2019 Felipe Conde Crespo CD/GE

A 2019 concert classical guitar by Felipe Conde Crespo (Felipe Conde Jr.), with a cedar top and green ebony back and sides, built in Madrid on a smaller Esteso plantilla – No. 28 of 2019 on his label.

A Smaller Body from Domingo Esteso's Later Models

Felipe Jr. and his sister María are the new generation of Conde builders, in a family tradition that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015. Like his father's classical guitars, the basic dimensions and proportions of this guitar are derived from the soleras used by Domingo Esteso, but this one in particular comes from later Esteso models that were favorites in the "Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso" and "Sobrinos de Domingo Esteso" eras of the family history. The plantilla is very similar to – if not the same as – one also used by Santos Hernández, and it is slightly smaller than the standard Conde shape.

Studying the Family Collection

While building this guitar, Felipe Jr. spent time studying several guitars from the family collection, including instruments by Santos Hernández, Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso and Domingo Esteso, and they were all nearly identical in body shape and proportions to this new guitar. The bracing is a double fan system of Felipe Jr.'s own design, and the sides are shallower than on his previous guitars, making this a slightly smaller box.

Green Ebony and Sound

Workmanship is the usual very high standard from this shop – very clean, precise and refined, from the beautiful rosette to the classic Esteso head shape. Materials are always first-class, and for this guitar Felipe used beautiful and exotic green ebony for the back, sides, purflings, bridge and head veneer. It is fitted with Alessi tuners. Sound is big, hearty and full, yet very balanced and clear, with great power in the tradition of the leading Madrid makers of the last 50 years, and it plays easily with a gracefully shaped neck. A beautiful and powerful Madrid guitar with a rich and full sound.

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
In its Spring 2025 flamenco issue, Orfeo visits Felipe Jr. in his own Madrid workshop and his father, Felipe Conde.

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."