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 (born 1932) is one of the best and most famed Spanish luthiers of both flamenco and classical guitars of the latter half of the twentieth century. He came to the guitar from cabinet making, and in 1954 he became the assistant of Marcelo Barbero – then the finest maker in Madrid – preparing woods and finishing instruments. He was the only person ever to apprentice with Barbero. When his master died in March 1956, Arcángel completed the guitars left unfinished in the shop and for about a year went on building for Barbero's widow.

His Own Workshop in Lavapiés

He then opened his own workshop at Jesús y María 26, a couple of blocks from Barbero's old shop in Madrid's Lavapiés quarter. There he took in Barbero's young son, Marcelo Barbero Hijo, taught him everything he had learned from the father, and worked side by side with him for some forty years. Like his master, Arcángel played an integral role in defining the archetypal flamenco guitar – light, fast and powerful, with a loose, dry and woody "old world" sound – which still serves as the model for flamenco luthiers chasing that classic mid-century sound. He built only a small number of guitars each year, in his later decades almost exclusively for collectors in Japan, until demand grew so great that he stopped taking orders. In 2011 he retired to the Canary Islands.

Books on Arcángel Fernández

A 1962 Arcángel Fernández is one of the guitars reproduced in Alberto Martínez's book "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size", with photographs and full-size drawings of each instrument:

34 Classical Guitars in Life Size