Moro's favorite guitar, made by master luthier Marcelo Barbero

MORO plays an Andalusian guitar made by master luthier MARCELO BARBERO. This priceless instrument is made of wood so clear and thin that one can see the light of a candle through it; look at the sound hole in the photo above, right... Here, in his own words, is the story of how he came by this magnificent and rare guitar.

The parts for it were cut from carefully chosen pine and spruce during the 1840's, and put in storage for one century. Then, in the 1940's they were assembled, glued, sanded down and varnished/finished by the great master luthier, Marcelo Barbero of Madrid who constructed guitars in the old Grenadine Andalusian style, in keeping with the old traditions of the art of building of fine guitars.

"His best friend was an up-and-coming child prodigy of the flamenco guitar, Ricardo Modrego, to whom he gave no less than three of his guitars. Ricardo made several world concert tours with his favorite of these three guitars. During his 1962 tour of Asia, Ricardo gave a concert at Tokyo's Hibya Theatre. I happened to be walking along, saw the poster in front of the theatre, and was allowed to wander in without paying during the last minutes of the concert. He was a great artist, and the S.R.O. audience breathlessly exulted in every note. After giving him several encores, they packed into his dressing room. I waited until it was all over, and then went in to see him. He let me play this great Barbero guitar. The golden tones came from outside the guitar, not from the inside as with other guitars!

"I told him I would make payments to him for life if I could only have this guitar. Amazed, he replied that it was his greatest treasure, and not for sale. But we became friends in Japan, and he said that if we ever met again in another place, at a future time he would be so pleased that I could have the guitar at that time. He was on his way home to Madrid, and I was en route to Australia, so it was unlikely that it would ever happen. But this world was a small place for guitarists. Three years later, I happened to be in Los Angeles and read in the Times of his appearance at the brand new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (December, 1965). He was so happy to see me! He insisted I have the guitar, but that I wait until after his closing performance -- a matinee the following Sunday afternoon -- after which he would be flying home to Madrid to his remaining two Barbero guitars. We resolved never to reveal the price, as such a fine instrument really has no price. So people must evaluate the instrument on what its tone does for them -- solely that.

"It's really a simple story. Barbero died in the 1950's, I think. His son, Marcelo Barbero 'hijo' continues to make fine guitars, as do his two apprentices, Archangel Fernandez and Manolo Rodriguez. They're among the finest current luthiers we have. When Carlos Montoya accidentally put his foot through his old Barbero, he got his replacement guitar from Archangel"