Flamenco guitar Santos Hernández 1935

This flamenco guitar was built by the legendary master luthier Santos Hernández in 1935. He was Manuel Ramírez´s best disciple, working for him for 23 years. In 1918 he opened his own workshop in 23 Aduana Street. Santos Hernández built around 300 guitars since 1916 until his very death. These guitars were used by many of the greatest guitarists of that time: Ramón Montoya, Andrés Segovia, Sabicas, Niño Ricardo, Regino Sainz de la Maza, etc.

The different kinds of wood used in its construction have an excellent quality. German spruce can be seen in the top, with a very marked, straight and even grain. On the other hand, Spanish Royal Cypress is the kind of wood employed for the back and sides.

This guitar’s sound is truly wonderful; you just have to listen to a single chord to realize you are in front of an instrument with a quality far beyond the rest. A specially flamenco timbre which is full of personality and character. Bright and harsh bass stops, with deep bass and crystal-clear, sweet treble, where a wide variety of harmonics flow easily.

The tension of this flamenco guitar is medium-low, and the height of strings in saddle and fingerboard is reduced. The height on the fret 12 is 2,4 mm, which allows our left hand to do its job very easily and fluently.

The condition is excellent. The original top was replaced around the 50s. If we analyze this restoration in detail, we can notice some details in the making which belong to Manuel Ramirez´s school. In addition, we saw a rosette which was identical in some instruments by the legendary guitar maker Modesto Borreguero (one of the most popular guitar makers who ever worked in Manuel Ramirez´s workshop), which makes us think this is the author of this restoration. It only has a small superficial crack on the top, practically invisible to the eyesight, and backed up with documentary evidence in the images attached. This cracked was perfectly repaired by the luthier Faustino Conde in 1982. He also applied natural nitrocellulose varnish to the guitar. The down-to-detail information is collected in the original bill, delivered along with the guitar.