Kenny Hill teaches guitar building to prisoners. He doesn't need the cash. He does it for reasons that don't involve money.

I've heard that Kenny makes six figures in guitars. The guitar I'm reviewing is number 2111. His ukuleles are also well known, his visa is full and needs replacing. He travels around the world within the realm of the classical guitar.

I formally met Kenny on April 1st, 2001 when he and his pilot buddy flew to Fresno to see Antonio De Innocentis perform at the Fresno Art Museum.

I had seen him at GFA conventions since 2000 and had a few words with him. There was always something sharp about him as if his mind was focused on people and not his own reflection.

So as I review number 2111 of Kenny's output I have to realize that this is Kenny and not just a guitar. His passion for guitar building is as strong as his passion for doing right by people.

Kenny Hill has been building guitars since the 1970s. Being number 2111, this guitar represents a guitar he built from start to finish. You'd figure that the number of output this represents includes guitars he supervised the construction of.

Kenny builds, performs very well on the classical guitar and teaches seminars on all aspects of guitar building.

I was curious about Kenny's association with music because it seemed to me that he could have easily ended up as an exceptional performer. His original studies in college were in classical organ although he has performed guitar since the age of 14. "-My dad was an amateur musician, mostly in church, and I took after him. And I loved the mad scientist sound of the organ, still do. Then in adolesence I went Peter, Paul and Mary, Dylan, Bach, Stravinsky, then later everything else. Right now I'm listening to Schubert quartets, Arvo Paart, D'Gary (Madagascar guitar) Bach, (Goldberg variations) Borodin, Eminem. And whatever my 15 year old throws at me."

He is the original moving force of Paracho Mich, MX, brought information to these builders and spent a good deal of time supervising guitars made for him there and has brought Paracho builders to Felton, CA, above Santa Cruz to a controlled shop employing a dozen luthiers.

Under his supervision the builders produced faithful reproductions of the most famous guitars for a very good price. Through years of his business, thriving in this area it became harder and harder for him to work under the conditions of this particular area of the Third World so it fostered a move of some of his Paracho luthiers to Felton.

Years of doing business in Mexico basically wore itself thin and for many reasons, of logistics and quality control, the Hill Guitar Company pulled up stakes in Paracho.

Recent business opportunities have put him in China. There he is developing a group of luthiers to faithfully reproduce the historic guitars. Mexico, China; what's the difference?

I asked Kenny about the differenced between working with Mexican and Chinese builders and got this: "I love Mexico, and I love my Mexican workers. But there is a defeatist attitude there that ranges from top to bottom of the society, and that is a terrible disadvantage - to endeavors and to individuals. Dealing with anything government in Mexico is a disaster. Overall it is hard to get anyone to accept full responsibility for anything. Of course that can be said for many things here in the US too. In Paracho they have an all encompassing culture of guitar making and a very high level of skill, but they are not accustomed to putting quality first."

"In China I have a tremendous advantage in having some fairly enlightened partners that deal with all of the infrastructure stuff. China is ambitious - it's almost scary. Workers seem to want to work, and there is a direct relationship between work and climbing out of poverty. There I am also working with some very highly skilled people, skilled in violin making, but they didn't know anything about guitar until I got there. They are learning very quickly."

"I learned to speak Spanish pretty fluently, which is a great joy. I will probably never be able to speak Chinese more than the basics, but I'm starting on it anyway. I've gotta try. This is my life. It's interesting."

"Everywhere people are people, but sometimes it takes a while to get to know them."

I was particular interested if there was a sociological connection to his "globalization" of the guitar through the fostering of Mexican and Chinese builders production: "-Having been born and raised WASP white bread California suburb, I had the gnawing feeling that there must be something else out there."

"The world is anintricate and surprising place, and it suits my pilgrim spirit to investigate it from many sides. I am always longing to see what's just around the next bend. So you see, it's not "societal" but personal, expanding on my own accident of birth."

Interesting. White bread. I'm rye bread but with no schmaltz. I feel the same way and in Kenny find a kindred spirit. It is hard to say that these statements are not sociological, idealogical, political and progressive.

Globalization is a bad word among progressives. I would have to say that Kenny's brand of globalization is "green" in-so-far as it is just the guitar, doesn't exploit resources both human and material and is just plainly done with the best intentions all the way around.

