2018 Ethan Deutsch SP/CY

This 2018 Ethan Deutsch is a traditional flamenco blanca in spruce and cypress, made in his Seattle workshop and fitted with mechanical pegs.

Ethan Deutsch Flamenco Guitar, 2018

Ethan's guitars are as traditional as his background as a player. This one is notably lightweight, in the manner of the mid-century Andalusian flamencos, and has a strong, quick snap to the attack. For a flamenco, the sound itself is quite lyrical – yet it turns aggressive quickly when you push it.

Easy to Play, Old-School Pegs

The neck has a sleek, easy contour that makes it extremely easy for the left hand; it is also ultra-responsive to the touch, which makes it very easy on the right hand. It has Ethan's mechanical pegs: they look and feel like old-school wooden friction pegs but are actually "machined" – good news for anyone nervous about traditional pegs. We can highly recommend it to the serious flamenco player looking for a fantastic, traditional concert flamenco.

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.