Unvailing Randy Angella
Guitar Connoisseur|Guitar Connoisseur Kevin Eubanks Spring 2019

Randy Angella Of Concord California Is A Self-taught Luthier Who Has Been Crafting Classical Guitars Since 1975. He Is Known To Make Some Of The Very Finest Sounding Classical Guitars Available Today. Randy Has Built Instruments For Many Of The World’s Top Classical Guitar Players. His Studies Are Deep Reaching Into Areas Not Necessarily Specific To The Guitar. Randy’s Designs Go Against The Grain Of The Strict Orthodox Rules That So Many Classical Builders Adhere To. Here Are Some Thoughts He Shared With Me During Our Conversations. “thickness Of The Timbers In Many Guitars Are Very Thin And Lightly Formed. The Operating Theory Being The Law Of Conservation Of Energy. A Given Mass Acted On By A Known Quantity Of Energy, Will Be Accelerated Faster As The Mass Decreases. Inversely, Acceleration Decreases As The Mass Increases. Guitar Makers Reason, Therefore, That To Produce Maximum Volume, Lightly Built Instruments Will Provide The Maximum Sound. You Can Build A Guitar Thinly And Light And It Will Have Some Very Loud Notes. The Problem Is That A Guitar Built With Only That Concept In Mind Will Have Great Volume But May Not Have Great Tone. They Are Different Ideas. I Know A Man That Can Yell So Loud You Can Hear Him From 200 Yards Out. But He Can’t Sing. To Build A Guitar That Sings You Have To Go Deeper Into How It Makes Music And What Is Musical Sound, Then Match Them” Randy Explained. So How Does The Man Go About Doing This? Let’s Find Out...

Mark Grant
Unvailing Randy Angella

Guitar Connoisseur: Randy, when did you become interested in the classical guitar?

Randy Angella: I became aware of the Classical Guitar in College and began actually to practice and play in 1973. Studying with Jim Wittes out of Marina Music in San Francisco.

GC: What were you up to during the years leading up to your first build?

In the years leading up to building, I was a Field Supervisor for a landscaping company.

RA: What was your motivation to jump in and build your first guitar?

A close friend, the same guy that introduced me to the guitar, mentioned his father was building a guitar and it captured my imagination. I had a history of making things so it was easy to transition into the guitar. I took a vacation from landscaping and began to build my first guitar. It’s been 42 years now.

GC: How early in your building career did you realize there were problems with the orthodox rules to building a classical guitar and start experimenting with your own designs?

RA: I knew immediately that there were problems with the traditional instrument. The instruments that had the sound I liked were outside the mass box back then, Hauser and Fleta. They both were very well built substantial instruments. I started working my way through the guitar experimenting with each part. It was a slow evolutionary process and it still goes on.

GC: You came to the decision that you needed a more robust structure to hear the voice you were looking for? Is that right?

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Randy Angella Of Concord California Is A Self-taught Luthier Who Has Been Crafting Classical Guitars Since 1975. He Is Known To Make Some Of The Very Finest Sounding Classical Guitars Available Today. Randy Has Built Instruments For Many Of The World’s Top Classical Guitar Players. His Studies Are Deep Reaching Into Areas Not Necessarily Specific To The Guitar. Randy’s Designs Go Against The Grain Of The Strict Orthodox Rules That So Many Classical Builders Adhere To. Here Are Some Thoughts He Shared With Me During Our Conversations. “thickness Of The Timbers In Many Guitars Are Very Thin And Lightly Formed. The Operating Theory Being The Law Of Conservation Of Energy. A Given Mass Acted On By A Known Quantity Of Energy, Will Be Accelerated Faster As The Mass Decreases. Inversely, Acceleration Decreases As The Mass Increases. Guitar Makers Reason, Therefore, That To Produce Maximum Volume, Lightly Built Instruments Will Provide The Maximum Sound. You Can Build A Guitar Thinly And Light And It Will Have Some Very Loud Notes. The Problem Is That A Guitar Built With Only That Concept In Mind Will Have Great Volume But May Not Have Great Tone. They Are Different Ideas. I Know A Man That Can Yell So Loud You Can Hear Him From 200 Yards Out. But He Can’t Sing. To Build A Guitar That Sings You Have To Go Deeper Into How It Makes Music And What Is Musical Sound, Then Match Them” Randy Explained. So How Does The Man Go About Doing This? Let’s Find Out...

time-read
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Guitar Connoisseur Kevin Eubanks Spring 2019