Joseph Mayes
(terz guitar)

François Roudhloff
(parlor guitar)

A cedar-top guitar with Indian rosewood back and sides made in Toulouse, France in 2004, this guitar, strung with Hannabach classic basses and carbon-fiber trebles, has the best a cedar-top can offer. It has a strong, punchy sound, but still displays the warmth typical of a cedar-top. This guitar is perfect for Baroque, late Romantic, twentieth-century, and current music. It’s loud enough to compete with a modern piano as well as chamber groups, such as string quartets. Villa-Lobos, Tedesco, Piazolla as well as Bach and Handel work really well on this guitar, to name a few.

A spruce-top guitar with purple heart back and sides made in Collingswood, New Jersey, USA in 2009, this guitar, strung with D’darrio high tension strings, has a beautiful singing quality. Being a terz guitar–a guitar that sounds a minor third higher than written– it is already quite present; however, this guitar is a powerful guitar that really speaks. It is modeled on Lawrence Brown’s (see below) terz guitar, which is modeled on the famous La Côte of the nineteenth century. This guitar was really popular among early nineteenth-century guitarists for its sound and its ability to reach higher than the normal guitar, which was ideal for arrangements of opera overtures as well as its role in chamber music. Giuliani, Diabelli, Hummel, Küffner and Mertz are the most notable composers for this instrument.

A maple-top guitar with maple back and sides and ivory bindings made in Paris, France in circa 1815, this guitar, strung with Savarez low tension strings, has a dark, velvety tone. This guitar is a little smaller than a normal-sized guitar, and with the lower tension strings, does not have the projection of a modern guitar. Despite this, the guitar is still quite present and has a beautiful singing tone, especially in the higher positions. This guitar is ideal for nearly any early nineteenth-century music written for the guitar. It is particularly ideal for accompanying vocal music and blends very well with instrumental chamber music. While it is quite suited to solo music of the time period, particularly music of the composers based in Paris during the time the guitar was made, it might be a little too understated to be used for concertos. Giuliani, Sor, Carcassi, Carulli, Aguado, Molitor, Matiegka, Diabelli, Schubert and just about any guitar composer from the early nineteenth century can be played on this instrument.