The Workshop Journal — News from the workshop
News
Saturday, Feb. 1st, 2014
The short documentary film by Carlo Hofmann about my work(shop) and me is ready!! We believe that it was worth waiting for it!
Alex Dukhovitch interview with Tobias Braun about the essence of guitar-making in English
Ottenschlag, July 2022
[Dummy — embed the films here — video URLs to be supplied]
The Guitars
"I go into the forest and select a tree that will eventually result in a guitar top."
Tobias Braun is fascinated by the homogeneity of the artisanal process. From then on he accompanies his material from the storage of wood to the processing of individual parts until the finished workpiece.
I almost exclusively use Spruce from the Austrian Alps and the Bohemian Forest for the soundboards. I have a particular preference for Bearclaw Spruce which I have been working with for many years.
The wood I use mostly for constructing the backs of the guitars is East Indian Rosewood. Other woods in this price class I can offer are flamed or bird’s-eye maple, or yew (in limited quantities) as alternatives to Rosewood. For more expensive instruments I can offer the choice between Brazilian Rosewood and Ziricote.
My “variation on this theme” is a wooden ring fitted to the inside of the sound hole extending about 17mm (2/3rds of an inch) into the instrument. This has a substantial effect of the sound without limiting access to the inside of the body for repairs.
The design for my one of my rosettes relates to a regionally historical motif. On the street where I live there is a boundary stone dating back to 1739, which depicts a pair of crossed keys.
Woods
All my woods are naturally air-dried. In 1988 I started buying and storing wood - sometimes whole trees - which means I have ready access to a large, varied and well-aged stock of woods.
Here I can offer the choice between South American Cedar (Cedro) and Honduras Mahogany.
The standard fingerboard is Ebony.
I offer a lifetime guarantee on the woods and workmanship of my guitars.
Before I comment on specific instruments in terms of their sound and historical significance, I would like to point out that I have only ever built instruments based on famous “original” instruments, particularly those made by distinguished Spanish Masters.
No. 1
Bearclaw Spruce/Satin Wood
The body of this guitar, compared to others I have researched, could be described as rather delicate, which belies the sheer volume and carrying power of the sound. This instrument has a fast response and produces a formable and transparent sound rich in tone colours.
No. 2
Spruce/Indian Rosewood
This instrument was part of the estate of the late Luise Walker (1988). Her teacher, Miguel Llobet, personally brought this guitar direct from Santos Hernández’s workshop to Vienna in 1924. The body of this instrument is really the antithesis of the 1912 Ramirez in terms of its dimensions. The larger resonance body gives it somewhat more warmth to the sound in the bass.
No. 3
Spruce/Cypress
I use this design for flamenco guitars as well as for classical instruments with Cedar tops.
No. 4
Satinwood (West Indian - fagara flava)
This is a stiff and heavy wood highly suitable for guitar bodies which Tobias has good experience of. At the same time it is very attractive particularly after it darkens with time, revealing more the characteristic figuring.
No. 5
Thermowood
Beautiful look and produces a formable and transparent sound, rich in tone colours.
No. 6
Sitka Spruce/Indian Rosewood
The most fascinating about this instrument is its balanced sound. For a steel-string guitar, it has a really delicate body, but the basses and trebles are still very well balanced. Its transparency and the broader fingerboard make it ideally suited to finger-picking and bottle-neck players. The neck joins the body at the 12th fret – as it is with the original.
No. 7
Sitka Spruce/East Indian Rosewood
This instrument too has a fast response and a well-balanced sound. It differs from the Martin 00-21 in that it boasts characteristics of a “standard” steel-string Guitar: larger body, narrow finger-board and the neck join at the 14th fret.
[Dummy — recordings, prices and availability are not published on the live site]
On request, I build highly sophisticated Classical Guitars with detailed, ambitious ornamentation. An example of such a detail is the hand-made purfling which I fit to the edges of these guitars, as well as the rosette, bridge and head which can all be embellished.
My Japanese dealer, Eisuke Ozaki, came up with a very good idea for improving the playability of the broad 10-string fingerboard. He suggested “shifting” the neck “upwards”. This I do by joining the neck to the body in a way that the median line of the broader fingerboard is shifted 10mm away from the median of the body in the direction of the bass-strings.
I was born in Holzminden/Weser, Germany in 1960.
During the course of 1983, having taught myself, I made my first Classical Guitar.
A year later, I attended my first guitar-making course under the tutelage of José Luis Romanillos, learning in those three weeks what most people take three years of apprenticeship to acquire.
1989 was quite an eventful year - I not only received my Master Craftsman’s Certificate in Vienna, but also attended a third course with José Romanillos, this time in Córdoba, Spain.
1993 was a very important year in my career, which began with a week-long training course at Gibson in Nashville, Tennessee. That summer I worked as J. Romanillos’ assistant during his Guitar Makers’ Course in Córdoba.
In 1998 I moved to my new house and workshop in Gaaden, situated near Vienna in the Vienna Woods.
Since the summer of 2000 I have been working together with the American Guitar Dealer, Miklaucic (Guitar Salon International) in Santa Monica, California.
Currently, I am offering to present the following Lectures:
…that which I initially regarded as a matter of straightforward craftsmanship increasingly revealed itself to be a small but, in terms of the history of Spanish Guitar Making, significant saga reminiscent of a Sherlock-Holmes mystery.
This presentation lasts 75-90 minutes (including illustrations)
The guitar Luise Walker played is held by experts as the most beautiful surviving “Santos”. After Ms. Walker’s death I had the privilege of thoroughly researching and measuring this instrument within the context of repair work.
This presentation lasts 60 minutes (including illustrations)
"One of the best Central European makers we've seen to date. He uses spectacular materials including gorgeous German spruce which is covered in bearclaw markings and has irregular, yet tight and beautiful grain patterns..."
Guitar Salon International, Santa Monica CASittendorferstr. 16b
A- 2531 Gaaden bei Mödling
T + F ++43 2237 8418
Mobile ++43 664 2303710
office@tobiasbraun-guitars.com
From Vienna take the A2 Autobahn south – then take the A21 – after about 3 kilometres take the Hinterbrühl turnoff.
Full directions