Christoph Sembdner 1999 - fine handmade classical guitar from Germany - Jose Luis Romanillos style

Christoph Sembdner has been building guitars since 1990 and has been teaching lutherie at the University of applied Sciences Zwickau in his hometown of Markneukirchen, East Germany. In addition to this post, which he has held since 1999, he was invited by the private vocational school in Moss/Norway in 1995 to establish a guitar department and take over the task of teaching guitar making. His building style is greatly influenced by Torres/Hauser patterns that he learned while attending Romanillos masterclasses.

Christoph Sembdner’s guitars are structurally based on the famous 1973 Romanillos of Julian Bream, primarily in how he constructs and braces his soundboards. They also manage to capture a remarkably similar sound, just as is heard in some of Bream’s finer moments, including his famous recording of Albeniz and Granados. It is quite startling actually just how much his instruments sound like these original Romanillos guitars. Sembdner does have his own system of construction for the back and sides, including the use of double-sides for added projection and volume.

This particular guitar was built with a set of gorgeous Rosewood which is very dense and therefore ‘reflective’ in tonal quality – giving the tone added brilliance and clarity. The guitar also has a very wide palette of tonal colors both in the trebles and basses, making this a very agile guitar for the player seeking those Bream-esque shifts of timbre with only the slightest modification of the hand position or angle of right hand attack.
Although volume and projection on this guitar are very good, he builds with balance and sustain as top priority. The sound is very solid and clear, with every note able to sing beautifully. The aesthetic design is handsomely elegant and clean, this is an excellent concert guitar in all aspects.

Although a second-hand instrument, the guitar is in a very good condition with only a few signs of use and play.

The scale length is 650 mm and the nut width 52 mm. It has a nice spruce top and beautiful rosewood back and sides. It comes with its original hard case.

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