1967 Marcelo Barbero (Hijo) SP/IN

A 1967 classical guitar by Marcelo Barbero Hijo, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in the Madrid workshop of Arcángel Fernández – a guitar with one foot in the flamenco world and one in the classical.

In the videos above, Grisha Goryachev plays Rafael Riqueñi's "Profundidades" (Taranta) and Fareed Haque plays Julián Arcas' "Bolero" with an improvised cadenza – both on this guitar.

Marcelo Barbero Hijo in 1967

The label reads "Marcelo Barbero (Hijo) para casa Arcángel Fernández". In 1967, the son of the great Marcelo Barbero was in his early twenties, building in the workshop of Arcángel Fernández, who had been his father's disciple – one of the most famous workshops in Spanish guitar-making history.

Sound and Condition

It has a wonderful, dark sound with bold basses and strong trebles, and it sounds like an old spruce-top Miguel Rodríguez. There is the raspy, open, vibrant sound of a great mid-century flamenco, while it keeps the warmth and lyrical beauty of a great classical. Condition is excellent, with original finish throughout.

Marcelo Barbero Hijo: Trained by Arcángel Fernández

Marcelo Barbero Hijo (c. 1944–1946 to 2007) was the only son of the legendary Madrid flamenco guitar maker Marcelo Barbero. He was still a boy when his father died in 1956, so he never worked with him; instead he was taken in and trained by his father's only pupil and successor, Arcángel Fernández, who was both a father figure and a maestro to him and passed on everything he had learned from the elder Barbero.

Guitars "Para Casa Arcángel Fernández"

Marcelo Hijo spent his whole career at Arcángel's side in his workshop in the Lavapiés quarter of Madrid, just a couple of blocks from his father's old shop. His guitars carry a label reading "Construida por Marcelo Barbero (Hijo) para casa Arcángel Fernández" – built by Marcelo Barbero (son) for the house of Arcángel Fernández – and they follow the plans, woods and standards of the guitars Arcángel built alongside them: light, fast and powerful flamencos, along with a smaller number of classicals, in the great Barbero tradition.