1924 Santos Hernández Flamenco

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1) Front, 2) Back, 3) and headstock of the Hernández. 4) The neck heel is slightly off-center, a charming detail indicative of the haste in building this instrument.
1924 Santos
Hernández
Flamenco
By R.E. Bruné
y favorite quip regarding the guitars of Santos
Hernandez is, “Of the 500 or so guitars Santos was
thought to have built in his lifetime, only about 1,000
survive today.” Along with Antonio de Torres, Santos
Hernandez holds the distinction of being one of the
most imitated guitar makers, and these imitations
were often so good dealers passed them off
as genuine, an activity often referred to
as “first degree guitar dealing.”
For those interested in pursuing
more details on Santos, and his
thoughts, I refer you to this column in the September ’98, January
’02, May ’07, and June ’11 issues,
which cover Santos and his instruments in greater detail. Santos
worked for many years in the shop
of Manuel Ramírez, as a journeyman and as the foreman beginning in 1909, when Antonio
Emilio Pascual Viudes, who
had previously held that
position, emigrated to Argentina. When Manuel
died in 1916, Santos
left the Ramírez shop
to open his own on
Calle Aduana 27 in
Madrid, where it remained until very
recent ly. Sa ntos
died in 1943, but
the shop continued
in operation under
the direction of his
widow, and later, his
w idow’s nephew by
marriage, Felix Bayon,
and his son, Santos Bayon.
This particular instrument
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is of interest because it represents
Santos’ earlier, more-traditional style
of construction, in which the guitars
are built face-down on a “solera”
Santos’ label shows the address of Aduana 27. (work board) with the top glued to the
neck first, followed by the assembly
of the sides, and finally, the fitting of
the back, which once glued in place,
controls the neck angle. This was (and
is) the style of construction practiced
nearly universally by makers working
in the Torres tradition (though not the
method used by Torres himself!), and it
was the method learned by Santos from
his earliest teachers, and in the Manuel
Ramírez workshop. Beginning circa
1930, Santos began using a different
accompanists to frame tones and
interject accents around the singers
and dancers they were accompanying.
It was as much a rhythm tool as it was
a melodic instrument. Santos himself
was a skilled player of flamenco, who,
through habitual contact with the finest players of the day, was able to listen
to and absorb the nuances that make
for great art, and translate these into
design refinements over the course of
his long career.
Professional gypsy flamenco players
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Photos: R.E. Bruné.
M
order of assembly in which the back
was fitted to the side/neck assembly
first and finally, the top last, much like
a violin is made.
The instrument is also notable for
its intended single purpose, a flamenco
guitar. While the term “classical guitar” was not yet in usage in Spain nor
anywhere else (it being a post-WWII
term adopted by Andrés Segovia and the
founders of the New York Society for the
Classical Guitar), makers and players
by this time were recognizing the different demands of artists whose guitar
needs were much more specialized and
diverse. For the gypsy flamenco players,
this model was the quintessential tool
of choice, with its very light cypress
sides and back, traditional low action,
and powerful response, which allowed
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likely constituted the bulk of Santos’
clientele, and while they were often
regularly employed as tablao players
or as freelance juerga (private party)
players who held to a tenuous financial
existence, which meant Santos had to
be an excellent negotiator in trying to
hold his prices to at least a subsistence
level. Instruments such as this were
often made with less-expensive woods,
and of course cypress is the only wood
native to Spain used to make Spanish
guitars, so it was naturally the first
choice for players on a budget, regardless of their musical inclinations. Like
many Santos instruments made of
cypress, this is made of cypress partially cut on the slab rather than fully
quartered, as most today would insist
upon. However, the German spruce
soundboard is of excellent quality, and
the bridge is made of Indian rosewood,
despite the fact the head veneer is made
of Brazilian rosewood. In those days,
Indian rosewood in Spain was harder
to come by than Brazilian rosewood.
I have seen many Santos guitars which
have Indian rosewood bridges, though
it was by no means his universal choice.
One wonders if this was a choice of convenience, or musical intention on the
part of Santos. The present fingerboard
is a later replacement, and is made of
Brazilian rosewood, presumably as
was the original fingerboard. I have
seen several deluxe Santos instruments
with rosewood fingerboards and have
concluded it was a choice on the part
of Santos, a rosewood fingerboard
imparting a slightly different texture
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and level of sustain than ebony. Typical
to Santos flamenco guitars, it is scaled
for 655 mm. Certainly for an instrument such as this, intended to have a
voice more akin to a firecracker than
an operatic tenor, rosewood would be
the wood of choice.
5) The tie block on the bridge was rebuilt due to string wear. 6) Rosette of the Hernández. 7)
Santos’ signature and date near the sound hole. 8) The upper back brace and the solid bent
beech lining. Note the crack repairs.
to properly fit pegs that actually work,
and one of the immediate comments
most guitarists make when tuning a
pegged Santos for the first time is how
The fan struts and lower cross strut of the top. The discs are crack reinforcements from
previous repairs.
