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Valeriano Bernal was born in 1939 in a small village in the
province of Cadiz in Andalusia. When he was only eight, Valeriano
began learning the rudiments of woodworking from his cousin,
Francisco Ramirez Leo. After a stint in the Spanish navy, he
set up a small workshop near Brussels in 1962. While in Belgium he worked
closely with two acoustical engineers on the designs of tops. Returning to
Spain in 1976, he eventually returned to his village and set up his own
shop. Working with his wife, Catalina Gil, and their three sons, the Bernal family produces 300 guitars a
year. Although his shop is larger than most individual makers, each guitar is
entirely-hand made. His flamenco guitars have that edge that flamenco players love, and an
endearing deep, dark tonality characteristic of guitars from Andalusia, and so are
particularly sought after by professionals. |