Manuel Rodriguez Sr. Rio Classical Guitar

The Rio classical guitar features a carefully chosen, solid Canadian cedar top, and laminated Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. The headstock is double-sided in Ebony, the neck is Honduran Cedar reinforced with Ebony, and the fingerboard is Ebony. Bone nut and saddles with a Brazilian Rosewood bridge enhance the ringing tone and sustain. Handmade Gold-plated tuners and Silver-plated frets are installed to last a lifetime. The classical guitar's body binding and wood rosette are exquisite.

Each Rodriguez Guitar is hand crafted and glued to create precise balances. From the invisible careful sanding, even inside the body, that ensures the finished instrument's purity of tone, to the beautifully unique rosette inlays around the soundhole and on the back of the neck, each guitar is a credit to its luthier and worthy of being handed down from one generation to another.

The tone, resonance and beauty of fine guitars are all dependent upon the wood from which they are made. The wood used in the construction of Rodriguez guitars is carefully chosen and aged to guarantee the highest quality. No wood is purchased before the tree has been cut down, and at least 2 years must elapse before the tree is turned into lumber. The wood has to be well cut from the log. The grain must be close and absolutely vertical. The shop is totally free from humidity.

Each Rodriguez guitar features a multicolored wood rosette, as exquisite as the sounds that issue from it. Their intricacy and beauty signify the attention to detail that characterizes every Rodriguez guitar.

For backs and sides, Rodriguez uses Brazilian Rosewood and Indian Rosewood (Jacaranda). Brazilian Rosewood has a beautiful color and design, making it ideal for an elegant concert classic guitar.

For the top, Rodriguez has experimented with other Spruce woods from various parts of the world including North America, Canada, Alaska, Russia and Sweden, but the Spruce from Central Europe is unique. Red Western Cedar is obtained from Canada and the Northwest U.S. There are many different qualities and colors. As with Spruce, stiffness, grain and weight are important.

For the neck, Rodriguez uses cedar from Honduras as preferred over heavy Mahogany. There are many kinds of Cedar, as the name is used on so many continents. The Honduran Cedar used is very hard and stiff, but at the same time, light. Necks are reinforced with 2 Ebony strips on the underside of the fingerboard to give total rigidity and to eliminate movement cased as a result of the aging of the instrument.