Lucio began working with guitars in Mexico City, and has been building musical instruments now for over three decades. For a while, he constructed lutes, vihuelas, and guitars--electric and acoustic--as well as mandolins and charangos, for musicians who played various types of music, from Latin American and Spanish, to jazz, pop, and classical.
By 1982 Lucio had begun to devote most of his time to making classical and flamenco guitars. For twelve years, he lived and worked in San Miguel de Allende, México. Working alone, using only quality materials, he loves what he does and takes great pride in his work.
Lucio studied guitar building and learned the traditional techniques that mostly involve the use of hand tools. He integrates both intuition and intellect into his guitar-making process. Although he reveres the tradition of guitar making, Lucio readily acknowledges the role of intuition in his process.
Research and experimentation have always been essential to Lucio's craft. After moving to San Antonio, Texas, he began to experiment with lattice bracing. An experienced woodworker whose guitars blend traditional and new concepts, he builds with the fan-braced system or with contemporary design. Most of the time, he uses a lattice-bracing system but does not work with carbon fiber. He has also repaired and restored guitars for the past twenty-five years, an experience which has given him the opportunity to compare the sounds and construction methods of different makers.
Núñez guitars not only produce a well-balanced sound but also possess clarity--a quality as important to music as it is elusive for the guitar maker to attain. When a chord is played, it is clarity that enables every note to be distinguished from the others. High standards of construction make these guitars concert instruments.
"Music is the ultimate goal of the luthier's art and craft," says Lucio, "and just like music, lutherie depends on both science and mystery. The space between one note and another, the way we work with sound frequencies--that is physics. But the way music touches our souls--that is a mystery."