1950s Viuda de Santos Hernández SP/MP

This 1950s Viuda de Santos Hernández is a spruce and maple flamenco guitar built for the Santos Hernández shop in Madrid after Santos' death – bought there by its first owners in the early 1950s.

In the video above, this guitar is heard together with a Miguel Rodríguez ("El Esteban and Company").

Built for the Widow's Shop at Aduana 23

Built for the Santos Hernández shop after Santos' passing in 1943, this is a fantastic high-grade concert guitar by any standard. Although the label ("Viuda de Santos Hernández, Guitarrería, Aduana 23, Madrid") is not dated, we acquired this guitar from the original family, who themselves bought it in the early 1950s in the Aduana shop in Madrid. This guitar does not have the features in it that would identify Marcelo Barbero as its builder (he was at this same time completing some of the unfinished Santos guitars for Matilde, Santos' widow) so it is uncertain as to who exactly made it.

A Master of the Mid-Century Spanish Style

Whoever it was, he was a master of the mid-century Spanish style – the guitar is lightweight, ultra-responsive with a singing, lyrical and simply beautiful tone. The craftsmanship is first-class as well, although the design itself is simple and understated. Materials are beautiful and this instrument could be used for either flamenco or classical playing – it handles both styles with ease, in any performance situation either live or in studio.

Santos Hernández and Segovia's 1912 Manuel Ramírez

Santos Hernández (1874–1943) is one of the elite makers of the historical pantheon – along with Torres and Hauser I in terms of collectibility and historical importance. Santos became a very established maker early in his career when he became known as the builder of the Manuel Ramírez guitar of 1912 that was owned and played by Andrés Segovia – this very guitar currently resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, right next to Segovia's 1937 Hauser I.

From the Ramírez Workshop to Calle de la Aduana, Madrid

Born in Madrid, Santos started out as a boy making the gold and silver trimmings for bullfighters' suits, and turned to the guitar in 1886. After his apprenticeship and five years of military service, Manuel Ramírez – the teacher he always considered his true one – took him into his workshop, where he became foreman. Two years after Ramírez's death in 1916, Santos set up his own shop, soon on Calle de la Aduana, where the great guitarists of the day came to visit and where he worked until his death in 1943.

A Guitar for the Great Players of His Day

Many others have played his instruments, including Regino Sainz de la Maza (for whom the "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Joaquín Rodrigo was written), Eduardo Abreu, Daniel Fortea, and the Romero family among others, as well as flamenco masters such as Ramón Montoya and Sabicas. Players for the past 100 years have valued these instruments for their charming, introverted quality of tone.