The Spanish guitars that make history

The basement of guitar-maker Felipe Conde smells of exotic tropical woods: cedar from Honduras, cypress, spruce and palo santo. The workshop, close to Madrid¡¯s Teatro Real opera house, was founded a century ago, and Conde continues the family tradition, working with his son and daughter ¡°without hurry and with a lot of freedom.¡± Among Conde¡¯s customers are Leonard Cohen, jazz star Al Di Meola and, at one time, the late flamenco legend Paco de Luc¨ªa.

It can take up to two months of painstaking work to produce one of Conde¡¯s six-string masterpieces

¡°I¡¯m not interested in doing something I don¡¯t want to: this has to come from inside you,¡± says Conde, who has been building guitars since he was 14 years old. Fortunately, his two children Felipe and Mar¨ªa decided to continue the family tradition, working with him in the basement. ¡°Every luthier has his own sound, because it depends on the touch of the hand and its ability to gauge the density of the wood,¡± says Conde.

It can take up to two months of painstaking work to produce one of Conde¡¯s six-string masterpieces. ¡°This is a job that you have to have a feel for. If you¡¯ve had a bad night, it¡¯s better to leave things alone. Any mistake in the construction of a guitar is irreversible,¡± he says.

Guitars are built based on time-honored principles and processes, but over time, somebody with the skills of Conde is able to imbue an instrument with something of their own personality. Felipe and Mar¨ªa, his two children, aged 26 and 24 respectively, know this already. ¡°When my brother finished his first guitar, I felt a curiosity to try making one as well,¡± says Mar¨ªa, who now spends around eight hours a day in the workshop after finishing her degree in psychology. ¡°I used to come to the workshop every afternoon, and I fell in love with this.¡±

¡°We have something very special here. Working with your hands is one of the best things there is in this life: this is quality of life,¡± she says before launching into an explanation of the virtues of the traditional glues used to make guitars. She says her father is a good man, but a tough boss: ¡°He aspires to excellence, and the first thing he does is tell you everything you¡¯ve done wrong.¡±

¡°We have something very special here. Working with your hands is one of the best things there is in this life: this is quality of life¡±

Conde¡¯s son is studying music, and likes to listen while he works, adding that his profession gives him time to think. ¡°This is a job that requires time: the customer understands and knows that a good guitar will take a while to make and that there is no choice but to wait until it¡¯s finished,¡± he says, adding that the waiting list is long, but that he would like everybody on the planet to own a Conde guitar. The company has customers in the United States, Japan and Germany, and is receiving more and more requests from China, as well as Iran.

The story of Conde¡¯s instruments is in large part the story of the guitar. Conde senior says Al Di Meola won¡¯t let anybody else touch his guitar, while Leonard Cohen says the first chords he learned were on a Conde guitar owned by a Spaniard he met in his native Toronto. Paco de Luc¨ªa had all his guitars made here after he moved to Madrid in the 1960s, right up to his death in 2014. ¡°He would turn up, try a couple of guitars and buy one of them,¡± says Conde. ¡°I¡¯ve inherited a tradition, but also the history of the artists who have played our guitars.¡±