Flamenco guitar Domingo Esteso 1933

This flamenco guitar is built in the legendary guitar-maker’s workshop Domingo Esteso, in 7th Gravina Street, Madrid, the year 1933. This luthier was one of the most distinguished disciples of Manuel Ramirez along with Santos Hernandez and Enrique Garcie, with who he shared the workshop in that time. In the year 1915 he decided to open his own workshop in 7th Gravina Street, where the most relevant figures of that time’s flamenco guitar were regulars. Domingo Esteso died in the year 1937 and is considered as one of the most important guitar-makers in Spanish guitar history.

The different kinds of wood picked for this guitar are really exclusive, impossible to find nowadays. The sound top is made of German spruce, with an even and straight grain on the entire surface. The back and sides are made of beautiful cypress tree, with a straight and simple veining.

Its sound is pure magic, with unique depth and really quick response. The timbre is unmistakably flamenco. There is no doubt Domingo Esteso is, along with Santos Hernández, one of the makers we are most passionate about from Manuel Ramírez´s school. That said, Santos’s guitars have a serious and elegant sound, but we must admit we are partial to Domingo Esteso, as their timbre shows this unmistakeable colour of the Conde firm which makes them unique.

The guitar tension is medium, and the height of strings in saddle and fingerboard, perfectly balanced, so it is quite a comfortable guitar for both hands.

We have a really special guitar here. An instrument in exceptional condition, with its original varnish, only the original frets have been replaced, in order to attain an optimal level of sound and adjustment on the fingerboard. It just has a small fissure on the sound top and another on the side, both perfectly repaired and documented in the pictures attached. The pegbox may not look like the original one, but it is. This is explained by the fact that, during Spanish Civil War and some years later, it was extremely difficult to find the materials and the products the luthiers wanted. As a result, they used the few things they had at hand, adapting them if necessary, as in this case. We must highlight the construction firmness this instrument shows, which make it appropriate to play it and use it in any situation, getting away from the rumors that say vintage guitars are fragile and delicate.