To make a fine top quality instrument takes top quality materials. Great care is taken in the selection of timber. It must of course be well seasoned and dry. Timbers are selected for their structural soundness, density, strength, appearance and tonal response. Much thought is also given to the matching of the various components in any given batch. This approach has yielded very consistent results.

For the top I use mostly alpine spruce, occasionally cedar.

For the back and sides I use rosewoods - mainly indian, brazilian ( reclaimed) and occasionally other rosewoods such as honduras. I have also used maple, which I like very much, both for its visual beauty and acoustically for its warm tone and smooth attack.

For flamenco guitars I use the traditional cypress for the backand sides and spruce for the top.

Cedrela or mahogany is used for the neck and ebony for the fingerboard, brazilian rosewood for the bridge and head facing.

A variety of natural and dyed woods are used to make the rosettes and purflings, which I always make myself with variations from one batch to another. The photo on the left shows the end-block inlay on indian rosewood ribs, where a purfling of paduk (a natural burnt orange)and sycamore has been used with the rosewood bindings.