Straight out of 1985, this Flamenco from Paco Santiago Marin is dangerous stuff, capable of reducing other Flamenco guitars to smoldering piles of Cypress and Spruce. The tone which comes belting out of this gorgeous mosaic-adorned soundhole is ferocious–and how could it not, with such a fine-grained set of Brazilian Rosewood for its backs and sides! With trebles that are crisp and present, and a low-end replete with thunderous sustain, it’s hard to imagine playing a wrong note across the 650mm scale. The balance across the registers is superb, and the setup (sweet and low for agile technique) lends a muscularity to Flamenco pieces that you just can’t find in an Cypress guitar. Marin’s skills are legendary, and rightly so: this guitar looks as crisp as the day the French Polish was applied in 1985 (and plays as crisply, too). Moreover, since the voice’s richness is amplified by such fetching Brazilian Rosewood, this guitar also performs flawlessly for other styles of music, making this more than simply a Flamenco instrument.