Hill Guitar Company
 

Master Series

HILL GUITAR COMPANY produces a line of guitars called the Master Series; beautiful hand made classical guitars based on works of the finest historical guitar makers. Made in California from the finest woods requiring a custom order a small team of craftsmen trained and supervised by Kenny Hill.

The designs of old masters such as Hauser, Fleta, Torres, Rodriguez, and others insure results that have been tried and proven by generations of luthiers and concert artists. It is an intriguing challenge to study the details of these instruments, searching for minutia offering clues to methods, reasoning and instincts that produce the unique results from each builder's style.


Master Series

Signature Series

New World Guitars
 

The Master Series offers the player a chance to own an instrument with musical and design characteristics that might otherwise be unavailable because of scarcity or cost. Through these various models we are able to offer instruments of an interesting range of musical and aesthetic personalities. They are excellent concert guitars at very reasonable prices.

Normally in the Master Series we use Indian rosewood and Englemann spruce. Brazilian rosewood and European spruce are available by request at market cost.

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Hauser Model

Hauser '37

We are pleased to announce our new Hauser '37 model - a very desirable concert guitar. The original guitar built for Andres Segovia by Hermann Hauser presently resides in New York's Metropolitan Museum. Kenny Hill decided to develop the Hauser '37 by closely following Richard Brune's documented specifications both in materials and construction techniques. The results are very pleasing. This guitar's sophistication, subtlety and quality of sound is exceptional. The Hauser '37 is designed for the player seeking a singularly unique instrument, featuring the qualities of a custom made guitar, a faithful representation of Hauser's timeless design, a joy to play and a exceptional sound.

  • Sound board: Select European spruce
  • Back & sides: Indian rosewood
  • Neck: mahogany
  • Fingerboard: ebony
  • String length: 650mm
  • Tuners: Rubner
  • Finish: French polish
  • Base Price: $5495 (Brazilian rosewood market price)

 

Torres Model

Torres

Antonio de Torres established design principles setting the standard for virtually every guitar maker to follow him. People who own Torres guitars say he is still the best ever. Our Torres 1856 model comes from early in his career, modeled after an instrument we had for repairs in house from this period. It has classic Torres bracing with the 7 bar fan, and a beautiful body shape slightly smaller than the current standard. The remarkable thing is that although the size is smaller, the sound is not. It is very strong, with singing highs solid, big chested bass. There is no compromise in sound. This guitar is well-suited for players with smaller hands or limited reach. Customer Reviews

  • Sound board: Select European spruce
  • Back & sides: Indian rosewood, maple or cypress
  • Neck: Spanish cedar
  • Fingerboard: ebony
  • Tuners: Rubner
  • String length: 650mm, 640mm, or 635mm
  • Finish: French polish
  • Base Price: $5495

See article - Antonio de Torres, A Modern Guitar Maker
See article - An Interview with Pepe Romero

 

Torres

Antonio de Torres established design principles setting the standard for virtually every guitar maker to follow him. People who own Torres guitars say he is still the best ever. Our Torres model comes from early in his career, modeled after Torres' FE 18, an instrument of which we were able to have precise measurements and even a catscan disclosing its bracing. It has classic Torres bracing with the 7 bar fan, and a beautiful body shape smaller than the Torres 1856 model. We've also replicated the purfilngs, bindings and rosette from the original.

The remarkable thing is that although the size is smaller, the sound is not. It is very strong, with singing highs solid, big chested bass. There is no compromise in sound. This guitar is well-suited for players with smaller hands or limited reach.

  • Sound board: Select European spruce
  • Back & sides: Indian rosewood, maple or cypress
  • Neck: Spanish cedar
  • Fingerboard: ebony
  • Tuners: Gotoh
  • String length: 640mm, or 635mm
  • Finish: French polish
  • Base Price: $5495
Torres Model

maple back and sides

 

Panormo Model

Panormo

Built in the style of Luis Panormo, an Italian born luthier working in London in the 1830's, this guitar is nicknamed "Cacahuate" or peanut, because of its distinctive shape. The volume and projection of this small guitar are quite astonishing, and the ease of playing is pure pleasure, attributable to the relatively short string length. This style of guitar construction is really the last evolutionary link leading up to Antonio de Torres and the emergence of the modern classical guitar.

  • Sound board: Select European spruce
  • Back & sides: Indian rosewood
  • Neck: Spanish cedar
  • Fingerboard: ebony
  • String length: 630mm
  • Tuners: Sloane
  • Finish: French polish
  • Base Price: $7495

Also available in maple and Brazilian rosewood.

 

11 String Model

11 String

This unique instrument was designed and commissioned by Terry Schumacher to play Renaissance and Baroque lute and theorbo lute literature. The body design is our popular Munich design with the neck offset from the standard central position. 7 strings are over the fingerboard, four are lower harp strings. This guitar has a very full sweet satisfying sound.

  • Sound board: Select European spruce
  • Back & sides: Indian rosewood
  • Neck: Spanish cedar
  • Fingerboard: ebony
  • String length: 650mm
  • Tuners: Schaller
  • Finish: French polish
  • Base Price: $9995

 

Prices subject to change.

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