While many today automatically
associate wooden friction pegs with
“flamenco” guitars, in those days, it was
simply an economic decision, the pegs
being the much cheaper option. Santos
was also a very skilled violin maker,
and in the photo of him working at his
bench taken around the time this guitar
was made, one can see that many of the
tools on the tool rack above his bench
are violin-centric tools rather than
guitarmaker’s tools. It was this violin
maker’s knowledge that allowed Santos
easy the pegs are to use. The extra hole
in the top of the head was a standard
feature in those days for instruments
fitted with pegs. Its purpose was to tie
a string or ribbon through the hole to
use to hang the guitar on the wall, the
standard resting spot for instruments
such as this when not in use. Among
gypsy families, the concept of “my”
guitar and “your” guitar did not exist, these were considered communal
property and were left hanging on the
wall for use when inspiration hit. It’s
a miracle any survived at all. Makers
generally did not supply cases, if one
wanted such an extravagant luxury,
you took the guitar to a specialist case
maker to have one custom-made. The
head design of this guitar is an earlier
variant often used by Santos on both
cypress and rosewood models during
the ’20s. The decoration around the instrument is simple and sober, with plain,
dark-rosewood bandings and a single
black/white purfling around the top.
The rosette is a simple theme and variation common to many Santos guitars,
and together they represent Santos’
minimum level of decor, typically
found in his cypress instruments. Given
the simplicity of the decor, I would
not be surprised to find that Santos
completed this instrument in one week.
Internally, the top is braced with
seven simple triangular fans arranged
in a moderately splayed array. In his
fan bracing designs, Santos showed
considerable creativity, using many
many different patterns varying in
placement, number, and even profile.
There is no single “Santos Hernández”
bracing pattern, he was far too creative
and sensitive of maker to do that. Santos
signed and dated this guitar internally
by the sound hole, but didn’t sign the
label, and for whatever reason neglected
to use his usual oval stamp on the foot of
the neck. When it comes to labeling and
stamping, Santos was fairly anarchic, I
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9) The soundboard interior, looking to the end block. 10) View of the upper soundboard and end of the neck inside the guitar.
have seen authentic examples lacking
internal signatures, stamps, and so on.
I should also point out that in the early
’30s the city of Madrid changed the
numbering system of the streets, and
Santos’ original shop street number
of 27 changed to 23 requiring him to
change the plates used to print the two
labels he was using, along with having
new rubber stamps made. Being a frugal
soul by nature, Santos was loathe to
discard otherwise perfectly good labels,
so well into the ’30s, one often finds
otherwise authentic and unaltered
examples of his guitars in which the
address numbers on the labels and
stamps may not agree, some being “23”
and some being “27.” However, prior to
1930, if one finds this in a purported
Santos, it should be cause for concern
and investigation, as they both should
only read “Calle Aduana 27.”
Spanish makers did not fit plates on the
tops of their guitars, this was left to the
owners to do themselves according
to the coverage needed.
In t he ’50s a nd
for wa rd, t he
plates were
start to look like Willie Nelson’s Martin, “Trigger,” with the gaping hole
in its top from Willie’s fingernails.
Santos himself would
sometimes f it
wooden plates
of f la med
History
The current owner has had this
guitar for nearly five decades, and
purchased it in Spain from Francisco
Barba, a guitar maker working in Sevilla. A student of Diego del Gastor of
Moron, at one point, he fitted the extra
coverage golpeadores (tapping plates)
on the face to extend coverage around
the treble arm of the bridge, as was his
custom. These were later removed and
the French polish touched up. Because
the needed coverage for flamenco players is so personal, before WWII, many
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Santos, from the 1929 edition of Estampa, published in Spain.
more standardized, and often, makers
would fit them as original equipment,
but often they would be modified by
later owners, as is the case here. No
guitar used for f lamenco can survive
long without a plate, it would quickly
maple, t hough players preferred
plastic.
Most of the visible wear is from the
current owner, who has played this
guitar for nearly 50 years, and despite its
rugged outward appearance, it is still a
fine example of Santos’ work thanks to
the wisdom of never having attempted
to apply a “Phyllis Diller facelift,”
where the instrument is scraped and
sanded clean of wear and completely
refinished to make it look new again,
a terrible and fatal operation to inflict
on such an important piece of history.
Its fingerboard, nut, and saddle have
been replaced, along with cracks glued
and minor finish wear touch-up, which
are typical repairs to be expected for a
guitar kept in service for nearly 90 years.
These are akin to changing the plugs
and points of a vintage collectable car.
It sill carries most of its original French
polish, and the plate thicknesses have
never been violated. When folks ask,
“How long can a guitar last?” I answer,
“How long can you take care of it?” To hear this guitar being played, visit
VintageGuitar.com/vgtv/.
Richard Bruné began making guitars in 1966
and is a former professional flamenco guitarist.
He has written for the Guild of American
Luthiers and other organizations and lectured
at guitar festivals and museums including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
He collects classical and flamenco guitars. He
was recently featured on the PBS documentary,
“Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar,”
and his new book, The Guitar of Andrés Segovia:
Hermann Hauser 1937, was recently published
by Dynamic, of Italy. You can write to him at
800 Greenwood Street, Evanston IL 60201, or
visit rebrune.com.
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