Juan Alvarez - - Classical guitar - Spain - 1988

Juan Alvarez was born in 1932 and and his brother Lorenzo began building guitars in the 1940s. Later, Juan Alvarez became friends with Marcelo Barbero (1904-1956), one of the great guitar builders of the last century. The latter became Juan's mentor, providing him with advice and support, from which he says he benefited enormously. Together with Marcelo Barbero, he also had an insight into the guitar world of the great Santos Hernandez, as Marcelo Barbero worked for Santos Hernandez's widow for a while after his death. In 1952, Juan Alvarez founded his own workshop, where he worked shortly before his death and also trained his son. He also worked with Arcangel Fernandez, so he can rightly be called one of the most important guitar builders!


Eric Clapton used a Juan Alvarez model for his iconic “Tears in Heaven” performance and his MTV Unplugged concert. One of Clapton’s Alvarez guitars fetched $253,900 at auction, underscoring the great respect he had for the instrument. Recently, another Juan Alvarez guitar, which Clapton had loaned to John Porter for many years, sold at auction for $101,000.

https://bid.juliensauctions.com/lot-details/index/catalog/491/lot/234280/eric-clapton-played-alvarez-acoustic-guitar-used-to-write-tears-in-heaven#mz-

Top: Solid cedar

Back and side: Solid indian rosewood

Fingerboard: Ebony

String: 656 mm, 51mm