2006 Michael Thames No. 657 SP/CY

This 2006 Michael Thames No. 657 is a spruce and cypress flamenco guitar from Santa Fe – lightweight, growling and powerful.

Old-School Flamenco Sound

It has great power, projection and instant attack, and to us it is built in the style of the great makers of southern Spain – it could easily pass for a guitar from Granada of the past several decades. The label – “Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, l’anno 2006” – is numbered 657.

Playability

Extremely easy and fun to play, it is one of those guitars that is hard to put down – and as the photos show, it had already been played a great deal. A very fine instrument for the flamenco player looking for that old-school sound.

Michael Thames: Half a Century of Guitars in New Mexico

American luthier Michael Thames built guitars in New Mexico for more than half a century – first under the label “The Land of Enchantment”, then in Taos and, from the mid-2000s, in Santa Fe – and by 2018 he had made over 1000 instruments. His numbered labels carry his family crest and signature. He has recently retired and now lives in Thailand.

Historical Replicas and Experimental Designs

Thames built a great variety of instruments: traditional concert guitars and flamenco guitars, historical models after René Lacote and Antonio de Torres, and experimental designs of his own, such as guitars with a brass or carbon-fiber tornavoz. For him the most important quality in a great guitar was the attack and ease of response, and his guitars are known for a big, robust and lush sound.