1969 Marcelo Barbero (Hijo) SP/CY

A 1969 flamenco blanca by Marcelo Barbero Hijo, with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, built in Madrid in the workshop of Arcángel Fernández – its label reads "Construida por Marcelo Barbero (Hijo) para casa Arcángel Fernández".

A Late-60s Madrid Blanca

It is a classic late-60s Madrid blanca: a light build, golden cypress, a simple, elegant rosette, the traditional white tap plates and modern machine heads – the same design, materials and standards as the Arcángel guitars made at the next bench, in the tradition of Marcelo Hijo's father, Marcelo Barbero.

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.