Shelton Farretta Concert Guitar 1974 - Flamenco - Cedar top, Cypress back and sides, Ebony Fretboard

In 1974 my father took flamenco guitar lessons from John Shelton, a flamenco guitar master and luthier. John made this guitar for him that year.  His wife Susan Farretta, an accomplished flamenco dancer and luthier herself, made the rosette. The top is cedar, the back and sides are cypress and the fretboard is ebony.  It is very lightweight (3lb), has great tone, is very bright and percussive and in excellent condition. The action is set high as flamenco guitars are meant to be played aggressively. My father says it’s the best-sounding flamenco guitar he’s ever played (he owned a guitar shop from 1971-1979). In 1975, my father quit taking flamenco lessons to play bass in a band.  Since then the guitar has mostly sat in its Guild hardshell case (after playing in the band he went back to steel string acoustics exclusively). This guitar was re-fretted and the pickguard replaced by the luthiers at Carruther's Guitars in Camarillo, CA in 2020 and has been lightly played since. John Shelton and Susan Farretta are still making guitars today and specialize in double-body flamenco guitars. This guitar for sale is not one of those. BTW: my father told me that after seeing Paco Pena live in concert that if they played together on stage you wouldn’t be able to tell which one was the better player.

This guitar has a cedar top, cypress back and sides, and an ebony fretboard.

Shelton-Farretta website: