Modern classical guitar (Antonio de Torres)
Guitarra clásica moderna (Antonio de Torres)
- Date
- c. 1850-1869 · confidence medium
- Place
- Seville, Andalusia, Spain
- Credited to
- Antonio de Torres Jurado
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The luthier Antonio de Torres settled around 1850-1860 on the model of today's classical guitar: a wider body, a soundboard with fan bracing and a scale length of about 65 cm. It gained volume and balanced registers, giving the instrument a concert voice.
Fan bracing and large bodies had been tried earlier (Panormo, Pagés and other makers); Torres systematised and established them. He worked in Seville (1852-1869) and later in Almería; the exact dates of each innovation are approximate.
What it led to
- the concert guitar of Tárrega and Segovia
- a model followed by Spanish luthiers (Ramírez, Hauser)
- the guitar's concert repertoire in the 20th century