Jose Luis Velazquez Requinto Romantico

This was my first guitar. It was a gift from my aunt when I still lived in Mexico over 20 years ago. It had remained in Mexico at my parents' house for over a decade before I decided to bring it with me to the states. It is a requinto romantico handmade in Paracho, Michoacan by Jose Luis Velazquez. It has a solid spruce top, solid palo escrito (Mexican rosewood) sides and back, rosewood fretboard and mother of pearl soundhole inlay (pictured below.)

The requinto romantico is a small guitar that's tuned all the way up to A. This gives it a very bright and beautiful sound, perfect for rasqueo style in Mexican music, or soloing over trio-style songs. Growing up, I never gave this guitar the respect it deserved. Now I have a lot of appreciation for its craftsmanship and sound.

There's not a whole lot of information available online about this luthier or requintos in general. But, Candelas Guitars sells requintos made by Tomas Delgado. His mahogany requinto is remarkably similar to mine.