At the end of July, I was able to go down to Tacoma to attend the public exhibit at the Guild of American Luthiers convention (http://luth.org/). It was a great afternoon to stroll among the tables and see all the great guitars on display. Every type of guitar was there: electric guitars, steel string guitars, classical, flamenco - even harp guitars and ukeleles. I focused my efforts, of course, on luthiers displaying nylon string guitars, both classical and flamenco, figuring that the classical guitar luthiers might also build flamencos but weren't displaying them. All in all, I found 9 luthiers that had flamenco models for me to examine. I found it fascinating to meet and talk to them all, and to try out their instruments (though of course the setting wasn't ideal for me to really give them a great workout).
I generally started off my conversations by asking them what their base price was, and how long of a waiting time they currently had. All but two of them were within the price range I had set for myself, with a couple (whom I assume were just starting out) as low as $1500. I played some nice instruments, but none of them were initially blowing me away. They weren't bad guitars, but they weren't anything special compared to what I had seen and played at Rosewood Guitar in Seattle.
I found the table set aside for John Park - the Luthier I had corresponded with earlier, and who had told me about this exhibit - but his table was empty. So I kept wandering around, looking at the guitars and hoping he would not be a no-show. Having played his earlier Negra at Rosewood, I was getting even more hopeful after seeing what else was available at this convention. I had wandered around about as much as I could, when I finally saw him near his table, and with two guitars set on stands on his table. After waiting for him to finish a conversation with another Luthier I introduced myself and reminded him about our email correspondence, which he remembered. He explained that he had just finished stringing up the Negra he had brought (the other guitar was a Blanca) and jumped in his car to drive to the convention. In fact, he hadn't even had a chance to try out the Negra.
I settled down to look at the Negra, which was a beautiful instrument. It had a Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, and tuning pegs rather than machines. It had a nice looking rosette, and wood bindings, but nothing austentatious as far as decoration. That's fine with me - while I love seeing a lot of mother of pearl on steel string guitars, I'm far more impressed with beautiful woods and a great sound from a classical or flamenco guitar. I nervously tried out a Solea on it, and was immediately impressed with the sound. It had a warm tone, but gave off a satisfying growl when I finally got up the nerve to push it during some rasgueados. This, finally, was promising to be exactly what I was looking for. I played some more for a while, including a little bit of Steve Howe and a couple of classical movements. Yes indeed - an instrument that promised to happily accommodate whatever kind of music I cared to coax out of it. In short, just a beautiful instrument.
I (reluctantly) handed the guitar back to John, and watched his face light up as he finally had a chance to play this guitar. John is quite an accomplished guitarist in his own right (definitely above my intermediate level right now), and it was a treat to listen to him confidently play some flamenco as well as classical. He explained that he had tried something new with this guitar: using Rosewood on a flamenco can be problematic, as it's a heavier wood than the Cypress and other lighter woods that are used for Blancas. To compensate for this, he shaved the back quite a bit thinner than normal, and used fan bracing on the back to better support it. That resulted in a great response and the flexibility both John and I were being blown away by. To illustrate it, he played some jazz pieces on it and sure enough, it proved to be up to that task as well.
That was it - I was sold. I parted ways with John, reminding him that it was going to take a while for me to save up but I had no question that I wanted a Negra like this one. He promised to set aside some of the same Rosewood he had used on this guitar, and for me to let him know when I was ready to set him loose on making an instrument for me.
It was a great feeling driving home afterwards. All of the Luthiers I had met were enthusiastic about their craft and enjoyable to talk to. I spent the most time with John, and thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. Now I just needed to figure out how to save up some money so I could proceed with this project.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Finding a Luthier, Part 1
I started looking for a Luthier to make my dream guitar around the beginning of 2011. I wasn't in a huge hurry, as I knew it would take a while to save up enough money to even put down a deposit. First I had to decide on a couple of basic things that I wanted in a guitar. The main consideration, beyond the scale length, was whether I wanted a Flamenco Blanca or a Flamenco Negra.
