Pedro Maldonado Sr was born in Loja, Granada in 1929. The son of a carpenter while still a boy he developed a great affection for the guitar. At nine, he was already cutting wood in the shape of guitars in his father's workshop.  Because of the Spanish civil war, his education was interrupted, and he was not able to finish school until 1946. In 1950, after doing his military service, he went to Granada and apprenticed with the luthiers Manuel de la Chica (1911-1998) and Miguel Robles (1902-1970), crediting the later guitar maker as being his primary teacher. He currently works with his sons Pedro and Luis, also born in Loja in 1959 and 1961 respectively. They each began working with their father at fifteen. Maldonado's flamenco guitars have the duende and soul that flamenco players seek, and are used by Vicente Amigo,  Pepe Romero, Manuel Cano, Sergio Lara, Diego Vargas, Strunz and Farah, and many more.  His classical guitars are likewise exceptional instruments. Elliot Fisk, one of Segovia's favorite students, has purchased two guitars from Pedro Maldonado. Maldonado's stature is such that Luis F. Leal Pinar devotes an entire chapter in "Guitarreros de Andalucia" (2004) to him.

This maple flamenco was built by Pedro Maldonado Sr. Until the 1930s, maple was the wood of choice for fine flamenco guitars, imparting a richer tonality heard in complex harmonics.