1957 Manuel de la Chica w/pegs SP/CY

This 1957 Manuel de la Chica is a spruce and cypress flamenco blanca with traditional wooden pegs, built in Granada in the 1950s.

A Mid-Century Flamenco with Pegs

This is a monster of a mid-century style flamenco blanca and as good a representative of this style as any instrument by any other maker from the period. It is fitted with old-school pegs, making this a classic, traditional mid-century flamenco all around. The label, printed in green, is signed and dated August 1957.

Sound and Playability

It is featherlight, has a huge, raspy sound and great flamenco bark with piercing volume – yet if coaxed, it has a lyrical, singing quality as well. This is an extremely versatile instrument with incredible liveliness and energy. Thanks to a slender and easy neck shape and snappy responsiveness, playability is a breeze, as is the norm for this maker.

Condition

It’s in great condition for its age – apart from two cracks in the top (including a splice) and two cracks in the back, all repaired and stable, it is in excellent shape and in performance-ready condition.

GSI Foundation

This guitar was donated to our non-profit charitable organization, the GSI Foundation. Guitar sales through the GSI Foundation raise money to directly benefit music education in public schools.

Manuel de la Chica: Granada’s Great Master

Manuel de la Chica (1911–1998) is arguably the greatest guitar builder from Granada to date. 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 Hernández. His labels – with their view of the Alhambra – come from his workshop on the Placeta de la Sillería in Granada.

Santos, Barbero and De la Chica

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 Santos’s death), which we feel is a very strong and fair comparison. Like Santos and Barbero, De la Chica was at home building both classical and flamenco guitars, and his finer instruments have the flexibility of being played in either style.

Retirement and Rediscovery

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. From his early departure until his death in 1998, his instruments fell into relative obscurity; however, renewed interest in recent decades and a re-evaluation of his work have convinced many that his contribution, skill and insight into the art of guitar making establish him as one of the great makers of all time. Among those who learned from him was Antonio Marín Montero, his student and friend.