The sweet sounds of Spanish guitars have serenaded music lovers for hundreds of years, reaching audiences far beyond their home country. But now one company wants to move the music back to its roots.
Based in the foothills outside Toledo, Spain, Manuel Rodriguez guitars are exported all over the world — inspiring Flamenco music in Japan and sounding out Latin styles in South America. They are exported to 120 countries and are played by musicians including Carlos Santana and Stevie Wonder.
At the moment most of the 15,000 guitars they make annually are industrially produced in China, where they are assembled in one month and sold for around $200.
But each year, 5,000 guitars are also made in Spain, crafted from a variety of woods such as African ebony, Canadian cedar and Indian rosewood. These models can fetch up to $20,000 each.
“A $20,000 guitar would take about three to four months — so you put so much passion, love in that instrument you feel ashamed to sell it,” says Manuel Rodriguez, the third generation owner of the company.
He says his is the second-oldest guitar brand in the world, and now he plans to bring the production of its low-price guitars back from China to their historic home of Spain.
“People will buy more our instruments made in Spain than made in China,” says Rodriguez. “In China the labor is going up, so it’s going be difficult to compete and I think that’s our next challenge is to express and to show the Spanish guitar is back in Spain.”
Watch the video above to find out more.