2019 Felipe Conde Crespo CD/GE

Felipe Conde Crespo (Felipe Conde Jr.) built this 2019 concert classical in Madrid with a cedar soundboard and green ebony back and sides – No. 30 of 2019, on a plantilla slightly smaller than the standard Conde.

Back to Esteso and Santos Hernández

The fourth generation of a guitar-making family that turned 100 in 2015, Felipe Jr. here goes back beyond the standard Conde shape. The proportions still derive from Domingo Esteso's soleras, as in all his father's classicals, but specifically from the later Esteso models favored in the family's "Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso" and "Sobrinos de Domingo Esteso" years – a plantilla very close to, perhaps identical with, one used by Santos Hernández.

Built After Guitars from the Conde Collection

Before and during the build, Felipe Jr. examined several instruments in the family's own collection – by Santos Hernández, by Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso and by Domingo Esteso himself – and found them almost identical in outline and proportions to this guitar. Inside is a double fan bracing he designed himself, and the sides are shallower than on his earlier guitars, so the box is slightly smaller.

Exotic Green Ebony, Big Madrid Sound

Felipe's materials are always first-class: here, exotic green ebony for the back and sides, and also for the purflings, bridge and head veneer, with Alessi tuners. The craftsmanship – clean, precise and elegant, with a fine rosette and the classic Esteso headstock – reflects his years of apprenticeship with his father. The voice is big, hearty and full but balanced and clear, with the power of the great Madrid makers of the past half-century, and the gracefully shaped neck is very easy to play.

Felipe Jr. and María Conde in Vanity Fair magazine

The Conde family history (Felipe Conde)

Felipe Conde in Iberia Magazine

Orfeo Magazine No. 25 – Flamenco: Origins of the Flamenco Guitar
The Spring 2025 issue features Felipe Jr. and his father, Felipe Conde, and the story of the Conde guitars.

Felipe Conde Crespo: Fourth Generation of the Esteso–Conde Line

Felipe Conde Crespo – Felipe Conde Jr., or Felipe (hijo) – is a Madrid guitar maker, the son of Felipe Conde and, with his sister María Conde, the fourth generation of the family tradition that began in 1915 with Domingo Esteso. He learned the craft as his father's apprentice, starting during summer vacations from his sociology studies in the United States with jobs such as gluing tops, and today he builds classical and flamenco guitars in his own independent workshop in Madrid.

The Esteso and Conde Hermanos Legacy

After Esteso's death in 1937, his nephews Faustino and Mariano Conde – Felipe Jr.'s great-uncle and grandfather – carried on the workshop at Gravina 7, first as Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso and later as Conde Hermanos. Their guitars became the standard of the flamenco world, played by Niño Ricardo, Sabicas, Melchor de Marchena and, for nearly his entire career, Paco de Lucía (see a few of these players on their Condes). Conde guitars are known for a dry, woody, very firm tone that stays clear and punchy even at the limits of speed, and the "Media Luna" (half-moon) headstock has been the symbol of the family's top flamencos since 1960. In 2015 the family celebrated 100 years of guitar making.

Felipe Conde Crespo's Own Label

Felipe Jr.'s first guitars, in 2016, carry his father's printed label, signed "Felipe Conde (hijo)"; from 2017 on he has used his own "Felipe Conde Crespo" label. In 2015 he and María were profiled together in the Spanish edition of Vanity Fair, where he summed up what it means to carry on the dynasty: "Having this last name is a big responsibility."