Why Rodriguez?

The Rodriguez family of guitar makers produced incredible instruments for nearly 100 years in the southernmost region of Spain—deep in Andalucia, in the picturesque Moorish city of Córdoba. We honed in on a specific model from the 1970s era, when the Rodriguez guitars shifted to a build favoring an expansion in the size and depth of the body with fewer braces (5 rather than 7). The result is a guitar that pumps out sound in a lively, efficient manner with little effort on the part of the player. The Córdoba Rodriguez mimics its predecessor, built by Miguel Rodriguez Serrano, with its large yet lightweight build and immediate response and outstanding projection.

*Bonus fact*: Cordoba’s founder and CEO named our company “Córdoba Guitars” as a tribute to Rafael Rodriguez, Miguel Jr.’s sometimes overlooked twin brother.

Our Approach

We embarked on designing the Córdoba Rodriguez by examining an authentic 1970s Rodriguez from the inside out. With a goal of understanding the essence of this iconic guitar, we studied wood thickness, bracing designs, material choices, wood grains, and vibration patterns. The combination of our own luthiers’ expert hands, trained eyes, and intuitive ears lead to an examination that was part science and part feel. After listening to and playing these guitars for hours on end, we fully analyzed the balance, resonance and response of the Rodriguez to fully inform our own design choices.

Construction

Our small team of skilled luthiers has added modern refinements such as a truss rod, geared tuning machines and a breathable nitrocellulose finish to make this a guitar for contemporary players. A hardshell humidified archtop case is included.