Choosing Wood with Kenneth Brogger

Danish luthier Kenneth Brögger has just returned from a recent visit to the world’s largest dealer of exotic tone-woods for musical instruments, Maderas Barber in Valencia, Spain. Since 1974, Kenneth has purchased most of the wood used to build his fine concert classical guitars (including his famous “Torres” replicas) there in the outskirts of Valencia. On this trip, Kenneth bought some beautiful flamed maple – fine straight-grained, even-colored with no runout – along with some beautiful bearclaw spruce for soundboards, and also Zirocote, Amazon Rosewood and Indian Rosewood for backs and sides.

The Maderas Barber company was founded in 1957, and from the beginning they specialized in woods used for musical instruments, primarily high-grade spruce tops from Germany. As demand grew for more exotic woods, they gradually increased the number of species in their catalog, importing them from anywhere in the world and then establishing their own sawmills in the different countries of origin. They are currently able to supply about 100 different species across a wide range of prices and quality.

The reason Kenneth chooses Maderas Barber when he buys his woods is because he is given the opportunity to personally select his woods from their large storage, ensuring that he is able to get exactly what he is after.

Find out more about the company by visiting their site.