$15,995.00
Otto Vowinkel is a household name in the classical guitar world, a renowned luthier whose instruments are sought after by musicians around the globe.
His instruments are remarkably lightweight, incredibly easy to play, ultra-responsive, and exceptionally powerful. They are celebrated for their rich tonal qualities, evenness of sound colour, and precise intonation across the entire fingerboard.
This new guitar already possesses a beautiful singing voice that will mesmerize audiences, offering exceptional balance, note separation, and sustain. With excellent playability and true concert-level projection, it delivers both refinement and power in equal measure.
An incredible set of Brazilian rosewood paired with a stunning bearclaw German spruce top completes this outstanding instrument !!
With a waiting list of approximately three years, we only receive one guitar per year from Otto Vowinkel, making each new arrival an especially rare and desirable opportunity for collectors and concert artists alike.
1 in stock
Description
New Concert classical guitar
Made in 2026
650mm scale with 52mm nut width
German spruce top
Brazilian rosewood back and sides
Honduran cedar neck
Ebony fingerboard & head plate
Brazilian rosewood bridge
Alessi machine heads with snakewood buttons
Hand rubbed French polish finishing
Visesnut Premiere white gloss case included
Guitars weight is 1.50 Kg / 3.306 lbs
Total length of the guitar is 98 cm / 38.58 inches
Body length is 47 cm / 18.50 inches
Upper bout is 26.5 cm /10.43 inches
Lower bout is 36 cm / 14.17 inches
Depth of body is 9.5 cm/ 3.74 inches
***We are proud to be the exclusive Canadian dealer of Otto Vowinkel guitars ***
Otto Vowinkel is a household name in the classical guitar world, a renowned luthier whose instruments are sought after by musicians around the globe. A guitar maker with exceptional attention to detail and a deep commitment to traditional construction methods, he has earned an international reputation for craftsmanship and consistency.
His instruments are remarkably lightweight, incredibly easy to play, ultra-responsive, and exceptionally powerful. They are celebrated for their rich tonal qualities, evenness of sound colour, and precise intonation across the entire fingerboard.
His concert guitars are entirely French polished with a shellac finish, reflecting the elegance and refinement of traditional lutherie. The distinctive rosette design incorporates herringbone purfling surrounding the mosaic — a motif inspired by the flag of the city of Amsterdam. The headstock itself is carved after the façade of his workshop, giving each instrument a uniquely personal signature.
Otto Vowinkel was born and raised by a family of tailors in the old centre of Amsterdam. When he was 19 he went to Mallorca, Spain, where he worked in a bar for 2 years. Back in Holland he started his own bar and restaurant. It was during that period that he started playing classical guitar.
Besides teaching his pupils how to play the guitar, Otto’s guitar teacher, Carlo Mell, also did some repair work on guitars. Otto found this very interesting and it triggered him to start making guitars himself. He quit the restaurant business, bought a pile of wood, a saw, a chisel, a pot of glue and the book “Classical Guitar Construction” by Irving Sloane, and he began making his first guitar in the attic of his house, using an old pool table as a workbench. This was in 1984.
After six months of perseverance and sleepless nights he managed to create something that was shaped like a guitar. Encouraged by the result he started on the next one. He had no teacher but showed his latest specimen to anyone who had anything to do with guitar playing. With their comments in mind, he began building his next one, and so on…
This turned out to be a perfect method.
In 1989 he met his future wife, Dutch guitarist Esther Steenbergen, as well as the Andalusian-based Dutch guitar maker Alex van der Horst, better known as “Alejandro” (1959-2009) with whom he started working on a regular basis during the periods Alex resided in Holland. They shared their ideas about “the ideal guitar”: a flexible tone, a quick response and the quality of the sound as the carrier of volume.
In the years that followed Otto Vowinkel developed into a guitar maker with a great eye for detail and with a strong preference for traditionally built instruments. Little by little he became a household name in the classical guitar world with clients all over the world.
All of his concert instruments are French polished, a traditional method of polishing with shellac. He has made an intense study of it, and nowadays he is asked to give lectures and workshops about it. For his instruments he uses ‘the usual’ materials like German spruce and Canadian cedar for the top and different kinds of rosewood for the back and sides. Lately, he also uses cocobolo for the back and sides as well as maple. In his rosette he processes the flag of the city of Amsterdam. Besides classical concert guitars he also makes flamenco guitars, quart guitars and fifth-bass guitars, an instrument tuned a perfect fifth lower than a standard guitar. This guitar has a wider body and a scale of 72 cm. It is perfect for use in ensembles, to widen the range of transcriptions for duo, trio , etc. or for some cello repertoire, like Esther Steenbergen did with the cello suites of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Musicians playing Vowinkel guitars include classical guitarists like the Amsterdam guitar trio, Sanel Redzic, Denis Azabagic, Tariq Harb and George Sakellariou. Also guitarist from the jazz world and tango scene like Leonardo Amuedo, Ernesto Snajer, Nelson Faria, Julio Cobelli, appreciate the instruments of this extraordinary guitar maker.
Otto still lives in the centre of Amsterdam. Besides building guitars, he runs the prestigious “Masters of the guitar” concert series in the world famous “Concertgebouw” together with Esther, his wife.
Additional information
| Weight | 11 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 115 × 51 × 21 cm |
