News from the Harris Guitar Collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

A special guitar enters the collection: I thought that when I donated my guitar collection (40 guitars) to SFCM in 2019, my days as a collector were over. I became the curator of the collection, working with the guitar department to make the collection available to students and faculty for research, performance and recordings. But that intention didn’t stop folks from presenting me opportunities to purchase new guitars. My stock answer has been, “No, the collection is closed. I’m a curator now, not a collector.” Enter luthier Geoff Rashe from Santa Cruz, a builder and player of flamenco guitars, with a wonderful and very rare “classical” Marcelo Barbero guitar from 1949. Geoff knew I had a flamenco Barbero from 1948 and thought, maybe...

The difference between classical and flamenco guitars is mostly a distinction between how the guitar is “set up” for the two very different styles of playing: flamenco players want a low action with the strings closer to the fingerboard for speed and the percussive power of the notes. Classical players want a higher action with clear and sustaining single notes and chords. Also, flamenco guitars are usually made with Spanish cypress for backs and sides. Most classical guitars use a more expensive Brazilian or Indian rosewood. There are some sound characteristics of these two woods that favor the respective flamenco and classical techniques and repertoires, but mostly cypress has been used historically because it’s indigenous to Spain and thus more affordable for flamenco performers.

There is a bit of a prejudice in classical guitar circles against flamenco guitars (the set up being different, the sound of cypress not as dark as rosewood) and our Barbero was, despite being fantastic in its own right, under utilized. So I offered to trade HGC's cypress Barbero (a "blanca") for Geoff's rosewood Barbero (a "negra"), plus cash (classical guitars are more valuable than flamenco guitars by the same maker), but not before several players from the Conservatory came to play Geoff's Barbero—David Tanenbaum and Marc Teicholz, and the founding Chair of the department, now retired, George Sakellariou. All instantly fell in love, as I had, and the deal was done.

Barbero (1904–1956) is considered one of the greatest makers of the 20th century. Though he is best known for his flamenco guitars, his classical guitars are highly regarded and very rare. Barbero followed in the Madrid line of makers, working with his mentor, the great Santos Hernandez, and training Arcangel Fernandez who is still active today. This Madrid line of luthiers goes back to the 19th century workshops of Jose and Manuel Ramirez who followed in the tradition of the 19th century Andalusian, Antonio de Torres, the guitar’s Antonio Stradivari.