Torres left no written record of his design and construction principles and techniques. We are left to infer his approach from the instruments of his that have survived. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent resources documenting his life and work.
Any study of Torres and his guitars must begin with Jose Romanillos’ book Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker, His Life and Work. Romanillos was not only a preeminent luthier, he was also a great historian of the instrument and teacher. In his book on Torres, he documents Torres’ life and construction techniques and catalogues 88 instruments built by Torres between 1854 and 1892. Romanillos provides dimensional data for scale length, body plan dimensions, sound hole diameter, and side depth.
Another excellent source on Torres and the evolution of the Spanish guitar is Sheldon Urlik’s book A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present. The book details his guitar collection which included four Torres guitars as well as others by more than 60 builders. In all, 82 instruments built between 1867 and 2009 are included. Of those, he designates 63 as classical guitars, with the remaining 19 designated as flamenco guitars. The dimensional data included in this book is extensive and an excellent resource for analyzing not only guitars built by Torres, but also those built by those who followed him.
Authoritative plans for Torres guitars are not readily available. Plans drawn during the restoration of an instrument are particularly valuable as they provide special insight into the details of design and construction. Fortunately, the master luthier Jefferey Elliott has provided such a plan. Even more significantly, it is a plan for the Torres guitar of 1888 which belonged to Fransisco Tárrega. The plan is available from the Guild of American Luthiers. The guitar whose construction is depicted in the web page “Torres” is built to that plan and all references to dimensions and details for the instrument are from that plan unless otherwise noted.
For insight into the lives of Torres and Tárrega, the best resource is Emilio Pujol’s biography Tárrega Ensayo biográfico. It is a unique homage to Tárrega written by a loving pupil. The book includes a particularly significant document providing insight into Torres the man, as well as his guitars, in the form of a letter written by Juan Martinez Sirvent, a priest and friend of Torres. Excerpts from Pujol’s book were translated from the Spanish by the author.
There is very little historical documentation for the construction methods used in building guitars. One source is Manuel du Luthier by J. C. Maugin. It was originally published in Paris by Nicolas-Edme Roret in 1834 as part of a series of books under the name “Librairie de Roret.” Later, these books were referred to as the Encyclopédie-Roret and Manuels-Roret. Ultimately, more than 300 titles were included in the series covering a range of topics and skills. Maugin’s text details the construction of the violin, other members of the violin family, bows, and the guitar. While the majority of the book concerns the violin family, much of the information is relevant to the guitar including selection of woods, tools, glue, and finishes.
All references in these web pages to information from Romanillos, Urlik, Elliott, Pujol, or Maugin are from these five works unless otherwise noted:
Jose Romanillos. Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker, His Life and Work. Westport, CT, USA: The Bold Strummer, Ltd., 1990.
Sheldon Urlik. A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present, Second Edition. Commerce, CA, USA: Sunny Knoll Publishing Company, 2015.
Jeffrey R. Elliott. “Restoring Tarrega’s 1888 Torres,” American Lutherie, Number 83, Fall 2005.
Guild of American Luthiers Plan Number 52.
Emilio Pujol, Tarrega Ensayo en biografico. Lisbon, Portugal: Ramos, Afonso & Moita, Lda., 1960.
J. C. Maugin. The Luthier’s Manual, An English Translation of the Historic French Manual of Violin and Guitar Construction, Translated & Edited by John Saucier, W. Brad Holley, Kate Rickenbacker. Live Oak Books, 2021.
John Saucier. “Design Analysis of Torres Guitars,” American Lutherie, Number 113, Spring 2013.