Neck:Mahogany
Fingerboard:Ebony
Finish(Top):Ebony
Finish(Back & Sides):Ebony
Tuning Machines:SLOANE
String Height(1st):2.7mm
String Height(6th):3.6mm

【A Refined Velazquez with Romantic Spanish Character】

〔Luthier〕
Manuel Velazquez (1917–2014) was born in Puerto Rico. His maternal grandparents were Spanish and related to the great maker Santos Hernández. Although he came from a farming family, Velazquez trained as a furniture maker and soon began building guitars as well, completing his first instrument at the age of sixteen.

Encouraged by a local musician impressed with the quality of his early work, he moved to New York in 1941. During World War II he worked in shipyards as a woodworker while continuing to build guitars. By the late 1940s his instruments were being played by leading musicians in the area, and his reputation grew rapidly after Andrés Segovia publicly praised his guitars.

Velazquez later returned to Puerto Rico in 1972, establishing a workshop there, before moving back to the United States in the 1980s and continuing his work in Virginia and later Florida. His son Alfredo eventually joined the workshop and continues the tradition after Manuel’s passing in 2014.

Velazquez was deeply inspired by traditional makers such as Torres, Hauser, and Santos Hernández. His guitars from the 1950s and 1960s, strongly influenced by Hauser, are especially admired. In the 1970s and 1980s he experimented with slightly larger bodies to produce greater power and projection, while later returning to a more traditional style.

〔Instrument〕
This is a used Manuel Velazquez guitar built in 1994. It was made during the period when the maker had returned to a more traditional Hauser-inspired style following his earlier experiments with larger-bodied instruments.

The sound is powerful yet refined, with a romantic Spanish character and a rich sense of tonal breadth. Compared to the more Germanic Hauser tone, this instrument leans toward a warmer and more expressive Spanish voice, producing a strong and expansive resonance that remains balanced and musical.

The body and neck are slightly compact in feel, and both the right-hand response and left-hand playability are very comfortable, allowing for smooth and stress-free performance.

Condition is very good overall. The soundboard shows a few light playing marks on the treble side between the fingerboard and soundhole, as well as several small dents and scratches (around 2–3 mm) near the lower bout. These marks are shallow and not visually distracting. The back and sides show only minor surface wear from normal contact with clothing. On the back of the neck there are light nail marks along the treble side. There are no crack repairs.

The neck remains straight, and the frets show only slight wear around the first to third positions, with no impact on playability. The neck profile is relatively thin with a flat shape, providing a fast and comfortable feel.

〔detail〕