Design Analysis of Torres Guitars: Based on the Catalog by Romanillos

by John Saucier

Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013



José Romanillos has provided an invaluable resource for those interested in Torres’ guitars with his book Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker — His Life and Work. Romanillos has cataloged eighty-eight Torres instruments divided into the two periods, or “epochs,” Torres was active building guitars. This includes thirty-nine instruments from the first epoch (1854–1868), and forty-nine instruments from the second epoch (1875–1892). With the dimensional data provided in Romanillos’ catalog, it is possible to investigate some of Torres’ design principles.

Romanillos has assigned a catalog number to each instrument to designate its construction sequence. Guitars from the first epoch are given the designation “FE” followed by a construction sequence number. First-epoch instruments were not numbered by Torres so Romanillos has assigned them sequence numbers. Guitars from the second epoch are given the designation “SE” followed by a construction sequence number. In some cases, the catalog number has been augmented with a letter (A, B, C, etc.) where a new instrument has come to light since the original catalog. The letter “U” has been used to designate an instrument where the sequence number on the label (typically added by Torres for second-epoch labels) is missing or illegible.