Antonio Marín Montero was born in Granada in 1933. He had no family history in the guitar world, and he had to overcome many problems as he worked in many different marquetry workshops. With only a few years old, he worked in Francisco Moya's workshop but Recaredo Veredas employed him as he found his skills to work with the gouge.
In 1957, he joined master Pérez's workshop and two years later, in 1959, his father advised him to visit Eduardo Ferrer on number 26 of Cuesta de Gomérez street, next to the Alhambra.
Antonio Marín keeps in mind a sentence that Domingo Prat, the main disciple of the universal guitar maker Miguel Llobet, told him on his dictionary: "The guitar is one of the best and most beautiful instruments of the world, with different nuances and sonorities that grant independency to the guitar". Marín adopted this concept about the instrument since he made a guitar only valid to learn those things he should not do.
He follows the technique of the Parisien master Robert Bouchet and he uses his template. Since he visited the French master in 1977, they are great friends. Due to Marín's love of perfection, many young people visited his workshop to learn from this prestigious luthier the magic of this ancient job. He has many disciples, including his nephew, José Marín Plazuelo and José González López, who work with him in his workshop.
The fame of Antonio Marín has reached the five continents, specially Europe, USA, and Japan. The most prestigious performers and teachers, both from classic and flamenco world, have visited his workshop.
Despite the time he spend working in his workbench, he only makes a few number of guitars per year. His customers should wait several months to get a piece with Antonio Marín's label. He only works by request and makes twenty guitars per year, numbering them and including the end date on each one.
