shop on the Calle Real. About five years later, Torres began his "second epoch" (as he referred to it on the labels of his guitars), building part-time when not busy in the china shop. After the death of his wife Josefa, in 1883, Torres began to devote increasing amounts of time to building guitars, making somewhere around 12 guitars a year until his death in La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería at the age of 75. Guitars Torres guitars are divided into two periods: the first belonging to Sevilla from 1852 to 1870, the second being the years 1871–1893 in Almería. The guitars Torres made were so superior to those of his contemporaries that their example changed the way guitars were built, first in Spain, and then in the rest of the world. Although they are not particularly loud by modern standards, they have a clear, balanced, firm and rounded tone that projects very well. His guitars were widely imitated and copied. Because he never signed his guitars, and only numbered those from his second epoch, many fake Torres have been made, some by well-known and expert makers. While the overall pattern of the modern classical guitar derives from Torres, there are some difference between Torres' classical guitars and the modern instrument. Torres' guitars all had soundboards of European spruce; now western red cedar is also frequently used. Luthiers have continued to develop the bracing of the soundboard, but most still use some version of the fan-bracing that Torres' pioneered. Torres' guitars were strung with gut trebles and basses of silk threads, overwound with silver. Since the 1950s almost all classical guitars have been strung with nylon. The tuning heads of Torres' guitars were often set with traditional ebony friction pegs, similar to those of other string instruments. His later instruments were fitted with mechanical tuners, which are universal on classical guitars today. Inventory of guitars This is an incomplete list of guitars made by Antonio de Torres. Serial number unknown (1856) - The Romeros have five Torres guitars, currently likely the largest private collection in the world. Pepe Romero owns three Torres guitars (including an 1856 Torres); Celin Romero and Angel Romero each own one. FE 04 La Leona (1856) - owned by Erhard Hannen, now is being played by Wulfin Lieske. video FE 09 (1859) - owned by Miguel Llobet, now in the collection of the Museu de