1997 Francisco Barba SP/CY

Francisco Barba built this flamenco blanca in Seville in 1997, with a spruce soundboard and cypress back and sides – and it has come down to us in almost like-new condition.

In the video above, John Marcel Williams plays the third movement (Allegro) of Joaquín Rodrigo's "Sonata Giocosa" on this guitar.

Barba's Top Work from the 1990s

This is a great example of Barba's top work, and guitars from this period rarely come up second-hand. Being ultra-light in build, it answers instantly – the response is lightning fast.

A Powerful Andalusian Voice

Its voice is fat and well balanced, with enormous punch and volume and a real flamenco edge – powerful and lively in every way. The sleek neck plays with ease, and the low flamenco action gives just enough "sizzle" for that authentic sound of the south of Spain.

Condition

There is one hairline crack, invisible from the outside, that was lightly cleated many years ago by Yuris Zeltins. Otherwise the guitar is almost like new, with barely any signs of use – a top concert flamenco for the stage or the studio.

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.