HISTORY OF JUAN OROZCO (Senior and Junior) and valuable information from Uruguay

Hi Noud:

I have been informed, although I could not confirm the fact, that Orozco was a student of Santos Hernández. I have read on the web the controversy about the quality and trade of Juan Orozco, luthier or merchant (marchand) or distributor (luthier or dealer), but it is not a discussion in exclusive terms. Even the prince of the painters (in my opinion), Jan Vermeer, traded with foreign paintings and even managed to sell and sign some of them as his own. Some luthiers in Uruguay also do and did the same.
In a future email I will send photos of all the best models of the workshop that Juan Orozco (father) built, because I have several guitars from each of them.
The workshop of Casa Praos (music store) directed by Juan Orozco until his emigration abroad, continued to manufacture guitars until 1978 at least. Two Uruguayan luthiers collaborated in quality control with Orozco: Manuel Ameijenda and Eduardo Miranda. The latter continued to supervise the factory until approximately 1970. Manuel Ameijenda was the father of one of the best luthiers in Uruguay: Ariel Ameijenda, while Eduardo Miranda was the father of the other: Luis Eduardo Miranda, recently deceased.

Juan Orozco, as far as I know, never signed a label for the guitars that were manufactured there.
As for the best "historical" luthiers of Uruguay, based in the country, I will make a brief mention. I leave out Camacho (appreciated by the great guitarists, because he was based in Buenos Aires, Argentina).

On the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Fulquet can be mentioned, who also built bow instruments. Then - when averaging the twentieth century - it is necessary to mention Juan Carlos Santurión (who benefited from a scholarship to study in Spain with Fleta), Antonio Pereira Velazco (whose son, guitarist and director, Pereira Arias, emigrated to Europe), Eduardo Miranda and Rafael Ameijenda (whom I already referred to), their children Luis Eduardo Miranda and Ariel Ameijenda (this one still in full activity), the three Banchetti brothers (who emigrated to the USA), José Ballester and, of course, Juan Orozco (father). I do not mention here other historical ones, such as Barrera, Moreira or Presa or those that are currently active (like Ariel Ameijenda) like Romeo Rodríguez Mieres, Sebastián Olivieri or Marcos Labraga, contributed as mere examples, because surely I have forgotten others.

The guitar as an instrument met a great development in Uruguay with teachers of which I will only mention Atilio Rapat. He had and has delivered great guitarists, but that is not the subject at hand.
I do not write these lines for a concern of authorship or search for congratulations but only for you to round up a little deeper knowledge about lutherie in this corner of the planet.

Wait for the photos, which at any time I send them to you.
 
My regards from Montevideo.

Eduardo Paperán


PS: Actually, apart from my love for music (especially absolute) and the studies I have done, the truth is that my artistic craft is that of a classical poet, so I am only an amateur (amateur, dilettante ) of music and guitar.

Hello Noud,

I live in Uruguay and I know something about Juan Orozco 

(father). My first guitar (bought in 1958 in a musical goods 

store in Montevideo -The Palace of Music- was a Juan 

Orozco with a legend in portuguese  (special model for 

nylon strings), with a plated box and german spruce top,  

which Orozco used during his entire stay in Montevideo, 

where he directed the guitar manufacturing workshop, sold 

by another musical store of the time (Casa Praos), although 

he also manufactured guitars with some other label for other 

music stores.

Until 1969 Orozco continued in the supervision of the work-
shop. In that year - if I am  not wrong - he emigrated abroad, 
but the workshop continued the guitars production with the 
Juan Orozco label.

From the Montevidean era, there are guitars dated from 1967 
to 1969, and also in later years, without Juan Orozco SR. 
leading the workshop.

The factory of Praos (as I will call it from now on) built several 
levels and types of classical or spanish guitars, but all of them 
with two common elements: excellent solid german spruce 
tops and a veined view of some noble material on the bridge.

The interior system of all models (except the model 70 and 
numbered or special 70) was the same. The exterior termi-
nation varied: the head was plain and simple with three 
rounded peaks up to the model 54 (there is some confusion 
in the numbers), it adopted a plain japanese type Yamaha 
profile in the model 56, it was carved with the motif of the 
fleur-de-lis in models 58 and 66 and styling became more 
sophisticated in model 70, with a somewhat esoteric or 
alchemist drawing of two snakes biting their tail. This car-
ving was also found on some guitars labeled  "Jaime Cortés", 
sold by  El Palacio de la Música and probably manufactured 
in the workshop of Praos, of excellent sound and termination. 
It was also on the shovels of the luthier Malavolta, 
marketable in Buenos Aires and in the Argentine Republic.

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Orozco's simple termination models ranged from 32 
(mahogany box), through 38 (top mahogany box) and 
45 (I don't remember wood) to 54 (probably plated 
cinnamon). Model 56 

showed a cypress box (sometimes of some other light 
wood) and, as I said, finished the neck with a Yamaha 
type shovel.

Model 58 - usually solid cinnamon in its box - initiated 
the careful finishing of the woods, with triple borders on 
the rings. Model 66 - if I remember correctly, although 
you have a copy on hand - passed to the jacaranda 
wood, sometimes solid, sometimes plated, usually with 
a very beautiful rosette but not colorful.

Model 70 contained another harmonic system inside, 
it was finely finished and its shovel was one of the most 
beautiful I've seen. It was definitely the concert model of 
the workshop. Some guitars of this model were num-
bered, which meant greater care in construction or sound.

I had several Orozco models 32 to 45, but I don't have 
any. Of the others, yes. The characteristic of the 70 model 
is the spectacular depth of its 6th, even to the detriment of 
its highs.

In my humble opinion, the most balanced of Orozco turns 
out to be that of cypress, model 56.

These are all guitars in a certain historical way.

Good. Trusting to have contributed a little grain of sand to 
the subject, I greet you from Montevideo.

Eduardo Paperán

With many thanks for the translation by Paco Cabello 
(Almunecar - Spain)

Juan Orozco is a Spanish luthier and guitar impressario, who lived in New York from 1965 to 1995, where he had a famous guitar shop in the 1970s to 1990's.
He is the third in a family of guitar makers (his father, Juan Orozco, built guitars in Spain, Uruguay and Brazil). He was actively involved in the development of classic guitars in the mid-1970ies (starting as early as 1969) together with great Japanese luthiers like Matsuoka, Tamura, and Yairi, who then developed guitars for Tama, Ibanez and Aria (at that time the small workshop where they worked was in the company Hoshino Gakki who own Tama and Ibanez). They also built guitars in the Kohno-Sakurai style (models #8, #10, #15) that were sold with the "Juan Orozco, Luthier" label. Later the Orozco guitars were equipped with a very characteristic headstock, different from the Fleta-style headstocks they had first.
Juan Orozco III is still active in the guitar business, in particular with the "Aranjuez" strings that he developed, but also with his guitar series "Artesano" (that are built today in Spain) and with guitar cases. He also organised guitar concerts and is well known by many great guitar players and luthiers.

Beneath are some pictures of the shop Juan Orozco runned in New York at West 56th street.
With many thanks to Roger Lian for providing them.

Also, if you had gone to the store on w56th street -

the first thing you would see when leaving was Carnegy Hall's

stage enterence, it was directly across the street. (Roger Lian)