Classical Guitars - Kent Guitar Classics

Arcangel Fernandez of Madrid

• Year:

  1959 - number 82 classical guitar.

• Body:

  A body shape that I think very pleasing - in Brazilian rosewood with a 3-piece back, fine-line purfling and rosewood bindings. The guitar has an A10 certificate issued by the UK authorities for the pre-convention Brazilian rosewood.
  Body length:- 488 mm.
  Top bout:- 280 mm wide & 93 mm deep.
  Waist:- 242 mm
  Bottom bout:- 371 mm wide & 96 mm deep.

• Front:

  European spruce - with a colourful, geometric rosette pattern typical of the maker and of Madrid in that period. Rosewood bridge with bone-framed tie-block capping.

• Tuners:

  Fustero lyre pattern with engraved white metal side-plates and white ivoroid buttons mounted on the rosewood-faced head.

• Scale:

  66cm with 19 frets on an ebony fingerboard

• Neck Width:

  51.7mm at the nut with 43 mm string spacing.

• Weight:

  1555 grams

• Condition:

  Structurally, it is very good condition with no repairs, no cracks (save for one little shake in one rosewood side) and all original polishing. It had been left for decades in a cupboard or loft and apart from being dusty and grubby, appears to have suffered nothing. It has now been carefully cleaned.

• Comments:

  Arcangel Fernandez, now retired, is one of the great Madrid makers. He started making in the mid-1950's having learned his craft from the legendary Marcelo Barbero who died in 1956. Mainly known for his fine flamenco guitars, Arcangel also produced a much smaller quantity of very good classical guitars. Some of them had a short first string sustain like the flamencos but this one plays and feels like a true classical. Much of the construction detail such as the plantilla, head shape, internal bars and strutting owe much to Marcelo Barbero.
  This is an example from what many consider one of the golden periods of Madrid guitar-making. It has a lovely sound with depth in bass and middle ... and a pure, clear sound with some sweetness in the treble; quite different from his flamenco guitars. The sound is developing again the more it is played.
  It was owned by Lock Aitken who ran the Spanish Guitar Centre, teaching guitar in the 1960's in Newham Street, W1. He was a close friend of John Williams with whom he shared flat for several years.
  The guitar has an A10 certificate issued by the UK authorities in 2016 for the pre-convention Brazilian rosewood - can therefore be legally exported; including to USA, with a re-export permit.
  A really lovely guitar that makes you smile.

  Arcangel Fernandez - Click here to find out more about this maker

• Price:
  Sold November 2017
• AVAILABILITY
  SOLD + 44 (0) 1732 453 523 Contact via Email

  Available from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. UK time.