Ernesto Caro is from the guitar building capital of Paracho, Michoacan and has deep family ties in guitar building. He started building guitars at the age of 12 years old and is considered by many in Mexico as one of the more significant active luthiers by virtue of his willingness to experiment with new and innovative design ideas.
Carlos Topete is a world class guitarist with international touring credentials backing top Mexican artists. He is a professional architect and is responsible for many of the designs used and their rendering into architectural plans.
Design Approach
In the course of over seven years of experimentation, Caro and Topete assumed no element of traditional design to be sacred and instead set out to create the best sounding instrument possible based on the evaluations of over 150 prototypes built. Along the way, they discovered and developed a number of design features which combine to create the clarity and power of their instruments' tone and result in a very pleasing modern design.
No Traditional Soundhole
The traditional sound hole is eliminated and replaced by smaller sound holes on the shoulder and acoustic ports on the side. The redesigned soundboard has a larger mass that vibrates with greater amplitude, delivering more volume and a balanced tone.
Double Bridges
The double bridge design more effectively transmits string vibration to the soundboard with two points of contact established between the strings and the top. The proximity of the floating bridge to the fixed bridge increses the angle of the strings and provides more downward pressure to the soundboard so that more string energy is transmitted to the top. The design also enables precise adjustments to string intonation.
Open Headstock Design
The open headstock design is not only an interesting visual design element but also increases the transmission of strings vibrations from the tuning machines through the neck and to the bodies of the guitars. This feature also contributes to the power and responsiveness of the Caro Topete guitars.
No Top Edge Binding
While edge binding protects the edges of the guitar body it also dampens vibration of the soundboard and acoustic responsiveness. As a result, there is no top binding on Caro Topete guitars.
It is the combination of these design features, some more significant than others,which gives the Caro & Topete guitars the significant amplitude gain, tonal clarity, and responsiveness when compared to their traditionally designed counterparts. And they are what give the Caro & Topete guitars their sleek modern look.
Caro & Topete maintain a website in Spanish language which has information on other models offered through their Guadalajara shop as well as background on the processes that led them to their current design. Their website is www.guitarrasacusticas.com.mx.
Overview of the Caro-Topete Workshop in Guadalajara
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