2012 Ethan Deutsch SP/CY

A 2012 flamenco blanca by Ethan Deutsch in spruce and cypress, fitted with mechanical pegs and recorded at GSI by Alfredo Cáceres.

Alfredo Cáceres plays his "Rumba Pa' Tita" on this guitar in the video above.

A Traditional Blanca from Seattle

True to his roots as a player, it is a very traditional guitar – light in weight like the mid-century flamencos of Andalucía, with a quick, strong snap to every note. The sound is quite lyrical for a flamenco guitar, but push it and it quickly becomes aggressive. Just prior to the arrival of this guitar, flamenco guitarist Jason McGuire made some YouTube videos on his own Deutsch guitar, which can be viewed here.

Easy to Play, Old-School Pegs

It is extremely easy to play for the left hand, with a sleek and easy contour to the neck, and it is ultra-responsive to the touch, so very easy on the right hand as well. It has Ethan's mechanical pegs: they look and feel like old-school wooden friction pegs but are actually "machined" – good news for anyone nervous about traditional pegs. Highly recommended for the serious flamenco player who wants a fantastic, traditional concert flamenco guitar.

Ethan Deutsch: Flamenco and Classical Guitar Maker in Seattle

Ethan Deutsch builds flamenco and classical guitars in Seattle, Washington, and has done so full-time since 1997. Born in 1955, he took up the flamenco guitar as a teenager in the Boston area – and the path from there to the workbench is one of the more fascinating stories among the makers we know.

Morón de la Frontera and Diego del Gastor

In 1970, at fifteen, he went to Spain for a year and studied with the legendary Gypsy guitarist Diego del Gastor in Morón de la Frontera, near Sevilla, absorbing the music mostly by listening and watching. He came home in 1971 with a Manuel Contreras flamenco guitar, discovered Irving Sloane's book Classic Guitar Construction and began building – learning mostly on his own.

Chemist, Flamenco Guitarist, Furniture Maker

With little guidance available for an aspiring luthier, Ethan went to college instead: a chemistry degree at Antioch College, then a Ph.D. in chemistry at Princeton and five years as a research chemist. All the while he performed flamenco professionally under the stage name "Mario Amaya" and taught himself fine woodworking. In 1989 he opened a one-man furniture and cabinet shop in Chicago, moved it to Seattle in 1991, and in 1997 came full circle and returned to guitar making.

Traditional Guitars in the Andalusian Manner

Ethan builds in the old Spanish tradition, mostly flamenco blancas of cypress and spruce, along with negras and a few classical guitars. Over the years he has fitted many of his flamencos with mechanical "machined" pegs from different makers, which keep the look of wooden friction pegs. Flamenco players such as Gerardo Núñez, Jason McGuire and Kai Narezo have all played his guitars.