Take a look at the fruits of the Chinese connection.

At this level of exactitude, all the guitars I played were about as good. There of course were differences in sound but they were exactly done with none of the finish flaws that come from Mexican guitars.

Being that Kenny is developing these guitars I won't review any of them but suffice to say that we sat and boiled it down to three and this was the one I liked the best.

It had always impressed me that Kenny seemed to have a social consciousness and I asked him about his teaching of guitar building to prisoners: "I still teach at DVI, the state prison in Tracy. I spent a lot of time teaching at Soledad in the Salinas Valley as well. Prison is alike a different country with it's own customs, limitations and language. It has given me an exposure to the realities of race relations that I would have never known outside. One passes through a lot of contemplation on the nature of freedom, of destiny and of the luck of birth in our world. -Our society has not even come close to resolving therace/class/haves/have-nots issues. But neither has any other society."

I observed Kenny building number 2111, a spruce/Indian double-top with ports and put my money down when it was finished. This is a Master Series Guitar made by Kenny and a concert level instrument in every way from the cleaner than clean French polishing to the robust sound.

Kenny and I have hearing differences. I need to hear top end frequencies so I go for spruce and composite strings. Kenny goes for cedar and nylon.

Kenny is an impressive guitarist so I sit and listen to his playing. He plays Bach and South American pieces with equally appropriate expression. He knows how to make a guitar sound good so my first experience of 2111 was Bach counterpoint.

2111 is very, very good for counterpoint. The guitar is exceedingly well balanced between the treble and bass so it was mighty easy to hear. Kenny, being the performer that he is, was able to comfortably control the voices.

As well 2111 was equally adept at Romantic South American music. Playing a piece with a dropped "d" on the 6th string the guitar was very lovely and sweet. All the registers sounded equally and the sustain of the notes in a chord were nicely balanced.

All I perform now is my own music. I attempt to create an extremely varied sound with effects. The guitar is my orchestra.

When I took number 2111 I immediately took the nylon strings off and put on Savarez Corum/Alliance hard tension.

Number 2111 is a spruce/Indian double-top with a Nomex core. Nomex is similar to what wasps use for their nests, which is a combination of wood, paper and an excretion of the wasps. It is light and extremely hard and is a material somewhat akin to wood itself.

As I have noticed over the past three years, many luthiers have ventured into the double-top technology.

One thing common to all double-tops I have heard is the very large sound. The volume and presence is more than conventional guitars. In the spruce category, the tonal width is wider and less brittle than a new conventional spruce top. More or less, it sounds more open than most new spruces.

This was no different with Hill's number 2111. The guitar, when strung with nylon and played by Kenny, was open and huge sounding.

Comparing it with my Reynolds, which I brought to Kenny and strung with Salvarez Corum/Alliance, both had exceptional volume and presence but Number 2111 was clearly more romantic. In more concrete terms Number 2111 was sweeter and resembled a cedar guitar a little more.

After bringing the guitar home and changing to composite strings I began to notice differences. In attempting to get my preferred sound I did notice that sustain and clarity increased as the composite strings really have a tendency to bring high-end frequencies out. Composite strings are denser therefore vibrate longer. In my opinion they work a top better.

Playing through my edgier pieces the guitar began to bark and screech in the manner needed to perform contemporary music. The trebles were as searing as I needed as well as sustain.

The basses were throaty and pianistic with a very rich and fundamental sustain. This is what composites do and coupled with the double-top the sound is awesome and huge.

Compared to my Reynolds and as stated above, Hill's number 2111 is more a cross between a normal Spanish guitar sound and that massiveness of the double-top with a characteristic edge.

The Reynolds has a 1/2 elevated fretboard and it has been very plain to me that when you change the angle of the string into the soundboard you obviously get a different sound. This,l I think, is why the Reynolds sounds different than the Hill double-top.

Also coupled with that difference is the difference in the bracing design. The Reynolds uses Jeremy Locke's radial bracing while the Hill uses a Ramirez bracing.

In either case the double-top has it's own characteristic sound and I believe is the best when in spruce. The double-toped guitars I have heard and played in cedar are unimpressive. Maybe it's just that I don't like the squashed tonal palette of cedar but the cedar double-tops have not seemed that much different than a good Spanish guitar.

