Antonio Raya Pardo 2012
-35 ANNIVERSARY-

At the end of the 2000’s Granada guitar maker Antonio Raya Pardo created the “Aniversario” (Anniversary) model to celebrate his 35 years of making guitars. Then following the passing years, he changed the label to 35 anniversary, 40 anniversary, or 45 anniversary…

So he had two models available since then. His, so to speak, “normal” model and this Anniversary model. Apart from his Torres model which he always also made since early in his long career as a “guitarrero”.

For these anniversary model guitars, he used his best wood in his workshop and also some extra ornaments throughout the guitar which can be identified only for this special model. His approach to guitar making has been always very artistic, and always thinking about each guitar how Raya Pardo can make them unique incorporating some element or elements never used for him before and after in any other guitar which apart from uniqueness, can contribute to the overall aesthetic equilibrium and beauty of the guitar. Those elements can be for example some special wood aesthetic or combination of wood pieces, new ornaments designs on rosettes, heads, purfling… But always keeping an “apparent” simplicity to his overall work which he considers in his own words to be a difficult thing to be achieved only with mastery.

“Magic is sometimes close to nothing at all”

Antonio Raya Pardo is one of the most important guitar makers ever existed in Granada. A city with an enviable guitar-making tradition and now with more than 40 guitar makers active and worldwide well known.

Many guitars made by him during his life went specially to China and Japan. Also, he has traveled to these countries many times invited by the guitar dealers there.

His guitar has a very strong character and a distinctive mellow intimate sound on trebles I would say reflecting Raya Pardo own personality. I also love his bass sound in plenty of detail and definition. Belongs to those guitars traditional Spanish sound lovers are looking for.

A guitar with so much fun to play and listen to.

This “Anniversary” classical guitar model made by him in 2012 is in perfect condition like new with no restoration or damage of any kind and is a very good example of his outstanding work.

Here is a biography written by Spanish guitar maker Raya Pardo himself which you can find in the book – The Granada Guitar Makers School published in 2015 (page 112) Alberto Cuéllar –Founder of Madera Guitars- is its main author.

Antonio Raya Pardo (1950-2022) is one of the most representative of Granada’s guitar- makers and has received widespread international recognition for his work. In his contribution to this book he wrote:

“I was born in Huelma, a village belonging to the province of Jaén. When I was fourteen years old, my parents decided to come and live in Granada, where I did various jobs and where I met my wife, Pilar Ferrer, the granddaughter of Don Eduardo Ferrer. This is one of the reasons why I decided to become a luthier, or as we say around here a guitarrero, which I suppose means the same although it sounds different, it is more what we are, what we feel. In 1972 I joined José López Bellido’s workshop as an apprentice. I wasn’t there for long and I learned only the most basic aspects of this profession. A year later in 1973 I decided to go it alone. This was when my apprenticeship really began and when I realized what a long way I still had to go. But I had two important things on my side. I was very young and very keen. So I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to start again from scratch, investigating and searching for the sound I had in mind. You make many mistakes on this quest but you also gain enormous experience.

Over the years I have traveled to several countries such as the United States, Japan, and China, and I have seen guitars made by the best guitar-builders in history. To see these instruments, to be able to play them and hear the sound they make has been amazingly useful. This is when you discover something that is very difficult to see and to illustrate what I mean perhaps I can borrow a quote from someone else, which rings particularly true in this profession: ‘You don’t have to do extraordinary things to be successful. You have to do simple things, but you have to do them extraordinarily well”.