Starting from the shape and structure of the Spanish hand vihuela and the romantic guitar, the guitar maker Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817-1892) applied his own technical and constructive innovations to the existing models of his time until he achieved a guitar with great sound quality and higher level response, which also allowed a broader repertoire to be interpreted.
His model caught the attention of the great guitarist and composer Julián Arcas (1832-1882), who used a Torres guitar in his concerts and struck up a great friendship with the luthier. Arcas also contributed ideas and suggestions to improve the instrument.
Later, Tárrega, Pujol and Llobet acquired and played guitars by Antonio de Torres, which definitively established the work of this great luthier as a reference.
With a sound quality according to the tastes of a new era and increasingly valued by interpreters and audiences, Antonio de Torres' constructive and design innovations were gradually adopted by the majority of luthiers, thus establishing a defined standard for the construction of the modern classical guitar, which has become known throughout the world as “Spanish guitar”.