Number 2111 has an exceedingly fast action and the ease of playing was pronounced. Coupled with Gilbert tuners this guitar is a concert level instrument in every way.

As my other guitars, all in spruce, I would expect 2111 to open some. The Reynolds did but not as much as a standard made guitar. There is something to the double-top that gives an open sound soon after the strings are attached.

The openness may also be a result of the two ports on the sides. The whole port system I am not fully understanding but I can suffice to say that they throw some sound in your ear and this enables a bit more control over the sound if you can hear it better.

I also think that the intake and dispersion of air causes some tonal differentiations by making the guitar "breathe" in a less restricted way. Maybe someone knows out there.

One thing I do know is that 2111 is a fine concert guitar with some exceptional tonal characteristics.

It's November 29, 2003 and I've just returned from west of Oakhurst off of highway 49 and Roberta's property near Mariposa, California.

Nice trip through the foothills, north of Fresno, to get to Roberta's property. It is beautifully overcast; the sky is the color of pewter and silver with very high clouds. It's fall and the odd non-coniferous trees are bright in shades of yellow and red.

Saw a coyote before we ascended, just below the tabletops where we used to illegally ride our mountain bikes in the spring. Ben, my 9-year-old son spotted it from the back seat. Stefanie, his mother spent most of the trip imitating automobile grills with her face.

It's very nice to get out of Fresno for any reason but today especially nice because I am going to see guitars.

Roberta is Kenny Hill's girlfriend and he is there with his 10-year-old son Quillan. She owns property in Mariposa County and Kenny is here for the weekend with guitars for me to see.

Kenny has recently converged on a guitar shop in China that is devoted to making classical guitars. As some of us well know, the craftsmanship of the Chinese violin is unsurpassed at the price. What costs $500 from China can be worth $5000 on the streets of the U.S.

Over the last year or so I've been seeing Kenny just above Santa Cruz, in Felton, California. Santa Cruz is a summer play land and I often take my family to the ocean there. Kenny's operation is 15 minutes up the hill.

Santa Cruz is in the heart of the Progressive Northern California, I capitalize because this part of the United States, "don't take no Conservative Crapola," so to speak. It's a separate country and you get this one sociological thought, where is the "real" US of A? It is so different from other places, even in California (Central Valley) and yet so American.

So over this past year I have been looking at these Chinese guitars and seeing Kenny's shift out of Mexico and into China.

He has worked very carefully to oversee the construction and finishing of the New World line of the Hill Guitar Company, built in China by an extremely hardworking and talented crew.

Kenny is perfecting these guitars to replace the line made in Paracho for him. Already I see vast differences. The guitars from Paracho were getting consistently bad in quality although I never met a Paracho guitar that didn't sound good. From a business point of view it became a losing proposition.

The guitars I am going to review are two that I picked out of a bunch he brought. One was the most accurate sounding Hauser copy, clear and full sounding. The other is a Fleta copy that is very loud and robust.

I noticed immediately that the finishes on all of the Chinese Hausers were very well done and very clean. This was always a problem for Kenny in the guitars from Paracho and he imported some of the luthiers to Felton, CA so he could supervise. Now he is down to the last Paracho luthier and soon this luthier will leave for home.

Being that the finishing was superior to earlier guitars in this part of the Hill lines, this is a wonderful start. Besides, the guitars sound very good and the wood is quality.

The Fleta is like a mythical guitar, the guitar that gained popularity from almost one performer, Andres Segovia.

John Williams also played a Fleta and there is little doubt that when Williams made the switch to a Smallman, the Fleta influence came with it with William's preference for this sound.

When I presented my thought about the Fleta being the link between the Spanish traditional guitar and the Smallman and more modern constructions, Kenny said," That's an interesting point of view, and a case could be made for that. I think there was a subtle Fleta influence on Smallman, as much as anything because of John Williams' connection between the two. Fleta put his own spin on every single detail of guitar construction, and is totally uncharacteristic of more traditional "Spanish style". He uses such sturdy construction, and the complexity of the top suggests a pre-lattice idea, but his top wood is still fairly substantial, unlike the very thin Smallman top. I'm sure that Smallman studied Fleta's work, and Smallman's own heaviness of the back and sides may well have been born there."

