José Marques — Guitar Luthier
Combining tradition and innovation in the art of guitar making
Each guitar José Marques builds is a dialogue between tradition and innovation. The wood lives and speaks, and Marques simply gives it form and voice. Working from Portugal with deep roots in carpentry and music, he has built an international reputation for high-performance classical guitars — instruments conceived not as objects, but as extensions of the musician’s soul: light to the touch, deep in response, infinite in possibilities.
For Marques, lutherie is more than a craft — it is a form of personal expression. Each instrument is born from the balance between tradition and innovation, between the patience of human hands and a constant search for new acoustic solutions. He honors the legacy of the great masters of classical guitar making while believing that knowledge must be reinterpreted for the present, moving between traditional structures and modern approaches such as double-top and lattice-hybrid bracing to give musicians clarity, power, and emotion in equal measure.
His Australian-style lattice bracing draws on the influence of luthiers such as Gnatec, while his double-top instruments follow in the tradition shaped by masters Gernot Wagner and Matthias Dammann. The choice of wood is treated as a sacred moment — exotic and local species are selected for the unique voice each combination can give an instrument, and finishes are applied by hand, favoring traditional French polish for its ability to preserve tone while revealing the wood’s natural beauty. Every detail, from tuners to neck profile, is developed together with the musician, since each guitar is built to be unique — a reflection of both Marques’ vision and the identity of the player who will hold it.
Jose Marques double-top classical guitar 2026 specification:
- Soundboard: Western Red Cedar / Nomex / Western Red Cedar (double-top)
- Back & sides: Indian Rosewood, double sides
- Neck: Spanish Cedar
- Nut: 52mm, bone
- Scale: 650mm
- Fingerboard: Ebony, with carbon fiber neck reinforcement bar
- Bridge: Rosewood, tie-block, 12-hole type
- Finish: Shellac (French polish)
- Tuners: Kraken
The double-top construction gives the instrument exceptional projection and clarity, while the double-sided rosewood back and sides add depth and sustain. The carbon fiber-reinforced ebony neck ensures long-term stability, and the hand-applied shellac finish preserves the guitar’s full acoustic potential while highlighting the natural character of the tonewoods.
To learn more https://josemarquesguitars.com/
