1992 Francisco Barba "25th Anniversary" SP/CY

A 1992 "25th Anniversary" flamenco blanca by Francisco Barba, with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made in Seville – one of only three blancas in the series of 15 guitars he built to mark 25 years as a guitar maker.

The 25th Anniversary Series of 15

In 1992 Barba celebrated a quarter century of guitar making by building a special series of 15 instruments with his very best materials: 12 rosewood guitars and just 3 blancas, of which this is one. Its commemorative label reads "Guitarra construida de una serie de 15 conmemorativa del 25 aniversario" and carries a handwritten dedication, "al Maestro Casteño", with his signature.

Red and Green Inlay Work

It is visually stunning, with many unique and lovely details, including a striking alternation of a red and green motif in the rosette and the purfling.

Pegs, Sound and Condition

Yuris Zeltins recently fitted it with planetary (machined) pegs, and the original wooden pegs come in the case with the guitar. The tone is fat and balanced, with plenty of punch, volume and flamenco edge – a very powerful, lively Andalusian flamenco guitar, in like-new condition.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 25 – Flamenco: Origins of the Flamenco Guitar (with a feature on Francisco Barba and his sons)

Francisco Barba: Master Flamenco Guitar Maker of Seville

Francisco Barba (b. 1939) is the best-known guitar maker in Seville and one of the most respected builders of flamenco guitars in all of Spain, of the same generation as Manuel Reyes and Gerundino Fernández. A Sevillian through and through, he started woodworking at fourteen in his father's carpentry shop and built his first guitar at eighteen, teaching himself as he went. With no teacher and none of the special tools of the trade, he worked out his own methods from scratch – which is why a Barba is built like no other guitar – and he has spent his whole working life in his workshop on Calle Arroyo, in the heart of Seville.

Francisco Barba and His Sons: Guitars Made by Six Hands

For more than thirty years Francisco has built his guitars together with his sons, Francisco (Paco) and Juan Antonio Barba. The three share every stage of the work rather than specializing, choose their woods with the same ear and voice each guitar together at the end – so although the label reads "Francisco Barba", every guitar from the shop is the work of all three. Barba guitars have been the instruments of many of Andalucía's finest flamenco players, among them Rafael Riqueni, Manolo Franco, Niño de Pura, Pedro Peña, Manuel Molina and Quique Paredes, and the family was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 25 in 2025.