Felix Manzanero is one of the leading luthiers for classical and flamenco guitars in the Madrid school and throughout Europe. His classical guitars have been awarded such prestigious prizes as first place in acoustic at the Concurso Internacional de Maestros Guitarreros in Tarbes, France, in 1989. Manzanero is mentioned in books by Cano, Evans, Mairants, Morish and Urlik as one of the best guitar makers in Spain.
Felix Manzanero was born in Madrid in 1937. He had learned a little about guitar making from Modesto Borreguero (1893-1969) - who had been trained by Manuel Ramirez (1864-1916) and was a friend of the Ramirez family. At the age of 14, Manzanero heard from Borreguerro that the Ramirez store was looking for a talented apprentice, so he applied. After being hired, he began his apprenticeship with José Ramirez II (1885-1957) and worked alongside Alfonso Benito and José Ramirez III, the only others in the workshop.
He tells how he secretly made his first guitar from scraps of wood. When Ramirez saw it, he was impressed and then allowed Felix to build guitars, which eventually made him a master.
After 12 years, Manzanero set up his own workshop in 1963 in Santa Ana Street in Madrid's Rastro (Thieves„ Market), where many famous concert players from all over the world have visited him to admire his guitars. In his store he has a magnificent collection of over 100 Spanish guitars from the 18th century and also has an exceptional stock of woods over 30 years old. Manzanero has produced more than 1000 guitars under his own label, not including the guitars he built as a luthier in the Ramirez studio (with the initials “FM" on the inside). Those that were personally made and signed by him routinely sell for between €8,000 and €35,000.
Manzanero is a leading member of the Artesanos de la Guitarra at the Escuela de Madrid. As a master craftsman, he has inherited a centuries-old tradition, not only of excellent craftsmanship, but also of constant innovation and improvement of the guitar as a musical instrument; he has dedicated a large part of his life to the study of guitar making and its sounds. Among other things, he has built a guitar without fan braces, one with a seventh inner string and even an elliptical guitar. Together with a group of engineers, he has worked hard to develop a technical system to find the ideal measurement of the harmonic table before it is built into the instrument.
Felix Manzanero officially retired in 2010 (although he apparently still made a few guitars until 2012), and until recently his store was closed. His son Ivan Manzanero (born 1960), who trained with his father and built his own first guitar in 1979, recently decided to reopen the workshop.
This instrument is the best example of his cypress flamencos. It is crisp, explosive, throaty and expressive, an effortless guitar to play. You want the big sound: it can do that. You want Sabicas‘ lyrical sweetness: no problem.
It is equal in every respect to the great old Blancas in the large collections and would be an excellent instrument for the discerning professional.
The scale length is 655 mm and the nut width is 52 mm.
We are offering this guitar at a very reasonable price. It has been played a lot and was in very poor condition. Now it has been very professionally restored and plays incredibly well.