Description
Modesto Borreguero was born in 1893, and at the age of 12 he started as an apprentice in Manuel Ramirez’s shop in Calle Arlaban, working with Santos Hernandez and Domingo Esteso, among others.
After the death of Manuel Ramirez in 1916, Borreguero planned to open his own shop and even had labels printed, but when Manuel Ramirez’s widow asked him to continue, he did so together with Hernandez and Esteso.
After a few years, Hernandez and Esteso set out to open their own workshops, but Borreguero continued to work for Manuel Ramirez’s widow until the shop finally closed in 1923.
He continued to advertise on his labels that he had worked for Manuel Ramirez (Antiguo oficial de M. Ramirez).
In 1924 Modesto married and opened a workshop on the Duque de Fernan Nuñez, No. 5. But these were difficult times, and during the civil war he lost his workshop, and his wife died, leaving behind two children. He continued to fight and changed shops several times. In 1945 he opened a new workshop on Zurita 27, where he worked until 1948, and began to make himself a name as a guitar maker. In 1948 he rented rooms in the workshop of Hernandez and Aguado, who were still furniture restorers at the time, at Ribera de Curitdores No. 9.
Inspired by the sight of Borreguero building guitars, they also began to build guitars. In 1952 Borreguero moved his workshop to Desengaño No. 4 and began to build exclusively for the music shop Casa Garrido.
There he also took over the training of Vicente Perez Camacho, who later became a well-known guitar maker. He also taught the young Felix Manzanero, which enabled him to enter the workshop of José Ramirez III.
This guitar by Borreguero from 1956 is a guitar he built for Casa Garrido. It has a spruce top and rosewood back and sides.
The guitar has been restored and has a repair on the top and there is also a tiny repair on the sides. The label unfortunately has a damage, but the most important information are still visible. It has a stamp on the heel inside the body, which additionally confirms Modesto Borreguero as the builder.
The guitar has a very beautiful and elegant tone. The sound is captivating with its warm and characterful tone – the trebles sound clear and brilliant. The basses are powerful and sound dark and warm.
The guitar unfolds an enormous volume and inspires with an incredible lightness.
It has a high collector’s value and is wonderfully suitable for performances or recordings. It belongs to the top class of instruments we have seen.