1920 Domingo Esteso SP/CY

This guitar was made by Domingo Esteso, who along with fellow worker Santos Hernandez (from the Manuel Ramirez shop), was one of the greatest makers of the first half of the twentieth century. Even by modern standards today, the volume of this instrument is huge, and the warm, rich, played-in sound is something that can only be found in an instrument of this vintage. The sound is absolutely magical from the bottom-end to the highest registers. It is plump, lyrical, very expressive and responsive to every subtlety of the player's touch. When pushed just a bit it barks like a true vintage, old world flamenco. The guitar was recently repaired in Madrid by Felipe Conde, the great-nephew of Domingo Esteso. After arriving back to the US, it was fitted with maple golpeadors (customary of the period) by Yuris Zeltins in San Diego.