Further Kenny says, "Ignacio Fleta is one of the historical icons of twentieth century guitar making." I think so too because of his radical building concepts that work so well.

"The Fleta design is sturdy. The end blocks are heavy, like furniture. The soundboard has 9 fans instead of he usual 7, plus an extra diagonal cross brace across the lower bout, plus a layer of maple veneer covering the entire inside of the soundboard above the sound hole. The back has 4 big braces instead of the more common 3. The thickness of both the top and the back are heavy, (though not radically). And of course it has a dovetail neck joint, something that is not common in Spain."

"Long before I attempted to build a Fleta model I had played two or three older, original Fletas, and I was impressed and seduced by their sound. But then when I first confronted this design as a builder, I didn't see how it could work. It seemed too heavy, over built, that it couldn't possibly vibrate. But right from the start it was obvious that, for whatever reason, it works. It produces a strong, muscular, salt-o-the-earth sound that is loud, and responds well to a strong attack. I think that it opens up over a longer period of time as well."

I am a latecomer to the Fleta. I dismissed most Spanish guitars and went for New World guitars, as I put it, guitars other than ones from Spain and incorporating design methods to produce a clearer and more fundamental imbued sound. The tighter braced it was, the more I liked it. I also gravitated to spruce and a German type, Hauserish, smaller bodied and very clear.

Ignacio Fleta was born in Huesca, Spain, on July 31, 1897. Fleta's father was a carpenter so the smell and touch of wood was always around. It is said that Fleta was playing guitar by the time he was 8 years old.

The first instruments he made, in the late 1920's were of the violin family. He also did work on various stringed instruments both plucked and bowed.

It was his hearing of Andres Segovia, in 1955, that impressed him to the point that he only wanted to produce guitars from that point on. A few years later he produce three instruments that Segovia performed on.

From a guitar builder's standpoint the Fleta is made more like a violin. It is minus the Spanish foot construction, which incorporates the neck into the sides and back. The Fleta's neck is dovetailed into a completed body and the inside-heel block is massive.

In my estimation this is to help deaden the neck and not allow vibration to escape into the neck. Talk to some luthiers and they will attest to this physical fact and some builders even go so far as to account for this in many ways including making a particularly dense headstock.

The body of this Fleta is particular heavily built with extra braces on the top and back. The maple liner, on the top-inside past the soundhole, is particularly interesting, as much for strength but must contribute to the sound. This area is the most inactive part of the soundboard so I would think that it might, by using a hardwood more like the back and sides, act as more reflective surface. It certainly adds strength to the construction.

All I can say, and Kenny Hill has said this as well, is that a heavily constructed guitar shouldn't sound this good. It is remarkable how the Fleta is extremely powerful and robust. Using nylon strings, and I do consider most nylon strings the wrong string for my sound, the guitar is very clear in fundamental. The pitches have a tendency to decay in fundamental and not an overtone, as in the "a" string usually ends up decaying on "e," a 5th above, on most guitars. The Fleta has no such problem but is still sweet.

Cedar has not much impressed me for my sound. In the case of the Fleta construction I have to rethink cedar as I once did with a particularly beautiful and clear sounding cedar Redgate I owned. Funny that the Redgate was a lattice braced guitar with a thick top like a Fleta. There's something to heavy construction and tight bracing.

Which led me to ask Kenny for a Fleta double-top in spruce with something other than Indian back and sides. Seems like a reasonable request, which would combine the unique richness of the double-top spruce with the medium tight bracing of the Fleta.

I've really played this guitar with the strings that were on it, which are D'Adarrio Pro-Arte hard tension. Today is 12/28/03 and the guitar is a month in my hands.

I have to say first and once again that cedar is not my first choice for a guitar top and D'Adarrio is not my favorite brand of strings.

In a Fleta configuration, cedar is as different an animal than on other guitars that are looser braced. As on, another favorite guitar of mine, the Redgate which is lattice braced, the tighter the bracing the more focus to the trebles. The basses are also effected by the tightness. Makes all ranges, well, tighter all with focus.

