1935 Domingo Esteso Concert Guitar

Magnificent concert guitar built by the master luthier Domingo Esteso, in Madrid in the year 1935.

Domingo Esteso, like Santos Hernández and Modesto Borreguerro, is part of the generation of Madrid luthiers initiated into the profession in the workshops of Manuel Ramírez, one of the central figures of Spanish lutherie at the beginning of the 20th century who perpetuated the concepts introduced by Antonio de Torres a few decades earlier. After Ramírez’s death in 1916, Esteso assisted his widow in running the workshop for a few years before setting up his own business in Madrid at 7 Calle Gravina in 1919, an address where he remained until his passing in 1937. In retrospect, the name of Domingo Esteso appears as one of the most important in the history of the Spanish guitar in the first half of the last century, his production being renowned and characterized by instruments that were impeccable in terms of their construction, both sober in appearance and voluptuous in their sound. Like his master Ramírez before him, he also contributed to the transmission of luthier know-how since he trained his nephews Faustino, Mariano and Julio Conde who continued to work at 7 Calle Gravina until the end of the 1950s – the Sobrinos of Domingo Esteso have to their credit a production of high repute which is undoubtedly infused with all their uncle’s style and influence.

The guitar presented here therefore comes from the end of Esteso’s production period, and brings together all the elements that make its author famous: fine spruce soundboard with close grain; back, sides, bridge and head veneer in rosewood; ebony fingerboard; original French polish varnish; original engraved tuners; stunning rosette preciously crafted with concentric circles alternating dark and colored wood and decorated with geometric details of incredible finesse. The guitar does not strike by any kind of visual exuberance, however the more we linger observing it, the more we discover Esteso’s master craftsmanship: from the shape of the bridge to that of the heel of the neck, so many details that reveal the absolute refinement of the instrument. Taken in hand, it is of a breathtaking lightness and offers a frank timbre, without excess of amplitude and perfectly balanced in the bass as well as the treble. The guitar is in superb state of preservation, complete with all of its original parts. It was restored in our workshop with the greatest care to preserve all of these elements that make its identity and its value, and is to this day in perfect playing condition.

Sold in a period fitted case, accompanied by its certificate of authenticity by Jérôme Casanova.