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Famous luthiers
-Salvador Ibañez
-Domingo Esteso
-Santos Hernandez
-Jose Ramirez Ref# 1530
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Santos Hernandez was born in Madrid in 1873. His first occupation
as a boy, was making vestments for the Catholic Church. Later
he became an apprentice luthier to Valentin Viudes. After a
while he worked for Ortega and then for Gonzalez. In the years
1893-1898, he served as an artillery man in the Spanish Army.
Upon completion of his military service he went to work for
the great Luthier Manuel Ramirez. It was a lasting relationship.
Santos Hernandez worked for many years for Manuel Ramirez.
Ramirez gave the young Segovia a Hernadez-built guitar in 1912,
which, Segovia played for 25 years.
When
Manuel Ramirez died in 1916, Santos Hernandez and Domingo Esteso
built guitars for his widow; the instruments were labeled "Viuda
de Manuel Ramirez". It was after Manuel Ramirez's death that
Santos Hernandez opened his own shop in 1921. Hernandez
built high quality instruments including flamenco guitars. Artist
like Ramon Montoya Nino Ricardo and concert guitarist Regino
Sanz de la Maza played his guitars.
Santos
concert guitars were built in the tradition of Torres, using
inovation of a downward sloping harmonic bar beneath the soundhole
to make the treble side more firm.
Santos Hernandez left no pupils, but when he died in 1943 his
widow continued his shop with the help of Marcelo Barbero (1904-1956),
who by that time was working with Jose Ramirez II.
Barbero helped finish uncompleated guitars and worked on the
repairs. Later on Barbero became an important maker that allowed
the following generations of luthiers learn Hernandez's guitar
building techniques .
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