1955/1971 Ignacio Fleta CD/IN

This 1955/1971 Ignacio Fleta is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides – Fleta's No. 63 of 1955, given a new soundboard in the Fleta workshop in Barcelona in 1971.

A 1955 Fleta with a 1971 Cedar Top

Two labels tell this guitar's story. The first is Ignacio's original: "Ignacio Fleta – Barcelona, Construido en 1955 – No. 63" – from the very year he decided to devote himself to guitar making. The second is a later "Ignacio Fleta e hijos" label from the workshop at Calle de los Ángeles 4, with the handwritten note "TAPA CAMBIADA en 1971" – top replaced in 1971.

So the back, sides and neck come from Fleta's first year as a full-time guitar maker, while the cedar soundboard was made by Ignacio and his sons Francisco and Gabriel in 1971, during Fleta's great cedar period.

Why a New Top?

We don't know why the original top (which was most certainly spruce) was changed. Based on the condition of the back and sides there is no evidence that the guitar suffered any damage, although this is possible. It's also possible that the owner wanted a cedar top, since by 1971 these were strongly in vogue. But as the guitar has come to us, we have no record of its history and can only guess.

Sound and Playability

As to its sound and playability – this is truly a great Fleta all around. It has the quick agility of the more compact body size from the 1950s, but the huge, powerful and harmonically rich sound of the cedar period. It's a Fleta that shows off his strengths from both periods, all in one guitar!

Ignacio Fleta: Master Guitar Maker of Barcelona

For performers and collectors alike, the name Ignacio Fleta (1897–1977) ranks among the elite handful of 20th-century luthiers. Trained in Barcelona as a maker of violins and cellos, he built mainly bowed instruments from the late 1920s until 1955, when he decided to devote himself to the guitar. Countless scores of the finest players in the world have played his instruments – among them Andrés Segovia, John Williams, Angel Romero, Turibio Santos, Alirio Díaz and Marcelo Kayath.

Ignacio Fleta e Hijos: Three Generations

By the mid-1960s Fleta's sons, Francisco (1925–2003) and Gabriel (1929–2013), had become his partners in the workshop – which is why the labels from then on read "Ignacio Fleta e hijos" (Ignacio Fleta and sons). After Ignacio's death in 1977 the brothers carried on, and today Gabriel's son, Gabriel Fleta Jr., continues the family workshop in its third generation. Many dozens of Fletas have passed through our doors over the years.