1963 Ignacio Fleta SP/IN

This 1963 Ignacio Fleta is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Barcelona at the height of Fleta's spruce years and kept largely original.

A 1963 Fleta

This 1963 example features the classic combination of these years – a spruce soundboard with back and sides of Indian rosewood.

Sound

Tonally it is a superb example – a deep, complex voice with plenty of dynamic range, even balance across the strings and the firm fundamental that gives a Fleta its projection and clarity in big venues. On top of that comes the classic Fleta character: dark, mysterious and haunting, yet powerful, with each voice clearly separated when playing chords.

Condition

The condition of the guitar is great – apart from two hairline cracks on either side of the fingerboard and two on the back (all expertly repaired from the outside), it is in otherwise totally original condition with only very modest signs of playing wear. Thanks to having just been re-fretted by German Vázquez Rubio, it is exceptionally playable – ready for recording studio or concert stage.

A great sounding and playing guitar from Fleta's golden 'spruce' era – players like Andrés Segovia, John Williams and Angel Romero were concertizing and recording on Fleta instruments from this very period.

Ignacio Fleta: Master Guitar Maker of Barcelona

For performers and collectors alike, the name Ignacio Fleta (1897–1977) ranks among the elite handful of 20th-century luthiers. Trained in Barcelona as a maker of violins and cellos, he built mainly bowed instruments from the late 1920s until 1955, when he decided to devote himself to the guitar. Countless scores of the finest players in the world have played his instruments – among them Andrés Segovia, John Williams, Angel Romero, Turibio Santos, Alirio Díaz and Marcelo Kayath.

Ignacio Fleta e Hijos: Three Generations

By the mid-1960s Fleta's sons, Francisco (1925–2003) and Gabriel (1929–2013), had become his partners in the workshop – which is why the labels from then on read "Ignacio Fleta e hijos" (Ignacio Fleta and sons). After Ignacio's death in 1977 the brothers carried on, and today Gabriel's son, Gabriel Fleta Jr., continues the family workshop in its third generation. Many dozens of Fletas have passed through our doors over the years.