Born in Madrid in 1926, Manuel Contreras joined the Ramirez workshop as a master luthier in 1959. It was Contreras who made the first José Ramirez guitar Andrés Segovia bought in 1960. After three years with Ramirez, Manuel opened his own guitar workshop in the center of Madrid. He soon earned a reputation as one of the finest and most innovative luthiers in Spain.

His achievement, in this sense, was the design of the model "Double Top", which Contreras presented in 1974, after a number of experiments in order to improve the tone, volume and projection of the instrument. The great acceptance this model immediately got in the professional guitar world.

In the mid 1980s, Contreras thought up the "Sounding Back Support", a design that he developed, side by side with his son Manuel Contreras II during some years, up to the moment when they definitively incorporated this construction to their top line guitars. It was thoroughly designed to improve the sound response of the guitar in large halls, chamber ensembles and performances with orchestra.

This is a fantastic peghead flamenco guitar built by Manuel Contreras. Contreras made some magnificent flamenco guitars and this one is no exception.
Being very lightweight and lively, this guitar is great fun to play, and the sound is pure flamenco. It is focused and snappy with immediate response, although it is very expressive.

The action and setup are comfortable and fast, perfect for flamenco. As is typical of Contreras, the quality of materials is first-class. The condition is excellent for its age - only two very professional performed repais and modest signs of use.

A great concert-level vintage flamenco at a very affordable price, which comes with the great looking original case.

German spruce top
Cypress back and sides
655 mm scale length
53 mm nut width
Action at the 12th fret E6 3 mm and E1 2.7 mm
Hight at the bridge 7.1 mm