1970 Arcángel Fernández SP/CY

This 1970 Arcángel Fernández is a flamenco guitar (blanca) with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made in his Madrid workshop by the maker who carried on the tradition of Marcelo Barbero.

Arcángel's Mature Style

This example from 1970 is in fantastic, crack-free condition with very little wear. Characteristic of Arcángel's mature style, it is lightweight in build with optimal use of materials. The top itself is lightly braced, with the fans clustered fairly close together and a thin support under the bridge – which increases the boom in the basses, and speed of response in the trebles.

The Classic Mid-Century Flamenco Sound

This guitar has all the sonic qualities of the idealized mid-century flamenco – lightning-fast response, great power and "punch" in the attack of every note. It also has a very romantic loose, dry and woody "old world" sound that is a hallmark quality of this maker's best work.

A Flamenco That Also Plays as a Classical

The prior owner of this guitar actually played it as a "classical" guitar – and indeed it is an extremely versatile instrument that could also easily satisfy the ears and hands of the most discriminating classical guitarist looking for the rich sound of cypress for the back and sides. Extremely desirable in all ways – to the performer and collector alike.

Arcángel Fernández: Flamenco Guitar Maker of Madrid

Arcángel Fernández is one of the best and most famed Spanish luthiers of both flamenco and classical guitars of the latter half of the twentieth century. Like his master Marcelo Barbero, Arcángel's work has played a particularly integral role in defining the archetypal flamenco guitar, which still to this day serves as the model for contemporary flamenco luthiers trying to obtain that classic, mid-century sound at its apex.

Barbero's Assistant and Successor

Arcángel came to the guitar from cabinet making. In 1954 he became the assistant of Marcelo Barbero, then the finest maker in Madrid, and after Barbero's early death in 1956 he finished his master's last instruments and went on to build under his own name in the same workshop. From 1959 he worked side by side with Barbero's son, Marcelo Barbero Hijo, for some forty years. His later labels give the workshop address as Calle Jesús y María, 26, Madrid. Arcángel built only a small number of guitars each year, and demand – much of it from collectors abroad – eventually grew so great that he stopped taking orders. In 2011 he retired to the Canary Islands.