Cuatro venezolano
Distributor
Estudio Amado Lopez
Maker
Rosendo Albino Hernández
Date1990-2000 ca.
Place DistributedBaraquisimeto, Venezuela, South America
Place MadeCarora, Lara, Venezuela, South America
ModelConcert Cuatro
SignedPrinted on paper: Fabricado para: / ESTUDIO AMADO LOPEZ (in guitar shape) / Cuatros y mas cuatros / Seleccionado y Garantizado / Industrial (non legible, covered with black marker) Artesanal / Calle 19 entre 26 y 27, No 26-63 . Telefonos (051) 31 42 85 / Barquisimeto / Estado Lara
Sticker on back of head: Estudio Amado Lopez, cuatros y mas cuatrosDescriptionThis cuatro venezolano, a small folk guitar of Venezuela, was made by Rosendo Albino Hernández for the Estudio Amado Lopez, a music school devoted to teaching the instrument. It has the characteristic golpeador (drumming board or tap plate), a hardwood veneer glued perpendicular to the soundboard from the 14th fret to the center of the sound hole to facilitate a percussive style of playing.
Soundboard: cedar, flat, one-piece, slab-cut; finished in clear varnish, top has a protection veneer pickguard (“golpeador”), in the form of a horseshoe that covers all the upper bout until the middle of the f-hole, darker color than top, also in cedar.
Back: cedar, two-piece, semi-slab
Ribs: cedar, two-piece, semi-slab-cut
Head: cedar, “A-3” peghead, mahogany with wings on each side and with black-dyed maple back stripe; black-dyed maple or pear veneer; sticker branding “Estudio Amado Lopez, cuatros y mas cuatros”
Neck: integral with head
Heel cap: none; neck heel set in from back
Fingerboard: mahogany with ivory celluloid binding; 14 nickel-silver frets; single read paper dots in the 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 12th frets
Nut: plastic
Bridge: mahogany; plastic
Tuners: two later pairs of worm-gear tuners with steel plates, steel rollers, and white plastic heads
Rosette: circle soundhole, decorative rosette in marquetry;
Pick guard: see protection veneer
Varnish: clear with yellow and brown tones
Linings: cedar, tentalones
Neck block: cedar
End block: cedar
Top bracing: one cedar brace below soundhole
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 805 mm
Back length: 350 mm (13-21/32″)
Upper bout width: 175 mm (2-9/32″)
Waist width: 155 mm (2-11/16″)
Lower bout width: 243 mm (10″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 96 mm
Rib height, at waist: 96 mm
Rib height, at bottom: 96 mm
Head length: 139 mm
Head width, top: 54 mm
Head width, bottom: 60 mm
Neck length (nut to ribs): 315 mm
Neck width, nut: 42 mm
Neck width, heel: 50 mm
Soundhole diameter: 64mm
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 562 mmProvenancePurchased by Ruthie Witte in Venezuela, where she lived with her family from 1980 to 2003. She and her husband, Pastor Henry Witte, then served on mission in Panama from 2003 to 2007. After studying a year in the Missiology programs at Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, they moved to Sioux City in/about 2009. He took a lead role with the Hispanic Mission of Siouxland until late 2025 when they moved to Kansas City.
Credit LineGift of Henry and Ruthie Witte, 2025
Object number16006
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