I first met Gil Carnal in 1980 in Santa Cruz, California. At that time he was already making guitars, and I remember playing one he had just finished which I particularly admired. Gil still lives near Santa Cruz, above the town of Soquel where he has his mountain workshop. Today he is building an outstanding classical guitar that utilizes a hybrid design based on a lattice support system but which also incorporates elements from traditional fan-bracing design.

Turkish-born concert and recording artist and teacher Mesut Özgen offered the following testimonial regarding Gil's guitars:

Gil Carnal's lattice top guitar is an exceptionally successful example of integrating traditional and new designs. I have played great guitars built in both designs for a long time, such as a 1988 José Ramirez and a 1995 Simon Marty. I always had a desire, however, for a guitar combining some of the qualities of both. When I finally had a chance to play Gil's lattice-top guitars in 2003, I was greatly impressed by his ability to integrate the best qualities of the traditional Spanish sound with the amazing colors and sustain of lattice design. Although the recording of my CD Troubadour was just completed, I couldn't resist adding one more piece to the CD, played on Gil's lattice-top guitar. Thank you, Gil- for building an astounding guitar with remarkable tone and playability!

The guitar Gil Carnal made for me is a sensitive and powerful generator of sound. I can play very loud and, more important, I can also play incredibly soft and either way, the instrument's ability to sustain is remarkable and full. At the same time, the tone of the instrument is very beautiful and round, rich with overtones and vivid colors. Furthermore, the response of this instrument is so immediate and quick that it makes my job as a player significantly easier. All of these factors combine to make the Gil Carnal guitar an outstanding instrument! I recently visited Gil at his workshop where, after enjoying playing on his latest creation, we sat down for the following interview:

      Rico Stover

Rico Stover: Tell me about your love affair with guitars.
Gil Carnal: When I was a boy growing up in Switzerland I took piano lessons from my grandmother who was a pianist. I was very drawn to music. The guitar was just starting to be in vogue in Europe and I was very attracted to it. My grandmother agreed to buy one for me on the condition that it was not just a whim. I ended up studying classical guitar for several years, receiving a degree at the music conservatory in Neuchatel. I played professionally and taught for many years.

When did you become interested in making guitars?
I practically grew up in my father's woodworking shop. My father died when I was young and his shop became my playground. It was there that I made my first guitar- a coconut contraption with 2 strings! Later, during my music studies, I began studying lute literature. Since lutes were very expensive I started "theorbizing" cheap Japanese guitars for myself and my impecunious [poor] fellow students by adding strings to them.

After 10 years of teaching guitar in Switzerland I traveled quite a bit, supporting myself by playing in various venues. My wanderings led me to California where I met classical guitarist and luthier Kenny Hill. I asked him if I could work in his shop on my Conde Hermanos, which needed a new fingerboard. We became friends, working and playing gigs together. That was when I built my first guitars.

That was also when you and I first met- the early 80's?
Exactly. For many years I worked off and on with Kenny. In the 90's we started a business building guitars in Paracho, Mexico.

What kind of guitars were you building in Paracho?
Well, Kenny had the idea of producing good quality copies of instruments by acknowledged master builders. For a few years we were partners and I helped oversee production on location, building prototypes etc.

So, when did you start building your own guitars?
In 2000 I decided to go on my own after gaining a good vision of what I really wanted to do.

Which was…?
When I was a music student I had an unforgettable experience. The violinist Nathan Milstein was giving a recital at the Cathedral of Lausanne. Imagine this: he was standing alone over a small podium in the middle of the nave; in the tense silence of a thousand people…almost unbearable…. he slowly raised his bow… and suddenly filled the entire cathedral with sound. For two hours he commanded an absolute state of grace over the whole audience. After that day I realized I was a little bit of a frustrated musician with my instrument. Mostly, when I compared that experience with the guitar recitals I had attended, even those by Segovia. Regardless of the acoustics, the audience had to strain to hear the music. This is what drove me to try to create an instrument with more volume, projection and responsiveness.

So you believe that guitars built in the traditional manner are less satisfactory?
My experience in copying the works of many masters, and of playing a large array of traditionally made guitars showed me that they are, for the most part, very good, with beautiful quality. But even the best of them seldom gives you that feeling of power and command that you have when playing a piano, for example. I know that a guitar could never equal a pipe organ, for sure, but I truly believe that the guitar can evolve and not be bound to electrical amplification.

So you think you can improve upon tradition?
Every tradition has an evolutionary component. The guitar, like other instruments, has constantly improved. If you look at the work of the great luthiers, you see that almost every one of them has changed something. I am just trying to contribute to that natural process.

In which form?
Since I am not a complete radical, I follow the dimension, shape and most of the traditional aspects of building a guitar. The changes I make are to the underside of the soundboard, treating it a little bit like the wing of a plane and creating a lighter resonating area that presents the same resistance as a traditional soundboard.

How do you achieve that?
The idea is not new. I use a lattice bracing made of lightweight wood reinforced with graphite fiber in the manner of Greg Smallman.

So, is it a copy of Smallman's bracing system?
Actually, the technology is similar but the concept is very different. When I designed my top, I had seen only the video of John Williams showing Smallman's reinforced lattice bracing and treatment of the soundboard. I had been working on racing boats using exotic fibers and glues, creating panels of incredible strength and resilience with minimum weight. I thought it was only logical to apply these concepts to musical instruments.

My idea was to enlarge the vibrating surface of the soundboard, without separating the lower and upper bout with a harmonic brace. This is where the iconoclast in me came into play! I always thought that the harmonic brace of the guitar was named after the harmonic brace of the violin, which does not serve the same function. The brace makes total sense structurally in conventional construction as it prevents the soundboard from collapsing at the sound hole, but in my opinion it has very little to do with harmonics. The new technology allows me to create a larger and lighter soundboard encompassing a large portion of the upper bout.

And what was the end result?
Well, you saw the second or third prototype. The results were very promising. Do you remember, you thought I was onto something there? Sure, I had to refine the process and find the right combination of thickness and materials, but after a few tops I obtained very good results with better sustain, powerful trebles, good balance and very distinct inner voices. And now you are playing my guitar #62!

Are there any drawbacks?
Construction-wise it's quite a bit more time-consuming. As is the case with double tops, a broken soundboard with lattice bracing is difficult to repair. Other than that, as disciples of Arnold say, "No pain, no gain!"

Gil Carnal Handmade Guitars:
Indian Rosewood Side and Back
Cedar Top (Spruce Top upon request)
Spanish Cedar Neck
Ebony Fingerboard
French Polish Finish
$4,500

Brazilian Rosewood available! Call for quote.

Gil Carnal
(408) 515-7051 cell
(408) 353-5886
P.O. Box 148
Soquel, CA 95073
email: gil@gilcarnal.com
website: www.gilcarnal.com