Twelve-year GAL member Josep Melo fell in love with guitars before his teen years. He trained formally as an artist and industrial designer, and opened his own design studio in 1975 at age of twenty-three. He was able to make friends with and order guitars from some of his guitar-making heroes, including James D’Aquisto, Steve Klein, and José Romanillos, and now builds his own guitars that honor their work while exhibiting his own distinctive, modern Catalan aesthetic.
▪ bio current as of 2022
2022
AL#146 p.64 read this article
Federico Sheppard Kevin Aram Josep Melo Mónica Esparza
▪ Romanillos was a towering figure in the lutherie field during a long and productive career as a maker and scholar. He was also a generous mentor and friend to many guitar makers. Four of those makers share fond memories of him here. Many more will miss him.
2018
AL#134 p.9
Monica Esparza Josep Melo Stefano Grondona Antigoni Goni
▪ Two guitarists and a luthier tell their stories of working with Romanillos.
2014
AL#120 p.6
Monica Esparza Josep Melo
▪ Melo has been making guitars since the ’60s. In the ’90s he began to seek out and collaborate with the makers whose work he found the most inspiring. He published a gorgeous coffee-table book about it called Following the Masters. His deepest collaboration has been with fellow Spaniard Jose Romanillos. Ironically, they met at the 1995 GAL Convention in Tacoma.