Flamenco Guitars: 1994 Francisco Barba SOLD With Ebony Pegs
Francisco Barba ex-collection Chris Carnes (1942-2000) SOLD
please inquire for price
655 mm Scale, 52 mm Nut. Very Fine grain German Spruce Soundboard and Cypress back and sides. French Polish. 8 parallel fan braces. Separate kerfing pieces attaching the top to the sides, a single band attaching the back to the sides.
The string height is 3/32" (2.5 mm) at the 12th fret on both the 6th and 1st strings.
This is a consignment.
Francisco Barba now has a 3-4 year waiting list, he began making guitars in 1958.
Some of the 1st generation of flamenco players to use Francisco Barba guitars include: Rafael Riqueni, Manuel Cano, Pedro Peña, Pedro Bacan, Manolo Sanlucar, etc.
Some of the well known modern players who play Francisco Barba guitars are: Diego Morao, Niño de Pura, Manuel Molina, José Manuel Roldán, Mariano Martín, Pepe Justicia.
There is a 5 page biography with photos of the luthier at his workbench in the hardcover book: "Guitarreros de Madrid. Artistas para la sonanta". by Luis F. Leal Pinar, published in 2004, now almost out of print. I have included one photo from that biography.
No cracks, one owner - it belonged to Chris Carnes, his name is in the books: Spanish language 2 volume set published in 1988: "Diccionario enciclopédico Ilustrado del Flamenco", now out of print I had added a photo of the short biography from the "Diccionario enciclopédico ilustrado del flamenco", he was a friend and student of Diego del Gastor (1908-1973), he recorded tapes of performances by Diego, Antonio Mairena (1909–1983), etc, he visited my store in 1995.
Translation of the biography: Chris Carnes. Los Angeles, U.S.A. 20th century Guitarist. Student of Mario Escudero, Eugenio Gonzalez and Diego del Gastor. In 1962 he was a member of the ballet "El Sevillanito", performing in Mexico.
August 2, 2000. It was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle today that flamenco guitarist Christopher Carnes (1942-2000) has died at the age of 57. He died on June 25th of heart failure in a hospital in Eureka, California.
Chris began to study Flamenco Guitar with Mario Escudero, in Los Angeles (where Chris was born) in the late 1950's. In 1960 Chris went to Mexico City, where he met Carmen Amaya. His first playing job was performing in a flamenco ballet "El Sevillanito" with other members of the Amaya family, in Mexico.
In 1963 Chris went to Spain, arriving on his 21st birthday. He studied with Perico el del Lunar and Juan Maya "Marote". In 1964 after hearing rumours about Diego de Gastor, Chris went in search of him and found the legendary flamenco guitarist living in Moron de Frontera, in the Province of Sevilla. Diego virtually adopted Chris, who dedicated himself to the style of Diego's music. In 1968 Chris began playing at "La Cuadra" in Sevilla. He played there for over a year, six nights a week. In 1969 Chris became interested in the style common to the area of Lebrija, studying with Pedro Peña. In 1976 he recorded with Loli and Manuel, and had a hit with "Pasaje del Agua". In the 1980's Chris returned to the U.S. and was frequenting the Bay Area.
I first met Chris through a purchase of a catalog of 12 cassettes of Diego del Gastor, Antonio Mairena and others, that he offered for sale in Guitar Player magazine in 1987. About a year or so later we met at the residence of Marc Silber in Berkeley. I remember him talking about how rare Hernandez y Aguado flamenco guitars were. "Out of over 400 guitars that they made, most are classicals, and maybe 10 are Flamencos."
Chris worked under the psuedonym Cristobal Dos Santos. The reference of Dos Santos, is to the fact at one time he owned two flamenco guitars by Maestro Santos Hernandez (1879-1943) of Madrid --luthier to Ramon Montoya and Andres Segovia. One of these guitars Chris found in an antique shop window in Spain for $80.00. When you tell people how little it cost, the envy is unquenchable.
In 1989 Chris hosted the radio program "The Gypsy Flamenco Hour" on public radio KZYZ FM in Mendocino County, California. In 1990 the Spanish government officially invited Chris to play in the "Bienal de Sevilla", a concert series held in the Lope de Vega theatre, which was built in 1929. This particular year the series was dedicated to Chris's mentor,cDiego del Gastor.
In 1995 Chris visited Fine Fretted String Instruments, without any notice. Upon his surprise arrival, I said, "You know, I just last year acquired the two volume "Diccionario Ilustrado de Flamenco", and your name is it, along with Anita Sheer's and Jack Buckingham's. You all have a listing and paragraph biography". They are the only non-Spainards to be listed in this now out of print Illustrated Dictionary of Flamenco. I took the book off the shelf to show him and his driver. Chris was enroute to Stanford University Medical Center, for testing, as he had had problems with his heart, for quite a while at the time. That was the last time I saw Chris, he was a real visionary, to have been on the scene during the Golden Era of Flamenco.
Toward the bottom of the photos is one of Chris standing to the right of Diego del Gastor, and another where he is accompanying Juan Talega.