The traditional flamenco guitar has cypress back and sides, and the tonal qualities of that wood helps with the sharp attack and short sustain that's desirable in a flamenco guitar. When cypress or similar, light colored wood is used it's referred to as a Flamenco Blanca. It's becoming more common, though, to find flamenco guitars with rosewood back and sides, which is one of the more popular woods used in classical guitars. When rosewood or some other dark wood is used it's called a Flamenco Negra. One of the reasons for doing this is to temper the flamenco sound a bit, providing an instrument that is more adaptable to playing classical and other music styles in addition to flamenco. Of course, the ability of the Luthier and even the player has a lot to do with the sound, but in general you'd look to a Negra for a guitar that can handle a wider repertoire than a Blanca would. After playing some good Blanca and Negra guitars, I pretty much decided I wanted a Negra.
I started my search at Rosewood Guitar in Seattle, trying out all of the better quality flamenco guitars they got in over several months. I also started searching the internet for Luthiers, particularly in the Pacific Northwest as I didn't want to buy an instrument without ever being able to meet the Luthier or try out any of the guitars they had made. This ruled out a fantasy of vacationing in Sevilla or Granada and having a guitar made to bring home. I found several Luthiers in the area (California, Oregon, Colorado, British Columbia, and of course Washington), with a wide range of prices. (As an aside, I even found a pretty well known Luthier of classical guitars in Oregon who has a base price of $16,500 and a 15 year waiting list. He's no longer accepting orders, but I have to wonder who would be willing to wait 15 years for a guitar).
I emailed a few of them, asking about their starting prices and how long of a wait they were expecting after receiving a commission. Unlike factory guitars, Luthiers only make a few instruments a year so it sometimes can take several months before they can start on a new one. One of the Luthiers I contacted, John Park, told me that he would be attending a Luthier's convention in Tacoma, Washington at the end of July. The Guild of American Luthiers convention is for people in the industry (Luthiers as well as people that supplied tone woods and the specialized tools used to build guitars), but there was to be an exhibition on the Saturday of the convention that was open to the public.
John and I corresponded for a bit, as I had been able to play an older Negra of his that was for sale at Rosewood and I knew that he was likely to be on my short list. His base price was right in line with the budget I was considering, and I told him I would be sure to come to the exhibit in July to talk to him in person and see his latest guitars.
I spent the next few months researching some more, and thinking about how I could accelerate saving up for this guitar - generally biding my time until I could go to the exhibit.
The traditional flamenco guitar has cypress back and sides, and the tonal qualities of that wood helps with the sharp attack and short sustain that's desirable in a flamenco guitar. When cypress or similar, light colored wood is used it's referred to as a Flamenco Blanca. It's becoming more common, though, to find flamenco guitars with rosewood back and sides, which is one of the more popular woods used in classical guitars. When rosewood or some other dark wood is used it's called a Flamenco Negra. One of the reasons for doing this is to temper the flamenco sound a bit, providing an instrument that is more adaptable to playing classical and other music styles in addition to flamenco. Of course, the ability of the Luthier and even the player has a lot to do with the sound, but in general you'd look to a Negra for a guitar that can handle a wider repertoire than a Blanca would. After playing some good Blanca and Negra guitars, I pretty much decided I wanted a Negra.
I started my search at Rosewood Guitar in Seattle, trying out all of the better quality flamenco guitars they got in over several months. I also started searching the internet for Luthiers, particularly in the Pacific Northwest as I didn't want to buy an instrument without ever being able to meet the Luthier or try out any of the guitars they had made. This ruled out a fantasy of vacationing in Sevilla or Granada and having a guitar made to bring home. I found several Luthiers in the area (California, Oregon, Colorado, British Columbia, and of course Washington), with a wide range of prices. (As an aside, I even found a pretty well known Luthier of classical guitars in Oregon who has a base price of $16,500 and a 15 year waiting list. He's no longer accepting orders, but I have to wonder who would be willing to wait 15 years for a guitar).
I emailed a few of them, asking about their starting prices and how long of a wait they were expecting after receiving a commission. Unlike factory guitars, Luthiers only make a few instruments a year so it sometimes can take several months before they can start on a new one. One of the Luthiers I contacted, John Park, told me that he would be attending a Luthier's convention in Tacoma, Washington at the end of July. The Guild of American Luthiers convention is for people in the industry (Luthiers as well as people that supplied tone woods and the specialized tools used to build guitars), but there was to be an exhibition on the Saturday of the convention that was open to the public.
