2023 Paco Fajardo SP/CY

Built by Spanish luthier Paco Fardo, this guitar is made with European spruce for the soundboard, and a beautifully cut set of Spanish cypress for the back and sides. This is THE actual award-winning flamenco guitar that Paco showcased at the sixth Antonio Marin Montero Guitar Making Competition held in Granada, Spain in August, 2023 and we are extremely thrilled to have this guitar here. Paco sites Marcelo Barbero as the inspiration behind this guitar, and he was able to obtain wood that has been aged for over 35 years. Like the great gutiars of Marcelo Barbero (considered to have been the pinnacle of the mid-century flamenco style), this guitar is lightly built with a 5-fan system, giving it a big, explosive attack and nimble, fast response. When pushed, it can get aggressive with plenty of bark, but it can also deliver a relaxed and lyrical quality of sound if played more gently - very versatile guitar for pretty much any style of flamenco playing. Overall a fantastic, traditional blanca that could easily be used for solo or accompaniment playing.

Paco Fajardo started playing guitar when he was 7 years old while attending music school. At 10 he began taking lessons with Alberto Fernández who would remain his teacher for the next 10 years. As is the case for many other luthiers, as Paco's playing progressed, he found himself unable to afford an expensive, professional-level guitar to play so for purely economic reasons, he ended up building his first guitar for himself in 2018. It was at that time that he met Granada luthier Pavel Gavryushov and was able to enter an apprenticeship that lasted for several years and where he built several instruments under Pavel's strict supervision. Paco has since set up a workshop in his home where he now builds. Paco tells us that his taste in guitars is very traditional, both in the types of woods used and in the construction details. His work is based largely on models taken from Antonio de Torres, Hermann Hauser I, Marcelo Barbero and Manuel Reyes. After several years of working at his craft, Paco Fajardo was awarded second-prize for his flamenco guitar at the prestigious sixth Antonio Marin Montero Guitar Making Competition held in Granada, Spain in August, 2023.