1999 Conde Hermanos "Concert Blanca" SP/CY

This 1999 Conde Hermanos "Concert Blanca" is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made at the family's Felipe V workshop in Madrid – the house whose guitars Paco de Lucía played for nearly his entire career.

A Concert Blanca for Strong, Fast Hands

This instrument has a strong attack and aggressive edge that is matched with a beautiful, big tone. It is a great guitar for a player with strong, fast hands looking for an instrument to match his technical prowess. It features beautiful materials, and has the classic media-luna headstock and floral rosette design that make this among the most desirable of the older-school Condes we've seen.

Condition

It is in great shape for its age, with only some playing wear in the finish from over a quarter century of regular use but no prior damage or repairs. All in all, this is a great workhorse guitar for the most demanding of gigging flamenco players.

Luthier bio: Felipe Conde and the Conde history

Orfeo Magazine #25 – Flamenco: Origins of the Flamenco Guitar

Conde Hermanos: The Flamenco Guitar of Madrid

Conde Hermanos guitars have been the industry standard for Spanish flamencos for many decades now. Conde has been the guitar of choice for the vast number of great players for many generations, from Niño Ricardo and Melchor de Marchena to Paco de Lucía (who recorded and concertized for nearly his entire career on Conde), Moraíto, Gerardo Núñez, Cañizares, Rafael Riqueni and the present generation's Diego del Morao and many others. Click here to see a small sampling of such performances.

The Conde Sound

They are famously known for a dry, "woody" and very firm tone, capable of retaining clarity and punch even when driven to the extreme limits of speed – whether in picado, tremolo or rasgueado techniques – these guitars can hold up and deliver a reliable and consistent quality of tone.

From Domingo Esteso to the Conde Brothers

The Conde story begins with Domingo Esteso, who trained in the workshop of Manuel Ramírez and then set up his own shop at Calle Gravina 7 in Madrid. His nephews Faustino and Mariano Conde learned the craft at his side, and after Esteso's death in 1937 they carried on – first as "Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso", then as "Sobrinos de Domingo Esteso / Conde Hermanos" and "Hermanos Conde / Sobrinos de Esteso". In 1980 Mariano opened a second shop at Felipe V, 2, which he ran with his sons Felipe and Mariano Jr.; after Faustino's death in 1988 and Mariano's in 1989, the brothers took over. The Felipe V shop has since closed and the two brothers now work separately – Felipe Conde under his own name since 2010, with his children María and Felipe Jr.