I would like to commemorate a guitar builder whom I consider to be one of the 5 best guitar craftsmen in flamenco. Ricardo learned the craft of guitar building from his grandfather Ricardo Sanchis Nacher. Ricardo Sanchis’ business in Valencia was founded in 1915 by Ricardo Sanchis Nacher. He was a renowned guitar builder who built a guitar for Barrios, among other others. He worked for some time with guitar builders in Valencia, then went to Madrid, where he was friends with Manuel Ramirez and Domingo Esteso. To perfect his craft, he stayed in Madrid and worked for three years for Domingo Esteso (the founder of today’s Hermanos Conde guitars). Ricardo Sanchi’s Carpio also worked with Faustino Conde in Madrid for a while before taking over his grandfather’s workshop. Ricardo had many famous clients. He built guitars for Paco de Lucia and Tomatito, among others.
In 2005, he had handed over the workshop to his sons and worked with them until about 2015. He mainly dedicated himself to the construction of his special models such as R.S.C., Luthier and Especial. There are only about 15 guitars each of the Luthier and Especial models. These are exceptionally good instruments. He set the bar of quality in tone and finish very high with these models. His sons had the best teacher imaginable. They were quickly able to produce the most popular models in the highest quality. The workforce was reduced over time. They previously had almost 10 employees, but the number was reduced to one employee at the end due to retirement over the years. They discontinued the cheaper models bit by bit to focus on the extra model. This no longer had much to do with simple manufacturing, but rather with the highest level of guitar building art. In the end, they only produced 80 guitar a year of the highest quality. In 2015, Ricardo stopped working in the workshop due to illness. His sons continued to work alone until the father died in 2024. In 2025, they decided to discontinue the business operation because the demand for good guitars had declined. This is totally incomprehensible from my point of view. For me, the guitars from their workshop always had a unique selling point. There was no other guitar in Spain that sounded so flamenco for just under 3500 euros. I worked with the Sanchis family for 30 years and I already miss them, fewer than three months after the workshop closed. The flamenco guitar landscape has clearly become poorer without guitars by Hnos Sanchis López. I am currently very lucky to have a great selection of guitars from the father and sons. I can only recommend everyone to consider getting one of these great guitars. There won’t be any more in the future, and especially the father’s guitars from the early 2000s to around 2015 are uniquely good guitars that can be compared favorably with every Conde.