1964 Manuel de la Chica SP/CSAR (ex Frederick Noad)

Année	1964
Dessus	Spruce
Dos et côtés	CSA Rosewood
Longueur de l'échelle	664 mm
Largeur au sillet	51 mm
Finition	French Polish
Pays	Spain

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The fretboard and rosette of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The back of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

A close-up of the rosette of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The headstock and machine heads of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The soundboard of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The front of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The side of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The rosette of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The headstock of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

The label of a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad) classical guitar made of spruce and CSA rosewood

Sebastián Iradier's "La Paloma" by Irina Kulikova on a 1964 Manuel de la Chica (ex Frederick Noad)

Description

Like Santos and Barbero, Manuel de la Chica was at home building both classical and flamenco guitars, indeed his finer instruments have the flexibility of being played by either style and are often compared to the work of these other two builders for their very "Spanish" style of sound. This is such an instrument, and it has a lyrical, singing quality to it yet at the same time can bite if pushed. It is very light in weight, and has piercing volume. We first purchased this guitar many years ago from Marilyn Noad, just shortly after her husband, the great classical guitar personality (mainly remembered now for his educational PBS TV series as well as instructional books) Frederick Noad's passing. She left a note stating the provenance, which is still with the guitar. There are a few cracks in the body of the guitar (top and back) which were repaired while still owned by Fred, and remain perfectly stable to this day. The instrument is in performance-ready condition and sounds absolutely fantastic. Although a longer-scale instrument, playability is a breeze with a very comfortable neck shape, as is the norm for this maker. This is an exceptional instrument in every regard from this great builder with great provenance.

Arrière-plan

Manuel de la Chica is arguably the greatest guitar builder from Granada to date. He was born in 1911, and his early professional background was in cabinet making, as is the case for countless other fine guitar makers. His focus shifted to guitar making in the late 1930s when he had seen and become attracted to the Spanish guitar, primarily those of Santos Hernandez. Often his instruments are compared to the later guitars of Marcelo Barbero (who assisted in the construction of several Santos guitars left partially built at the time of his death) which we feel is a very strong and fair comparison. In 1973 he was forced into early retirement from guitar making due to health complications he was experiencing from inhaling dust and chemicals in his taller.