2003 Manuel Contreras II "Double Top" CD/CSAR (ex Pepe Romero)
Year | 2003 |
Top | Cedar |
Back & Sides | CSA Rosewood |
Scale Length | 650 mm |
Nut width | 52 mm |
Finish | French Polish |
Country | Spain |
Luthier | Manuel Contreras |
This guitar is no longer available in our inventory. If it interests you, click the ”notify me when available” button to be notified in the event that we re-acquire this guitar for re-sale.
The Contreras Double-Top is perhaps his best-known and most sought-after design. Several players have performed on this model since the 1980's, including the Romeros. The name "double-top" is actually a slight misnomer: in Spanish "tapa" means "cover" and actually refers to an additional piece of wood that is "covering" the inside of the back. So in reality, the back (not the top) is doubled-up, with the rosewood exterior and tone-wood interior (this cedar top model has a piece of cedar lining the inside of the back). This is in line with the Madrid school of using double sets of wood - Ramirez line the sides of the 1a with cypress and Bernabe of course uses double sides on some of his models.
This is a fantastic example from 2003, and was previously owned by Pepe Romero. Being very loud and lively, this guitar is great fun to play, and the sound is characteristic of the Madrid style. It is focused, rich and quite expressive. The action and setup are comfortable, and the quality of materials is first-class. Apart from one small (1cm) crack near the foot on the soundboard that was recently repaired only with glue from the outside, the guitar is in excellent, concert-ready condition.