2001 Conde Hermanos "Felipe V" No. 46 CD/CSAR

This 2001 Conde Hermanos "Felipe V" No. 46 is a flamenco negra with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Madrid by the brothers Felipe and Mariano Conde Jr. – their elite model, named after the workshop's address at Calle Felipe V, 2.

The "Felipe V": The Conde Brothers at Their Peak

This is the top-of-the-line Conde Hermanos that was built in the old shop location at Felipe V in Madrid. At this time, these two brothers – Felipe and Mariano Jr. – made arguably the best modern flamenco guitars available anywhere, and this is a great example from their peak period.

Old CSA Rosewood and Western Red Cedar

Workmanship and materials are absolutely stunning, with a lovely set of old dark CSA rosewood with gorgeous swirling grains for the back and sides and a high-grade, perfectly quartersawn Western red cedar top.

Custom Rodgers Tuners and Mosaic Purflings

Tuners are custom Rodgers with the "media luna" headshape in the upper extremity of the carved base plates – a really nice touch. The added detailing is very elegant, with exact attention to detail in the mosaic work and ornate but tasteful purflings throughout – not just around the rosette, top, back and sides but also on either side of the ebony strip down the back of the neck!

A Lighter Build and a "Mid-Century" Flamenco Sound

This Conde is a bit unusual – it's not the sturdier/heftier build they were known for from this period; rather, this guitar is much more lightly built, reminiscent of the guitars made by their father Mariano and uncle Faustino in the 1950s and 1960s. The sound is also very "mid-century" – warm, loose and "woody" – and rivals the best flamenco instruments we have seen from any builder.

Condition

Condition is excellent, with only some very modest wear in the finish. Overall a beautiful instrument all around – materials, marquetry and, most importantly, sound.

Read More

Luthier bio: Felipe Conde and the Conde history

Felipe Conde in Iberia Magazine

Orfeo Magazine No. 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, each carrying the family tradition forward – Felipe Conde under his own name since 2010. Felipe's son, Felipe Conde Crespo (Felipe Jr.), has had his own workshop in Madrid since 2022.