woods and materials

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Woods:

As a luthier I am convinced that good guitars depend as much on good workmanship as they depend on good materials. Wood preference varies with the taste of luthiers and musicians and is also dictated by the market.
Lutherie woods' quality is graded according to types of cut and looks, and I use only wood with the highest graduation for all my instruments. The boards are seasoned before and after they enter my shop and I also regrade the soundboard woods and select the very finest to be used later on my Concert models.

European spruce (picea abies): this wood has been the indisputable wood for musical instrument soundboards and still is the accepted choice for bow and historic instruments. Spruce soundboards produce a very clear and rich sound and are favoured by many guitarists for their great projection. Spruce guitars will take several years to achieve their full potential due to a maturing process that seems characteristic of this wood.

Western red cedar (thuja plicata): this wood has been very popular by guitarists and luthiers alike for decades now, and it was first introduced because of the need to find soundboard woods that would be more readily available and at lower prices than spruce. It is lighter and softer than spruce and has the ability to produce a bright and exploding sound. Cedar guitars have a very sweet voice and achieve full "maturity" virtually from the beginning.

East Indian rosewood (dalbergia latifolia): since Brazilian rosewood has become so endangered and scarce, Indian rosewood has replaced it as the obvious choice for backs and sides. A very hard, flexible and good looking wood, Indian rosewood produces guitars with great volume and tone and is still readily available.

Honduras rosewood (dalbergia stevensonii): heavier than Indian rosewood, this wood produces guitars with great volume and projection. It is very hard and more brittle than Indian rosewood which makes it somewhat more difficult to work with. This wood has been considered for some as the only possible substitute to Brazilian rosewood.

Honduras mahogany (swietenia macrophylla): I make all the necks in mahogany. It is a very fine, close-grained wood, very stable and nice to work with.

Ebony (diospyros crassiflora): ebony is the traditional wood for fingerboards. It creates a beautiful color contrast with the soundboards, it doesn't stain with finger sweat and is stable and wear resistant. I also use ebony to reinforce and add mass to the necks.

Caviuna rosewood (machaerium scleroxylon) and Madagascar rosewood (dalbergia greveana): I use these woods, together with Indian rosewood, to make the bridges. All three types work and look very well as bridges.

Materials:

Glues: I glue all the parts using several types of high quality aliphatic resin glues. These glues produce very strong bonds and can be removed using heat if needed. I also use polyurethane glues when I need to glue extra resinous woods.

Finishes: I finish my guitars with shellac. Shellac has been used as a finish for ages and is produced by the secretions of a bug (the lac bug) on certain gum trees in southeast Asia. It dissolves in alcohol and applies by continously rubbing it on the wood with a cotton pad. Each new coat is so thin that several weeks of rubbing sessions are needed before the final coat is achieved. This method is commonly refered to as French Polish.
It certainly is the traditional finish for classical guitars but many have replaced it by less time-consuming and more wear-resistant finishes. I use shellac because it doesn't inhibit soundboard vibrations, it doesn't require the use of sprayguns, it's not toxic and leaves a beautiful finish that gives the guitar a feel impossible to achieve by other products.
Shellac is more prone to wear off and is not hard enough to protect the instrument from nails and bumps, but it can be easily re-applied and improved after years of use. Lately i began oiling the bridges instead of using shellac, and this method is also available for necks.
I prepare my own shellac.

Bone: all bridge saddles and bone decorations are made from cow bone that I prepare and cut my self.

Tools: I build my guitars using almost entirely hand tools. I have done this since I was in lutherie school and out of plain necessity. Hand tools require less space and are relatively less expensive. As time went by I became accustomed to working like this. Hand tools give me the control, speed and precision that I seek over my work. They are quiet and effective and produce much less dust than power tools. Today I use a small band saw, a router and a pillar drill to carry out some specific operations, but I leave the rest to hand saws, planes, chisels and scrapers.