The Altamira Brand

SOLID TOP GUITARS, HAND CRAFTED USING TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION METHODS TO PRODUCE INSTRUMENTS OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY 

Altamira Guitars are named after the Cave of Altamira in Spain, famous for its upper paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of human hands and wild mammals (the inspiration for the Altamira logo). It was the first cave in which prehistoric cave paintings were discovered and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. With its name based on a traditional Spanish landmark, and with the classical guitars' deep Spanish roots, Altamira guitar luthiers strive to follow in the footsteps of the great Spanish luthiers, obeying traditional Spanish construction methods to produce consistently high quality instruments at great value. 

Observe the high level of craftsmanship and finesse involved in the making of an Altamira guitar. All instruments are hand crafted based on traditional Spanish construction methods from premium rosewood, spruce and cedar woods, and are all solid top guitars. Solid top guitars use one solid piece of wood for the top (soundboard) of the guitar. Laminate top guitars (which are significantly cheaper) use a mixture of woods combined as a mesh. The top of the guitar is the vital component for generating sound, vibrating as a string is plucked. With solid top guitars, the more this soundboard vibrates, the more this single piece of wood adapts and 'opens up' which improves the quality of sound as the guitar ages over time. This is not the case for laminate guitars which have more rigid tops and thus do not experience this improvement in sound quality. All Altamira guitars (ranging from the entry level 'Basico' up to the professional series concert guitars) are solid top guitars.