Cuban triumphs in Miami manufacturing classic guitars |The new Herald arrived in raft and without shoes.Today it manufactures high -end guitars that play famous artists

Wood has a special meaning for William González.A small wooden boat brought it from Cuba to the United States in 1994 and in Miami it has triumphed, repairing and installing wood floors with a family business that opened two decades ago two decades ago.

Today, from his workshop in the southwest of Miami, classic or flamenco guitars leave popular, classical and flamenco music, such as Amaury Gutiérrez, Luis Enrique, Albita, Rafael Padrón and José Luis de la Paz.

Palo Santo pieces of Brazil, Palo Santo de la India and Ciprés, the woods he uses to build his guitars;A photo of Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla as inspiration and a carbon drawing by Antonio de Torres, are on the walls of Bill Glez's workshop.That is the artistic name of this Cuban luthier who managed to skip the cliché that the construction of a guitar is a family tradition, because he was not born in southern Spain and his father was not a guitar tree but Zapatero.

Antonio de Torres, the "guitar genius", is the inventor of the classic or Spanish guitar as we know it today, González explains, which is one of the defenders of the great Almeria Luthier, also a guitarist, who modified the guitarTo amplify the sound and give it a new quality.

The guitar Stradivarius is the one built by Torres, but unlike the recognition that violin manufacturers such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri have received, Torres has not had that luck, despite the fact that most of the guitars that are built in theNews follow their plans.

"The guitar is measure and mathematics, but the manufacturer puts his DNA," says González, indicating that the details are learning with the experience.

"The wood tells me" you don't touch me anymore, "guitar builders usually say," he adds, telling the anecdote of the day when Torres the secret of the guitar.

"He is in the fingertips, he replied," says González, who five years ago, looking for a distraction for the work intensity demanded by his wooden floors company, Obellis Wood Floors, decided to build his first guitar at the request of hisdaughter, who was studying music.

How to start a guitar manufacturer race

Instead of taking notes and studying, González remembers that he launched the project head.He bought materials, looked for some data on the Internet and, at a table in the patio, built his first guitar.

"I made it completely manual, without any tool," he says.He got up at dawn after having "a vision" and put it into practice.

But what he built then was a "furniture", because the guitar needs details, adjustments, which he did not have, he points out.

It was not until guitars number eight and nine, who felt sure that he could build adequate to play concerts and listen in an auditorium.

In that new career that was launched with the total support of his wife, he points out two inflection points: the recognition of the MIAMENSE professor and guitarist Rafael Padrón, who proves his guitars and tells him if something is not right, and the teachings he receivedOf one of the most important builders, the Spanish Pablo Requena, with whom a one -month course in Malaga spent.

"With him I did not learn to make a guitar, but how a guitar works and what tools are needed to build a high -end," says González, indicating that the high -end guitar requires three important characteristics: the beauty of the physical instrument, theease of touching it and sound.

At 51, González is totally immersed in this second race.Less and less involved in the company he has with his wife and twin brother, dedicates most of the time to build his guitars, which may require up to three months in the workshop, between the manufacturing process and the wait for the final touches.

A classic guitar of his, which usually built on commission, can cost between $ 7,000, those of Palo Santo de la India, and $ 10,000, those of Palo Santo de Brazil, a more expensive wood that was extinction and recently raised his closure.

Flemish guitars, which are manufactured with cypress wood, are a bit cheaper and cost over $ 5,500.

Musicians and guitars

The manufacture of guitars has provided other treasures, such as friendship with musicians who go to their workshop to try the guitars and spend up to an hour playing.That is the case of the flamenco guitarist born in Huelva, José Luis de la Paz, who appointed "Manuela" to the guitar made by Luthier.

"I have to leave what I'm doing to hear it because that doesn't happen every day," says González.

Amaury Gutiérrez admirer, González went to one of his shows and invited him to his workshop, with the surprise that the next day, after a work night, the Cuban singer -songwriter was at his timely home at 10 am.

"He gave me a tremendous guitar, it is a privilege and a luxury," Gutiérrez told El Nuev.

"The wood and the hand of the luthier have a lot to do.He applied, went to the source, has an extraordinary talent and also invested his time and money in studying, ”said the Cuban singer -songwriter about González.

He also has one of his guitars Luis Enrique, who recorded with this three songs for his most recent album, and Albita is waiting for another guitar by González, who already chosen the wood to make it.

At the same time González, who learned to accompany himself with the guitar to form a musical group with his brother and other friends in the neighborhood, has had the satisfaction of playing a guitar that belongs to one of the greats of the instrument, his compatriot Leo Brouwer.

On one of his walks in southern Spain, he decided to visit the workshop of another recognized Luthier, Paco Santiago Marín, whom he also remembered because Cubba had been several times.

Marín was not at that time in his Granada workshop, but decided to wait for him by taking some “reeds” at the neighboring bar.Upon returning the Luthier received it kindly and showed him the Bruwer guitar, which González tested playing a song by the Beatles.

The multiple lives of an exile

In 1994, during the Balser Crisis, William González set up in a boat in Cojímar, a coastal town in Havana and came to the United States, without notifying his family.

"They found out because we left on channel 51.In the boat of ours came an 82 -year -old, the oldest person who had arrived until then, ”González said, indicating that he was a neighbor who saw him on television and told his father that oneOf the "Jimaguas" was in the United States.

William González and his brother Wilfred, who today works with him in the family company, Obellis Wood Floors, had artistic skills since childhood, modeled the characters from the movies and drew friends from the family.

They did the test to enter the San Alejandro Academy of Art, but they were not accepted, because as González says, they were from a family that lived in a separate world, that did not integrate any political organization and that is why they surely did not choose them.

Likewise, the González brothers developed their artisanal skills by manufacturing shoes from the age of 11, a trade they learned from their father.

"My aunt sent us the United States magazines and we told people to choose the model," says González.

Already in this country, after working a few years in Publix, where he met his wife, he went to help a friend who had a company company.His first staircase made it in three weeks, an act of courage, because the only experience he had was to have been assistant to his friend in the construction of a.

At a certain point he decided to open his own business, and for this he had the money he earned in a singing competition on Giant, Univision.First he had the favor of El Chacal, the famous disguised character who played his trumpet, and won $ 4,000.Then it was for the car and won it, and since he did not want it, he gave him a check for $ 17,000, which he used to buy a van, tools and a background to open a small office in Miami Springs.

The company began to grow first with small orders for private and after contractors, dedicated to large projects, with which it has worked more in the last 10 years.

"My company grew because we are very hardworking," says González, who does not believe in luck.

"No, I have no luck, what I was doing every day was to get up at 5 in the morning, to be at 6 on the street, load wood and lead people, and if necessary put nails," he recalls.

Sometimes bad moments spent, as in the real estate crisis of 2008, when he was about to lose everything, but he always prioritized the salary of his "boys", who does not like to call employees.

Today he wants to retire little by little and move on with other projects, such as the teaching of guitar manufacturing and an online guitar store, in which he will sell collection instruments and all prices, in response to parents who call him looking for himA quality $ 500 guitar for your children.

He also dreams of opening a physical store, in which in addition to guitars, there is a concert hall and a gallery.

Not bad for someone who arrived alone, with a short and a pulonver because even the shoes lost on the journey in raft.

To communicate with William González, Bill Glez, to obtain information on the manufacture of classic guitars, you can go to your page Billglez.com

If you know a person whose history of personal and professional overcoming could be reflected in this series of profiles of The New Herald, you can communicate to Smoreno@elNuevoherald.as guerra@miamiherald.com.