JOHN RAY, luthier and researcher
Granada (Spain)
LECTURE - April 29, 2017
NAU3 - Centre Cultural l'Escorxador, Badalona
In this lecture, luthier John Ray explains the main difficulties involved in restoring an old guitar and some of the techniques he uses in his work. He also tells us about applicable criteria to decide whether a restoration is relevant and how to choose the most appropriate type of intervention.
John Ray misses the existence of a consensual protocol that unifies and establishes the criteria for the restoration of historic guitars. His philosophy is clear: if the restoration endangers the integrity of the instrument - or its identity because it involves too many changes of elements - it is preferable to build a replica of the guitar rather than restore it, and keep the original intact.
So we enjoyed John Ray in Badalona, talking about restoring - and not restoring - and many other things, in this interesting lecture during the 2017 Badalona Guitar Conference. You can watch the session here, from beginning to end:
RECORDING OF JOHN RAY'S LECTURE:
VIDEO (42 min.)
ABOUT JOHN RAY
John Ray is a renowned guitar maker and researcher for this instrument. He has published numerous articles in specialized media, highlighting his contributions to Roseta magazine. He has studied guitars by Antonio de Lorca, Santos Hernández, Marcelo Barbero, Vicente Arias and Antonio de Torres.
John was Born in Canada and since 1989 he lives in Granada where he learned the traditional techniques of the local guitar makers. He builds his own classical and flamenco guitar models and he also has a replica of the SE153 by Antonio de Torres Jurado in his catalogue.
You can get more information about JohnRay's work if you visit his website:
