Tomás Badía Ibañez - - Classical guitar - Spain - 2026

This is a guitar of recent manufacture, handmade by Tomás Badía Ibáñez, a local luthier with more than 60 years of experience (from 15 years old to the current 75), belonging to the autonomous community of Aragon. His workshop is located in Mallén, where he builds guitars together with his friend and former favorite protege Julio Coca, and he wrote his book about the history of stringed instruments in Spain, since he is also a scholar. He began in the trade in the Valencia area, but moved to Mallén, Aragon. He learned the craft from his mentors, Vicente Sanchís Badía, and the descendants of Salvador Ibáñez, and in short, the old Valencia school. He is considered an artistic luthier and creates guitars of authorship, exclusively for his friends; he does not manufacture them in series or on order. Each guitar he makes is unique. The making of this piece required about 250 hours of work. Moreover, this guitar is regarded as an “author’s guitar” because its construction is not 100% the traditional Spanish method; it has a double heel block, the usual heel block but also another glued to the soundboard that connects to the neck to give structural rigidity, and a slightly different tonal quality. It also features two ebony inserts on the sides of the heel that are not only for aesthetics but that extend into the body and contribute structural rigidity (ebony is one of the strongest woods). So, all things considered, we are talking about a unique guitar, and in my opinion this luthier is the real, traditional definition of what it means to be a luthier: he learned from good guitar makers, studies the history and procedures of guitars, has his workshop far from modern society, with a couple of students he guides with his wisdom, and he only makes guitars for his friends or if someone proposes making a different guitar; anyway you have to talk to him in person, forget about what is considered a business model.

Now we must talk about the woods, because they are also exceptional. All the woods used in this guitar have a curing time of at least 30 years or more, harvested by the luthier himself when he was younger. The sides and back are solid maple of the “garra” type. I’ve seen several guitars with this wood, but all are laminated or veneered. The merit of this guitar is that the maple is solid and of the highest quality; it’s a feat because it is very tricky to work with that wood due to its physical characteristics. The soundboard is a beauty, German spruce solid wood, with a dense grain throughout the surface, straight and marked; it is a top of maximum quality, which is important because it’s the part that contributes to the guitar’s sound quality, and in this case it aligns with the guitar’s level. The fretboard is ebony with a very subtle aesthetic decoration at the very end.

The construction of this guitar, as expected, is manual and typical of a master builder with decades of experience: very refined, very beautiful, with a lot of personality and unique construction. Aesthetic details like the ebony inlays or the double heel block are also functional, as I already mentioned. The fretboard has no varnish or color treatment; it’s a constructor’s choice since it’s fashionable now. However, at the buyer’s request, a treatment can be applied at no cost to make the fretboard completely black.

The sound is also very distinctive; it has the slightly metallic tint provided by the maple, good volume and presence, a powerful and bright sound, although it has a small mystery: the sound is not flat, it changes with the guitarist and how it is played. If you play a classical piece, the sound is enveloping, powerful, rounded; however, when you play flamenco fast and hard, the sound becomes more suitable for flamenco, i.e., it changes depending on the guitarist or the musical piece.

The condition is perfect; it’s recently made, so it is practically unused, with no wear from use, no cracks or anything; the condition is pristine, new.

Measurements in mm:
Scale length: 650 (flamenco)
Total length: 1000
Width: 370
Body depth at heel: 100
Action at 12th fret: 2.5 mm
Nut width: 56
Saddle width: 51
Clearance at saddle: 12