Arcángel Fernández Guitars
Here at London Guitar Studio we are proud to have guitars by renowned luthier Arcángel Fernández from time to time. Click below to find out more about Arcángel Fernández and his workmanship.
About Arcángel Fernández
Arcángel Fernández was born in 1932 and initially pursued a career in cabinet making. However, in 1954 he met the great luthier Marcelo Barbero who was considered to be the finest maker in Madrid and was former assistant to Santos Hernandez. Fernández became Barnero's assistant and contributed to the construction of instruments by preparing wood and dealing with the finishing touches.
Fernández had not completed a guitar himself until Barbero's death in 1936 when he completed instruments that Barbero had been working on and then started to make his own from the studio with the approval of Barbero's widow.
Fernández established a shop in conjunction with Manuel Rodriguez who later left to live in Los Angeles. The shop featured Fernández' own work together with some instruments by other luthiers. In 1959 Arcángel Fernández was joined by Marcelo Barbero's son Marcelo Junior and the two men worked together for 40 years.
Fernández' reputation quickly spread and he came to be considered one of the greatest Flamenco guitar makers in the world. Later in his career Fernández, who produced an average of eight guitars each year, had to stop taking orders for his instruments as the waiting list had become too lengthy and he eventually retired to the Canary Islands. His work remains in incredible demand but is rarely available as so many of his instruments were purchased by Japanese collectors. Indeed towards the end of his career Fernández was working exclusively for overseas clients as interest in Flamenco had subsided in Spain. This was a matter of some controversy at the time.