2014 Ethan Deutsch SP/CY

Built in 2014 by Ethan Deutsch, this spruce and cypress flamenco blanca has the new rosette design we showed in our photos just after it was finished.

A 2014 Ethan Deutsch Flamenco Blanca

Very traditional in concept, as you'd expect from Ethan's background as a player, it is notably light – like a mid-century Andalusian flamenco – and the attack of the notes snaps quickly and strongly. Played gently it is quite lyrical for a flamenco; dig in, and it quickly turns aggressive.

Playing the 2014 Deutsch

Both hands will be happy: the sleek, easy contour of the neck makes it extremely easy for the left, and its ultra-responsive feel makes it very easy on the right. Nervous about traditional pegs? These are mechanical friction pegs – actually "machined" – with all the old-school look and feel. Highly recommended for the serious flamenco player who wants a fantastic, traditional concert flamenco guitar.

Photos of this guitar taken just after completion

Ethan Deutsch: Flamenco and Classical Guitar Maker in Seattle

Ethan Deutsch builds flamenco and classical guitars in Seattle, Washington, and has done so full-time since 1997. Born in 1955, he took up the flamenco guitar as a teenager in the Boston area – and the path from there to the workbench is one of the more fascinating stories among the makers we know.

Morón de la Frontera and Diego del Gastor

In 1970, at fifteen, he went to Spain for a year and studied with the legendary Gypsy guitarist Diego del Gastor in Morón de la Frontera, near Sevilla, absorbing the music mostly by listening and watching. He came home in 1971 with a Manuel Contreras flamenco guitar, discovered Irving Sloane's book Classic Guitar Construction and began building – learning mostly on his own.

Chemist, Flamenco Guitarist, Furniture Maker

With little guidance available for an aspiring luthier, Ethan went to college instead: a chemistry degree at Antioch College, then a Ph.D. in chemistry at Princeton and five years as a research chemist. All the while he performed flamenco professionally under the stage name "Mario Amaya" and taught himself fine woodworking. In 1989 he opened a one-man furniture and cabinet shop in Chicago, moved it to Seattle in 1991, and in 1997 came full circle and returned to guitar making.

Traditional Guitars in the Andalusian Manner

Ethan builds in the old Spanish tradition, mostly flamenco blancas of cypress and spruce, along with negras and a few classical guitars. Over the years he has fitted many of his flamencos with mechanical "machined" pegs from different makers, which keep the look of wooden friction pegs. Flamenco players such as Gerardo Núñez, Jason McGuire and Kai Narezo have all played his guitars.