History of Guitar 2: the Age of Torres/Hauser

Guitar History, Design, Construction, and Maintenance (Italic passages like this are Nick’s personal comments on the subjects that can’t be shared with the audience, due to the duration of the presentation) Timeline 2, The Guitars We See Today Seven eras of guitars Precursors: the Oud and the Lute (3500 BCE - 1600 AD) Origin: the Baroque Accompaniment Instrument (1600 AD - ~1650 AD) Transition: from Accompaniment to Solo Instrument (1650 AD - 1856 AD) The Age of Torres (1856 AD - 1947 AD) The Age of Nylon Strings (1947 AD - 1974 AD) The Modern Age (1974 AD - ) The Age of Reflections (~2010 AD - ) The Age of Torres (1856 AD - 1947 AD) Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817 - 1892), Spanish master luthier The looks of a guitar did not change since Antonio de Torres Torres incorporated the fan bracing system. Some might argue that the timber and the charm of a guitar came mostly from the fan bracing system. Bigger body, very thin woods, bigger sound with more volume. Torres’s preference of thin and lightweight construction is potentially the reason why almost all Torres originals today have cracks. “La Leona (The Lioness)”, 1856, FE 04 - a legendary Torres guitar that was believed to be the model of all Torres guitars, and therefore all modern guitars. Torres rarely named his instruments. Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (1852 – 1909) Spanish pianist, composer, guitarist, and educator. Composer of numerous guitar classics that are still widely played today. He had a classical piano background, and he was determined to elevate the guitar from its more down-to-the-earth folk background to a conservatory studies level. Miguel Llobet Solés (1878 – 1938) Spanish guitarist, composer, virtuoso. Llobet was Tarrega’s student, and he was believed to be Andres Segovia’s teacher. However, in Segovia’s memoir, he insisted that their relationship was more like a comradery instead of a teacher-student relationship. (I personally have a hard time believing that, since Segovia was young at the time, and Llobet was regarded as the best guitarist in the world.) Llobet was widely touring the world with his favorite guitar, an Antonio de Torres guitar. During his many stops, he showed his Torres to Hermann Hauser Sr.. The Hauser family had been building “the Llobet model”, interpretations of Llobet’s Torres until today. Torres originals are not performed nowadays like Stradivarius originals, mostly because of the invention of nylon strings (more info on nylon strings enclosed later). The reason why the Hauser family is so popular and influential is because they build Torres style guitars that are improved and adapted to modern strings. They are also just really good at their crafts and contributed quite a few things into general guitar luthiery. The Hauser dynasty, five generations of German luthiers with longer than a century worth of success: Josef Hauser (1854-1939) Hermann Hauser I. ( 1882-1952) Hermann Hauser II (1911-1988) Hermann Hauser III (born 1958) Kathrin Hauser To learn the history and to hear the difference among the Hauser models, check out A short(ish) discourse on Hauser Guitars by Aaron Green on YouTube.    • A short(ish) discourse on Hauser Guitars   Other impressive Torres/Hauser style guitars: Romanillos, Fritz Ober, R. E. Bruné, Enrico Botelli, Fabio Schmidt…. Players who play Torres/Hauser style guitars: Xavier Jara (2016 Guitar Foundation of America Competition Winner, plays an Enrico Botelli guitar) Marcin Dylla…