2021 Francisco Barba CD/MH

A 2021 flamenco negra by Francisco Barba, with a cedar top and flamed mahogany back and sides, made in Seville – with the rose rosette, and practically brand-new.

Dark Cedar and Flamed Mahogany

This cedar-topped negra is visually stunning. The rosette and purfling alternate red and green, with a central mosaic of red roses on green stems and leaves. The materials are eye-popping too: a well-aged, dark cedar top and a wild set of highly flamed mahogany for the back and sides, which enhances the midrange compared with cypress, without the heaviness that can sometimes come with rosewood.

Sound and Playability

Light as a feather, in line with the best flamencos of Barbero, Arcángel and even Santos, it has a fat, balanced tone with lots of punch, volume and flamenco edge. The sleek neck and low flamenco action add just the right amount of "sizzle". A top concert instrument, in "like" brand-new condition.

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.