I was approached recently by someone who wants to sell this guitar and had asked at Casa Parramon for an appraisal of this instrument.  She was told to contact me and I asked to see it.  The guitar belonged to an aficionado who really knew his guitars and had two Santos and a number of other great guitars.  This family was host to Alirio Díaz, Regino Sainz de la Maza and other great guitarists when they were in Granada.  These are the evenings of music that sparked the interest of a young Antonio Marín Montero. It is not surprising that this guitar was chosen among many as it is a great one.

Manuel de la Chica is often touted as the best maker that Granada has ever produced and while I don’t necessarily agree with that I do place him very high on the list.  It should be stated, however, that some part of his later production was made up of guitars made by Antonio Marín and Manuel Bellido which de la Chica sold under his own label (according to Marín and Bellido).  He may also have done that with Germán Pérez Barranco and Francisco Manuel Díaz as they were disciples of his.  De la Chica was to a large degree self-taught but claims to have examined the guitars of Santos Hernández and based his early work on those instruments.  Richard Bruné’s observations that de la Chica’s guitars were often given false labels so that they could be sold as Santos guitars lends support to this.  I have seen a number of guitars by both makers and the similarities are striking.  Those makers here in Granada who remember de la Chica hold him up as standard of organization, craftsmanship and inventiveness; the hallmarks of the artisan. For a bit more on the man who made this guitar see this newspaper article from 1947.

This guitar was expertly restored by Manuel Bellido some years ago to deal with two cracks in the top and one in the back.  The geometry of the guitar is healthy and I think will continue to be a very playable instrument for many years. Update, this guitar has been sold.