Marin Nejime　[禰寝　碧海] Class100　”Paseo de la Bomba”

Product Description

Neck:Cedro
Fingerboard:Ebony
Finish(Top):Shellac
Finish(Back & Sides):Shellac
Tuning Machines:GOTOH
String Height(1st):2.8mm
String Height(6th):4.0mm

[Luthier]

Nejime Marin, born in 1986, is the son of Kojiro Nejime, who builds guitars under the name Alberto Nejime Ono. Influenced by his father from an early age, Marin developed a keen interest in music and craftsmanship. After graduating from Jiyu Gakuen in 2009, he decided to devote himself fully to guitar making.

Following several visits to Spain, he spent an extended period in Granada from September 2012, where he studied under the renowned master luthier Antonio Marín Montero, who had also been his father's teacher. Working firmly within the tradition of Spanish guitar making while incorporating his own fresh and highly individual acoustic ideas, Marin creates instruments with a remarkably distinctive character. No two of his guitars are quite alike.

His exceptional precision in construction and finishing, together with the beauty of his workmanship, is every bit as impressive as that of his father and mentor, resulting in instruments of outstanding refinement and presence.

His work has also received considerable recognition overseas. In 2017, he won a prize in the guitar-making competition held as part of the International Guitar Festival of Granada. He currently produces approximately five to six guitars per year. In addition to the award-winning Granada competition model, his instruments include his original models and the Daniel Friederich model, each distinguished by its own individual character and approach. His reputation among guitar enthusiasts continues to grow.

In 2020, an interview with Marin and an introduction to his instruments were published in Orfeo Magazine No. 15, issued by the French publisher Camino Verde.

<a href="https://www.guitarshop.jp/01search02.php?class=book&picture=000_orfeo_03&data_now=1&data_end=5&page_now=1&getflg=1&txtarea=%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AA&cateno=5&filename=000_orfeo_03&keyword=%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AA" target="_blank">Orfeo Magazine – “Japanese Luthiers” feature / Online Shop page</a>

<a href="https://www.auranet.jp/salon/yomimono/orfeois-coming2020-04/" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of the Orfeo interview – Daisuke Kuriyama, Yuichi Shimizu & Marin Nejime</a>

[Instrument]

This is a 2026 original model by Nejime Marin, entitled “Paseo de la Bomba.”

“Paseo de la Bomba” takes its name from a park in Granada, known for one of the city's most beautiful tree-lined avenues. Although it is located somewhat away from the bustle of the tourist areas, the park has a wonderfully peaceful atmosphere.

In recent years, Marin has given each of his new instruments a distinctive name, often taken directly from streets and buildings in Granada where he spent time. These names, rooted in his personal experiences, acquire an almost abstract quality and ultimately give each instrument an identity reminiscent of a work of art. Each title is striking in its own right, but what is particularly fascinating is that, just as the words evoke different impressions, the instruments themselves possess clearly differentiated sonic characteristics. The individual approach taken with each model is therefore especially intriguing.

The first impression is one of vivid presence: the beautiful shellac finish, the contrast between the whiteness of the spruce soundboard and the rich red tones of the cocobolo back and sides, and a brilliant, lustrous sound that seems to embody the visual character of the instrument itself. As discussed below, this guitar employs a structural concept clearly based on Antonio Marín Montero's Modelo B (Boucher model), Marin's mentor. The result is a particularly pleasing response characteristic of the Boucher approach, with a kind of articulation that seems to “attach” each sound to the preceding one. It creates the sensation that the sound emerges directly from the fingertips and remains perfectly synchronized with them until the very moment of release.

There is not the slightest trace of muddiness in the resonance, while the tonal expression changes richly and delicately. The remarkable variety of colors never becomes overstated; instead, it emerges through an exceptionally natural musical gesture. The character is gentle, and at times utterly charming. Its rich, beautifully colored voice, perfectly suited as an homage to Granada, is another of the instrument's great attractions.

Another particularly noteworthy quality of this instrument is the strong vertical dimension of its sound—the organic formation of a dynamic relationship between the high and low registers within contrapuntal melodies. In works by Bach, for example, the dynamic leaps and descents of individual voices, together with the flowing lines of the melodies, acquire a tangible physical presence through their musical gestures. This allows the structural strength and fullness of a composition to be maintained right down to its finest details.

In this respect, Marin's guitar demonstrates a distinctive contemporary quality. It is not only a highly refined expressive instrument, but one whose structural design responds fully to the demands of complex musical architecture and contrapuntal writing.

As mentioned above, the soundboard bracing can be understood as following the structural tradition of Robert Bouchet and Antonio Marín. Above the soundhole, on the neck side, are two harmonic bars of different lengths and dimensions, while a single harmonic bar is positioned below the soundhole, on the bridge side. Around the soundhole, reinforcing strips are arranged concentrically, covering almost the entire area of the rosette.

Five fan braces are positioned symmetrically, extending across approximately the width of the bridge plate. A transverse bar is installed at the position of the saddle on the bridge plate. The two ends of this bar do not reach the sides, but stop several centimeters short of them. In the designs of Bouchet and Marín, the corresponding bar likewise does not extend all the way to the sides, although it stops relatively close to them.

The five fan braces pass through this transverse bar and extend downward toward the bottom of the soundboard. At the points where the transverse bar and fan braces intersect, the braces are fully integrated without gaps. The height of the transverse bar gradually increases from the bass side toward the treble side.

Although there are subtle differences in the exact specifications, the overall design can be regarded as closely following the Bouchet/Marín structural concept. The resonance is tuned between G and G♯.

The instrument is beautifully finished throughout in shellac. The neck has a conventional medium-thickness D-shaped profile. The action is set at 2.8 mm on the first string and 4.0 mm on the sixth string at the 12th fret, with 2.0 mm of saddle protrusion remaining. The guitar is fitted with Gotoh Lyra tuners.

Body weight: 1.66 kg