John and I corresponded for a bit, as I had been able to play an older Negra of his that was for sale at Rosewood and I knew that he was likely to be on my short list. His base price was right in line with the budget I was considering, and I told him I would be sure to come to the exhibit in July to talk to him in person and see his latest guitars.
I spent the next few months researching some more, and thinking about how I could accelerate saving up for this guitar - generally biding my time until I could go to the exhibit.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Before I begin
Like a lot of people I know, I picked up a guitar back when I was in Junior High, learned a few chords and got together with some friends to form a rock band. I progressed the best I could on my own through high school and into college, expanding to finger-style steel string and even took (very briefly) some classical lessons.
Once college was over I started a job, but for a while I still played quite a bit, and occasionally found some other people to play with. Over the years, that kind of dropped off, and my guitars (I had three at one point - an Gibson SG, a Giannini steel string and a cheap classical) either sat in a corner gathering dust to be picked up once every few months or stowed away in their cases.
A few years ago, after my son left for college, I decided I really wanted to get back into playing guitar more seriously. For a while this posed a dilemma. I'd had my fill of being in bands, or even playing with just one other guitarist. There are schedule conflicts, disagreements about what to play, and generally just a whole bunch of headaches if you aren't really committed. Classical guitar, while challenging, never really inspired me a whole lot - at least no more than the classical piano lessons I'd had as a young child. Anything requiring singing was out, as I absolutely cannot sing (as my son, who's a Musical Theater major, will readily confirm. I decided there were essentially two options. The first was to concentrate on finger-style on my steel string guitar and try my hand at artists like Alex deGrassi or Hawaiian slack-key.
The other option was Flamenco. I'd heard some Flamenco, but wasn't terribly familiar with it. What I had heard, and the guitarists I'd seen, really impressed me, though. It had a lot of the serious technique of classical music for the guitar, but had a real edge to it. I found a good teacher (Steve Howland at Rosewood Guitar in Seattle) and started learning. This started a whole new experience, learning about compas, rasqueado, alzapua and golpes, and I've progressed over the last 3 years to an intermediate level of playing.
I got a decent Flamenco guitar a couple of years ago (an Alhambra 7FC) with the help of my very supportive wife, who's an EBay wiz and was able to snag this guitar on auction at an incredible price. It's a much nicer guitar than either of the two classical guitars I've owned, but it's got a few quirks to it. The biggest deficiency is that while the tone is good overall, the trebles are kind of thin sounding. I should mention that about two years ago I found a group of guitarists (mostly classical and a few flamenco), some of whom have very nice guitars from top luthiers.
I've started thinking ahead to retirement in a few years and would like the guitar to become a serious hobby. I'm not planning on performing in concerts, but playing for friends and family, and maybe the occasional recital, are things I would like to do. So about a year ago I decided that I'd like, just once in my life, to get a really fine guitar.
The store where I take my lessons has some very nice instruments. They have the beginner instruments out in front (starting at $150 or so), some moderately priced guitars in a back hallway (they also have an Alhambra 7FC for sale) in the $1000 to $2000 price range, and a locked show room where they carry the high end guitars (from about $2500 up to $10,000 or more) from well known luthier shops like Kenny Hill, Conde Hermanos and others. They generally only have two or three flamenco guitars at a time, however, and while I've tried a few of these, I realized there were some things I'd want different if this is to be my one "really great" guitar.
The main thing I'd want is a shorter scale length. Most guitars in the classical/flamenco style have a scale length (the length between the bridge on the guitar body and the nut at the end of the neck) of 650mm. Having smaller hands, there are some hand positions that are difficult for me, even when using a capo (which is fairly common in Flamenco). I'd played some guitars that had a length of 640mm, and they definitely are more comfortable. I'd even played one with a length of 630mm which was very easy to play, but you start to have other problems with a looser string tension when the guitar starts to get that short. So after much wavering back and forth, I came to the conclusion that what I really needed was to have a guitar custom made to get exactly what I wanted.
