Santos Bayón Ruiz
Santos Bayón Ruiz was born in Madrid in 1951 in the very workshop of his great uncle, Santos Hernandez, (1873-1943). Santos Hernandez, however, was a secretive man who never shared his knowledge or took on any apprentices. Although Santos Bayón's father, Feliciano Bayón (192?-1998), inherited his uncle's workshop after the death of his widow in 1955, he was self-taught luthier. An intelligent man, Feliciano became a great guitar maker in his own right not only by studying the guitars left to him by his uncle, but by carefully and methodically observing the many fine instruments brought to him for repair-- guitars by such famous makers as Antonio de Torres, Enrique Garcia, and Herman Hauser. Although Santos Bayon Ruiz grew up surrounded by guitars, and learned the basics of construction by watching his father work, it wasn't until he finished his studies at age 18 that he really began to work with his father. His evolution into a good guitar maker, he says, was a natural process. "I honestly believe that living in this atmosphere day in and day out, and being surrounded by my great uncle's guitars (which I studied over and over again), I acquired at least part of their knowledge, art, and experience." Santos only builds about sixteen guitars a year, so we count ourselves lucky to represent this fine builder.
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