1979 Arcángel Fernández SP/CY

This 1979 Arcángel Fernández is a spruce and cypress flamenco blanca from Madrid whose first owner was Pepe Martínez, the concert flamenco guitarist from Seville.

First Owned by Pepe Martínez of Seville

Of note, its first owner was Pepe Martínez, concert flamenco guitarist from Seville – a letter with this provenance is included with the guitar.

A Late-1970s Arcángel

This example from 1979 is one of the more lightweight examples we have seen of his work, and consequently has a very strong, booming sound with lightning-fast response. The basses have impressive richness and body, and the trebles have a beautiful, singing, "lyrical" quality. It is in fantastic, crack-free condition, which is remarkable for an instrument of this vintage. Playability is superb with low action and an elegantly shaped, easy neck.

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