1934 Marcelo Barbero SP/IN

A 1934 classical guitar by Marcelo Barbero, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Madrid – a very early example of his work under his own label, and possibly the earliest rosewood Barbero on record.

In the video above, Tomasz Fechner plays the Canzonetta from Alexandre Tansman's Suite in modo polonico on this guitar.

Early Barbero from the Ramírez Years

The earliest we know of Barbero's guitar making is his time in the shop of José Ramírez I and later under José Ramírez II. He seems to have started building guitars with labels bearing his own name sometime in the early 1930s, so this instrument is a beautiful example of his earliest work as an independent builder – its label is the early version without a street address. As one would expect, it looks both inside and out like a top-made Madrid guitar of the period, greatly influenced by his years in the two Ramírez shops. However, the quality of sound and the "feel" of the guitar are already distinctly Barbero, whose sound is known for great richness and immediate response. This guitar bears the sonic DNA of this great maker, all the way from 1934.

A Rare Rosewood Barbero

Barbero made very few rosewood instruments, and as a result they are highly sought after. Given its age, condition and materials, this is truly a very rare instrument. Of interest is a second Marcelo Barbero label, also dated 1934, glued to the foot of the guitar at the end block.

Condition

Condition is excellent – the top has no cracks. It does appear that some of the braces had been loose in the past and were re-glued, but it is otherwise in remarkably fine condition. There are some hairline cracks in the back and sides which have been glued and are invisible from the outside. Overall, a very rare instrument that has it all – excellent condition and a beautiful sound from one of history's finest builders.

Marcelo Barbero: The Stradivari of Lavapiés

Marcelo Barbero (c. 1904–1956) is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish guitar makers of the 20th century and, above all, as the archetypal maker of the flamenco guitar. Born in Madrid to a poor family and orphaned as a boy, he learned the trade in the workshop of José Ramírez I and went on working under José Ramírez II. He had a colorful life outside the shop too – boxer, racing cyclist and flamenco singer in the tablaos of Madrid – yet he never played the guitar himself; his designs grew out of his own experience and the constant feedback of the best players of the day.

Completing the Last Guitars of Santos Hernández

After Santos Hernández died in March 1943, his widow, Matilde Ruiz López, called on Barbero to finish the guitars Santos had left uncompleted in his workshop at Aduana 23 – work that kept him busy for about three years and gave him a unique, first-hand look at the methods of the great master. Santos's influence shows in the heads, rosettes and proportions of Barbero's guitars of the 1940s; from around the end of 1948 he developed a model of his own, with a new outline, head, rosette, bracing and bridge.

Barbero's Flamenco Guitars and Legacy

Barbero's own shop was in Lavapiés, the old quarter of Madrid near the flamenco tablaos, and he built only to order, for players in Spain and as far away as England, South America, Germany, Italy and Japan. His most famous guitar, from 1951, was made for Carlos Montoya and ended up with Sabicas, who recorded on it for the albums later issued as "Flamenco Puro". In the 1950s he moved toward a fuller, more austere and almost classical voice, with slightly thicker woods and a thin bar across the top under the bridge. He died on March 6, 1956, mourned in the Madrid press as the "Stradivari of Lavapiés". His only real pupil and successor was Arcángel Fernández, who later trained Barbero's son, Marcelo Barbero Hijo.