That was about a year ago, and I finally sent off a deposit check a couple of weeks ago for this dream guitar of mine. I'll write again soon about my search for the luthier I ended up selecting, and hope to use this blog as a record of the process. And working with a luthier is a process. There are a lot of decisions to make, and I'm seeing this as a partnership (though, of course, the luthier is the one doing all the real work).
Once college was over I started a job, but for a while I still played quite a bit, and occasionally found some other people to play with. Over the years, that kind of dropped off, and my guitars (I had three at one point - an Gibson SG, a Giannini steel string and a cheap classical) either sat in a corner gathering dust to be picked up once every few months or stowed away in their cases.
A few years ago, after my son left for college, I decided I really wanted to get back into playing guitar more seriously. For a while this posed a dilemma. I'd had my fill of being in bands, or even playing with just one other guitarist. There are schedule conflicts, disagreements about what to play, and generally just a whole bunch of headaches if you aren't really committed. Classical guitar, while challenging, never really inspired me a whole lot - at least no more than the classical piano lessons I'd had as a young child. Anything requiring singing was out, as I absolutely cannot sing (as my son, who's a Musical Theater major, will readily confirm. I decided there were essentially two options. The first was to concentrate on finger-style on my steel string guitar and try my hand at artists like Alex deGrassi or Hawaiian slack-key.
The other option was Flamenco. I'd heard some Flamenco, but wasn't terribly familiar with it. What I had heard, and the guitarists I'd seen, really impressed me, though. It had a lot of the serious technique of classical music for the guitar, but had a real edge to it. I found a good teacher (Steve Howland at Rosewood Guitar in Seattle) and started learning. This started a whole new experience, learning about compas, rasqueado, alzapua and golpes, and I've progressed over the last 3 years to an intermediate level of playing.
I got a decent Flamenco guitar a couple of years ago (an Alhambra 7FC) with the help of my very supportive wife, who's an EBay wiz and was able to snag this guitar on auction at an incredible price. It's a much nicer guitar than either of the two classical guitars I've owned, but it's got a few quirks to it. The biggest deficiency is that while the tone is good overall, the trebles are kind of thin sounding. I should mention that about two years ago I found a group of guitarists (mostly classical and a few flamenco), some of whom have very nice guitars from top luthiers.
I've started thinking ahead to retirement in a few years and would like the guitar to become a serious hobby. I'm not planning on performing in concerts, but playing for friends and family, and maybe the occasional recital, are things I would like to do. So about a year ago I decided that I'd like, just once in my life, to get a really fine guitar.
The store where I take my lessons has some very nice instruments. They have the beginner instruments out in front (starting at $150 or so), some moderately priced guitars in a back hallway (they also have an Alhambra 7FC for sale) in the $1000 to $2000 price range, and a locked show room where they carry the high end guitars (from about $2500 up to $10,000 or more) from well known luthier shops like Kenny Hill, Conde Hermanos and others. They generally only have two or three flamenco guitars at a time, however, and while I've tried a few of these, I realized there were some things I'd want different if this is to be my one "really great" guitar.
The main thing I'd want is a shorter scale length. Most guitars in the classical/flamenco style have a scale length (the length between the bridge on the guitar body and the nut at the end of the neck) of 650mm. Having smaller hands, there are some hand positions that are difficult for me, even when using a capo (which is fairly common in Flamenco). I'd played some guitars that had a length of 640mm, and they definitely are more comfortable. I'd even played one with a length of 630mm which was very easy to play, but you start to have other problems with a looser string tension when the guitar starts to get that short. So after much wavering back and forth, I came to the conclusion that what I really needed was to have a guitar custom made to get exactly what I wanted.
That was about a year ago, and I finally sent off a deposit check a couple of weeks ago for this dream guitar of mine. I'll write again soon about my search for the luthier I ended up selecting, and hope to use this blog as a record of the process. And working with a luthier is a process. There are a lot of decisions to make, and I'm seeing this as a partnership (though, of course, the luthier is the one doing all the real work).
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