Flamenco guitar Arcángel Fernández 1970

This flamenco guitar was built by the master luthier Arcángel Fernández in the year 1970, considered to be one of the best guitar makers in history. His instruments are really hard to get, since Japan collectors bought almost all of them. His guitars are truly admired by guitar makers, collectors and guitarists all around the world.

The different woods in this flamenco guitar are of the top existing quality. The top are made of german spruce has a totally straight and even grain, which is quite accentuated. The back and sides are made of cypress wood, whose beauty and quality are simply magnificent. Arcángel Fernández was extremely selective as regards the choice of the woods for the guitar making. He always seeked for nothing but excellence in acoustics and beauty, which can be appreciated in every single guitar he made all along his career.

This flamenco guitar is undoubtedly one of the three best guitars ever made by Arcángel Fernández. Arcángel Fernández made it as a commission in 1970 for José Luis Cabrera, also known as “El Quijote” around the tablaos in Madrid of that time. He worked there with great leading figures of flamenco, such as la Chana, el Mimbre, el Faico or Faiquillo, Enrique de Melchor or Cantalejo, among others. Some time laster, he was hired, along with Cantalejo de Jerez, Pedro Cuadrada, the dancer Rocío and some more artists by Espartaco Santoni´s agency, in order to work in Venezuela, especifically at the famous Café de Chinitas, located in the capital, Caracas, where he settled and started a family.

It is, thus, an instrument with countless hours of hard work devoted to it, which obviously results in a wonderful sound. A really flamenco timbre has been attained, with this beautiful “hollow” timbre, and a scope and quick response which easily beats any modern guitar.

The strings height and adjustment which this guitar allows is simply perfect, this permits an extremely comfortable touch in both hands and an increase in fluidity when playing the instrument.

The condition of this guitar is good. It has been masterfully restored by maestro Francisco Sánchez. A restoration which consisted of the repair of a crack on the side, and another one on the top (under the pickguard), the latter smaller and more superficial, apart from the routinary application of shellac. The pickguards were fairly worn out already by the time the guitar was purchased, so we had no choice but to replace them. However, we can still notice the marks of the old ones, as, although we could have erased them, we decided to preserve them, in order to also preserve the original width of the wood, something mandatory for us, since it is an essential factor for the preservation of its original sound and character.