Flamenco guitar Hermanos Conde 1981

This flamenco guitar was made by the firm Hermanos Conde in Madrid, the year 1981. Lots of great performers have been in this workshop. For example, Paco de Lucía, Melchor de Marchena, Niño Ricardo, Cepero, Pepe Habichuela, and so many others.

A fairly interesting guitar, it is a model sold at the store located in Atocha Street, used as an office of the firm, and managed by Julio Conde (Domingo Esteso´s nephew). The details of the inner making and the template both fit perfectly with the top-notch guitars of the 70s, made by Faustino Conde at Hermanos Conde´s house, in Gravina Street. One more thing worth mentioning is that during this time, some unsealed top-notch guitars were sold to professionals, aiming to reduce its commercial value, thus avoiding speculation (the speculators meant to acquire them at a lower price because of their status of artists, later selling them for a higher price). This speculation was widespread at that time among artists back then, especially with guitars made by the firms Conde and Ramírez, in countries like Japan, where there was an “unfilled void” of top-notch guitars, so they could be easily sold by twice or three times their price. This guitar belonged to Juan Diego Mateo, a guitarist from Jerez, who bought it directly from the workshop in 1981.

The woods employed for the making of this guitar are German spruce for the top and Spanish Royal cypress for back and sides. It´s worth remarking how beautiful these high quality woods are, especially the Spanish Royal cypress. The top has got a very marked, straight and even grain.

The sound emerging from this guitar possesses some special features and nuances, where the flamenco touch from this signature can be definitely found. The basses are very strong, with a very particular percussive sound. The trebles is just crystalline and well-defined and with an amazing scope, all of which makes quite a balanced set of features and a very accentuated flamenco sound, perfect both for a concert or for “cante” and “baile” accompaniment.

The tension of this flamenco guitar is medium. The height of the strings in the fingerboard and saddle is very balanced, providing us with a high level of comfort for both hands, as well as simplicity for the performance itself.

The condition of this flamenco guitar is excellent and completely original, without any kind of cracks or repairs whatsoever.