2017 Francisco Barba SP/CY

Francisco Barba made this flamenco blanca in Seville in 2017, with a spruce soundboard and cypress back and sides – a star-rosette Barba in dead-mint condition.

A Star Rosette from Seville's Moorish Tiles

The first thing you notice is how beautiful this blanca is. The rosette has a star-shaped mosaic inspired by the old Moorish tile work of Seville and the Andalusian towns around it – a design also much loved by another great workshop of southern Spain, that of Miguel Rodríguez in Córdoba. Subtle red and black patterning on either side of the rosette is matched in the top purfling, set off by the bold, unmistakable headstock.

Sound and Playability

The tone is fat and balanced, with a lot of punch, volume and flamenco edge – a powerful, lively Andalusian flamenco. The sleek neck and low action make it effortless to play, with the right amount of flamenco "sizzle".

Condition

Although second-hand, the guitar is in dead-mint, brand-new condition, with no signs of prior use.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 25 – Flamenco: Origins of the Flamenco Guitar (with a feature on Francisco Barba and his sons)

Francisco Barba: Master Flamenco Guitar Maker of Seville

Francisco Barba (b. 1939) is the best-known guitar maker in Seville and one of the most respected builders of flamenco guitars in all of Spain, of the same generation as Manuel Reyes and Gerundino Fernández. A Sevillian through and through, he started woodworking at fourteen in his father's carpentry shop and built his first guitar at eighteen, teaching himself as he went. With no teacher and none of the special tools of the trade, he worked out his own methods from scratch – which is why a Barba is built like no other guitar – and he has spent his whole working life in his workshop on Calle Arroyo, in the heart of Seville.

Francisco Barba and His Sons: Guitars Made by Six Hands

For more than thirty years Francisco has built his guitars together with his sons, Francisco (Paco) and Juan Antonio Barba. The three share every stage of the work rather than specializing, choose their woods with the same ear and voice each guitar together at the end – so although the label reads "Francisco Barba", every guitar from the shop is the work of all three. Barba guitars have been the instruments of many of Andalucía's finest flamenco players, among them Rafael Riqueni, Manolo Franco, Niño de Pura, Pedro Peña, Manuel Molina and Quique Paredes, and the family was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 25 in 2025.