¡Hola Hivers! Que gusto volver a escribirles... En pro de seguir nuestra cultura popular en Sucre en cuanto a la fabricación de instrumentos musicales, hoy les traigo un trabajo personalizado súper interesante que realice en el año 2016 a un músico profesional brillante de la ciudad de Caracas llamado Antonio León, mejor conocido como "Toñito" y su amigo Marcos Reyes.

...Custom Luthiery...

Hello Hivers! What a pleasure to write to you again... In order to follow our popular culture in Sucre regarding the manufacture of musical instruments, today I bring you a super interesting custom work that I made in 2016 to a brilliant professional musician from the city of Caracas called Antonio Leon, better known as "Toñito" and his friend Marcos Reyes.

There have been many orders that since my beginnings have been requested, thanks to the legacy of the Figueroa family as manufacturers of Cuatro, still remains the attachment and trust of people to get an instrument from our family that since 1905 has provided Cuatros and formed people in this beautiful art of lutherie.

Everything begins with the recommendation of my friend Francisco Revidriego, the same one who commissioned me the Cuatro Temático de la Virgen del Valle, published previously (you can see it in my Posts). Antonio Leon calls me by phone and proposes me to make two Venezuelan Cuatro with very personal characteristics and that he knew I could do it for having the reference of my previous work with his friend Francisco; without hesitation I accepted this design, a little strange for me but very significant for him and his friend Marcos Reyes.

He shared with me the freehand sketch and I didn't see much complication in doing it thanks to my skill with the tools and the imagination to do things. Then we continued with the selection of wood and accessories, I still remember that day.

After having everything at hand, I scheduled and planned the beginning of the manufacture, excited about this new project, the time came and with all the encouragement in the world I started to do it. The process went on in a normal way and I became more and more confident and sure of myself and my knowledge that by then I was a young apprentice of lutherie.

The progress of the project was shown to Antonio and Marcos, who were very satisfied with how well those 2 personalized Cuatros were turning out. After 6 weeks they were ready, the only thing missing was the glossy polishing process, the following days they were lacquered and ready for their accessories and tuning to be executed as comfortably as possible.

At the 8th week after receiving their call, the instruments were already 100% finished, super satisfied with the result, we planned the delivery in my house, rather on my balcony which was practically my outdoor workshop, the following weeks they managed to come from Caracas; they were moments of mixed feelings, for the first time a musician of national stature with great expectations of the instrument would try one of my works.

When they finally arrived, we did not wait long, we went up to the balcony and their Cuatros welcomed them, which was a dream come true for them, since several manufacturers had rejected this manufacturing proposal for having some complexities in its structure.

The happy face of everyone was very obvious and the laughter, perhaps of nervousness, gave us away. They started tuning their instruments to their ears and started with a Pajarillo at full speed (popular Venezuelan music), it was amazing and incredible how well they played the Cuatro and how the instruments I made especially for them sounded, it was amazing.

They told me that the instruments were just as they had imagined and that they exceeded their expectations, both aesthetically and in terms of sound and the power of volume that they had when they played them. Between music and music those unforgettable hours went by until it was time to say goodbye.

It only remained to thank you for your trust and for taking the time to travel from Caracas to pick up your Cuatros, I am equally grateful for giving me the opportunity to make your instruments that with love, patience, responsibility and a lot of dedication I managed to make, always focused on offering an excellent service so that you can take from Cumaná a little piece of our tradition, craftsmanship and the legacy of our family.

Antonio is currently in the Dominican Republic making good music with acoustic and electric guitar, hand in hand with renowned musicians of that country, leaving our Venezuela on high.

Thank you very much for your time and support, very soon there will be several posts about my experience at home until I move to my current workshop, there is a lot of history ahead and many interesting anecdotes that will be shared. Until next time Hivers.