2025 Darío García SP/CY

This 2025 Darío García is a flamenco blanca with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made in Seville, Spain – the same model that won Second Prize at the seventh Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Making Competition, held in Granada in July/August 2024.

Old Cypress and a Gold Shellac Finish

This is our second blanca from Darío. For this guitar, he used a very old and beautiful set of cypress for the back and sides and a spruce set for the soundboard that was chosen for its stiffness and speed of sound transmission. The guitar is finished with a special gold-colored shellac that was selected to resemble the look of the old vintage flamenco guitars from the mid-century era.

A Rosette from the Manuel Ramírez Workshop

The mosaic design in the rosette uses a double “collapsing wave” pattern that was a favorite of several makers in the Manuel Ramírez workshop – most notably Santos Hernández. The bindings and inlays are understated and elegant in their simplicity – again, all in the spirit of paying homage to the mid-century Spanish flamencos which many see as the historical apex in flamenco design and style.

Marcelo Barbero-Style Flamenco Bracing

Structurally, the bracing system borrows heavily from Marcelo Barbero models, with slight modifications of Darío’s. The 5 fan braces are somewhat longer and there is a small reinforcement under the bridge, which is actually a bit closer in design to the flamenco guitars of Arcángel Fernández.

Sound and Playability

The resulting lightweight build gives the guitar great brilliance in the attack, a raspy voice and a traditional woody and throaty quality of sound. Playability is a breeze with a very comfortable neck shape and low action. This is a true Andalusian flamenco by all measures.

Photos of this guitar taken during construction

Darío García: A Young Luthier from Seville

Spanish luthier Darío García was born in 2002 and from a very young age felt a special attraction to music. At the age of 8 he entered the elementary music conservatory for classical guitar, and in later years he would expand his interest to the electric guitar and musical composition. His interest in guitar construction began when Darío was 17, although from a very young age he would spend time in his father’s workshop (Antonio J. García) playing with the pieces of wood and shavings that were on the floor.

Learning in His Father’s Workshop

Darío’s father has been his only teacher. It started when Darío began assisting with smaller jobs that did not require much responsibility – sanding various guitar parts, gluing pins and joints, etc. Eventually he was able to build his first guitars with lower-quality woods from the warehouse, using parts that had already been prepared by his father. Little by little, Darío made a few more guitars and increasingly took more responsibility for the entire process – as time allowed with his studies.

Prize Winner in Granada

After several years of working at his craft, Darío was awarded Second Prize for his flamenco guitar and Third Prize for his classical guitar at the prestigious seventh Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Making Competition, held in Granada, Spain, in July/August 2024.