With the Redgate cedar, his top was not ringed like the Smallman, the top was as thick, in places, as 2.25MM I think. The Smallman top is so thin that the perimeter, joining the sides, is ringed with wood so that the guitar top doesn't collapse. Consequently you can't even tell wood types of the top. A lattice braced spruce top is rarer.

The focused pitches (less imbued with overtones), in all ranges, is why I prefer spruce as a top wood. I go further in this idea by using carbon strings.

With Hill Fleta, cedar and nylon strings, the focus of pitch is very good. You can also hear the sweetness of cedar. The guitar is very dark as well as light enough in exposition of the highs.

I will update further on the Hill Fleta but as of 12/28/03 I am very impressed with #2175.

04/30/04: Hill/Fleta in spruce/Indian #2206 I ordered after being seduced by the Fleta in cedar. I needed to hear it in my top wood.

Kenny strung it with Hannabach "Goldins" and it is a fine string for this guitar! I had received a Reynolds with this string and didn't like it even though it is a composite string. Just goes to show you "different strings for different things."

The Fleta in spruce is something I could play. Definately! I LOVE the sound completely. 7 braces and the normal Spanish "thing" leaves me sleeping on jello. I need a firm mattress and 9 braces is very firm.

It has an amazing tone, very weighty, firm and focused. #2206 is also very lovely.

I received a cedar/ Brazilian to complete my test of the Fleta. After I play it a while I'll put up an assessment but I can live with #2206 as a concert guitar. It is powerful!

The Master Series Hauser #2194

Just putting down this guitar I have the sound fresh in my mind. I wonder sometimes what do I need more than a Hauser?

#2194 is a beautiful guitar. It is everything that a Hauser should be, light, clear but sweet, robust in the low end, loud, easy to handle, even and balanced between registers, good sustain, singing trebles, easy to play and a joy to express on. This is what I loved about the Mexican guitars.

What is more about the Hill Munich is that it is the result of a very controlled building environment by a 60 something year old Mexican builder that has been supervised by Kenny.

So is this a Mexican guitar if it was made by a Mexican? Yes, by all means. These guys have had so much experience building Hausers that there are few in the world I would trust more to build one to sound and play right.

It is the controlled building place and Kenny that makes all the difference in the world. This guitar is made in the USA in the sense that Kenny has supervised the making in Felton, CA.

I just love #2194. It reminds me of my old Greg Byers guitar of a similar configuration. I kept that guitar for 10 years before I changed to a lattice braced Redgate in cedar.

The playability of 2194 is extremely good. It is almost too easy. The action is low, no buzzes when pushed and the neck is made to a very specific requirement by Kenny who is a good player and knows an action. I've found this same ease of playing with all of the Hill guitars.

The sound is a joy! It is so Hauser! I've already played this guitar enough to cover a lot of my pieces, which vary in expression and texture.

What always get me about the Hauser type guitar is the beauty of counterpoint. The guitar is so balanced between registers that you can truly close your eyes and hear the right hand separate with ease.

The vibrato is lush, nuance comes forth so easily, the color range is wide and this all combines with an ease of playing that is unsurpassed at this price. Very Nice!

Changes in guitars for people like me is most likely a result of composition than performance. I started my composing career on the Byers and I find myself gravitating to that same sound which this Hill Master Munich has.

Munich #2196

For consistency I have purchaced another Munich at random. This is number 2196.

You might thing that even two guitars down the road there'd be some differences and there are some minor ones but it is virtually the same guitar.

I can say that I changed strings on it and it started to really settle into my sound. I hate to say it again but D' Addario and nylon strings like it are fishing line. About as colorless as you can get.

The Hauser, with carbon Savarez, is more of a cannon and the clarity of sound, sustain and volume is more. #2196 is another fine guitar from Hill and the Master Series line is very consistant.

You might say that these three guitars I am talking about are very good for modern and baroque music. To me, less good for Spanish romantic where I'd probably want the Hill Master Fleta. When I had the Hill Fleta I was in love with it too!

What is this? Love the one you're with? Maybe. Try to be polygamous. Marry many guitars. Kenny's guitars make it possible. I've picked some winners!

In the price range of $2500, I can't think of any guitar that I would go with that would fill the bill as well as this Hill Munich. They just don't come this clean and sound this good. A true concert guitar that is every bit convincing at half what you'd pay.

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