Juan Alvarez 1965 - an outstanding flamenco guitar in the style of Santos Hernandez and Marcello Barbero - even Eric Clapton played a similar guitar for “Tears in Heaven”!
Juan Alvarez is a guitar maker in a class of his own. He was born in 1932 and began building guitars in the 1940s together with his older brother Lorenzo.
Juan Alvarez later became friends with Marcelo Barbero (1904-1956), one of the great guitar makers of the last century. He became Juan's mentor, providing him with advice and support, from which he said he benefited enormously. Together with Marcelo Barbero, he also had the opportunity to look into the world of the great Santos Hernandez's guitars, as Marcelo Barbero worked for Santos Hernandez's widow for some time after his death.
In 1952, Juan Alvarez founded his own workshop where he worked until shortly before his death and also trained his son. He also worked together with Arcangel Fernandez and can therefore rightly be described as one of the most important guitar makers!
Many professional guitarists have played and still play Juan Alvarez guitars. His guitars follow the tradition of Santos Hernandez, Marcelo Barbero and Arcangel Fernandez.
Eric Clapton played a Juan Alvarez guitar and recorded “Tears in Heaven” with it. He also played his Juan Alvarez at his famous MTV unplugged concert in 1992. This guitar was sold at auction in 2004 for $253900.
This beautiful guitar was built in 1965 by Juan Alvarez. It has a spruce top and cypress back and sides. The scale length is 655 mm and the nut width is 52 mm.
In terms of sound, this instrument impresses with its warm and characterful tone - the treble sounds clear and brilliant. The basses are powerful and sound dark and warm.
The guitar unfolds an enormous volume and inspires with its incredible lightness.
The guitar is ideal for performances or recordings and has enormous value for collectors. It belongs to the top class of Madrid instruments that we have seen.
The condition of the guitar is good. The shellac has been professionally refreshed and the guitar has the usual flamenco playing marks! It has a small patch on the left side. The fingerboard and frets have been professionally renewed. The guitar plays extremely well, with a low action and a straight neck.
It comes with a newer guitar case.
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