an interesting documentary.<\/p>\n

I immediately set to work designing a portable mini-shop with an engineer friend of mine. It included a go-bar clamping deck for bracing the sound board, a solera board for assembly, and tools for inlay, fretting, and so forth. As I read more about Granada,\u00a0I learned it has a rich history of both classical and flamenco guitar, so I decided to build one of each, to show the differences and explore both builds there.<\/p>\n

We launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for our small respective video and luthier teams\u2019 plane tickets, and my good friend Eliot Fisk\u2014the great guitarist and teacher\u2014 graciously allowed us to use his home in the old town quarter of Granada\u00a0called the Albaicin (also known as Albayz\u00edn).<\/p>\n