Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, Mexico

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Wannabee

Posts: 131
Joined: Jan. 13 2007

Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, Mexico

I am here on vacation, and wanted to head to the small town of Porracho where the best Mexican guitars are made. Unfortunately, I won't have time to get there, but I happened upon a small shop on the main street in Centro Historico Morelia. The shop has mostly guitars from Porracho,with a few from other areas. I was stunned by the quality of some of these. I never expected them to be this good.

Even the cheaper ones 850 pesos = 85 dollars and you get a cheap guitar with nice tone and good action.

Mid range are about 3500 pesos = 350 dollars and up to very high quality guitars ranging from 1200 - 2000 dollars.

The shop is called Gitarreria Mexicana and it's right on calle Madero, about 3 blocks from the central plaza.

I wish I could buy the flamenco model he let me play, really nice sound, easy to play. Unfortunately, I just lost my job....Maybe Mexico wasn't such a great idea after all.

I don't want to spend too much money right now, but I just thought I'd pass this on in case any one else is interested.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 20 2009 15:09:03

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

what would be a good comparison to their $85 guitars that we can get here in the states? a $350 yamaha?

Say I wanted to get a guitar there that would normally cost $1000 here, how much would it actually be?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 20 2009 17:17:46

Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

Am I assuming right when I think that "mich" means Michoacán?

Out of curiosity, what kinds of materials are these $85 guitars made of?

Sure, for $85, if it plays well and sounds nice, why look at the horse's teeth. But I'm a curious guy and I just want to know what kind of value this is.

Also, are there actually price tags, or is this like China where there's no price tags and the white guy is told a price with a huge mark-up? And if there are no price tags, which price do you think you're being offered?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 20 2009 17:39:23

Escribano

Posts: 6415
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

It's Paracho, no Porracho so you would have got lost

I heard from a luthier in Spain that these guitars can suffer cracks as seasoned wood is in short supply and humidity control is not used in all the shops.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 21 2009 2:10:31

Wannabee

Posts: 131
Joined: Jan. 13 2007

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

I never asked about the cheap guitars much, they look like something to sell to tourists or people who don't care what kind of guitar they get. My point was, they are playable and don't sound too bad for that price.

I asked about the others, he told me Mexican rosewood for the back and sides, cedar or spruce tops.

The flamenco model uses cypress for the back and sides and I believe has a cedar top (but I´m not sure on that).

These are all hand made instruments, so it's hard to generalize. I would guess that a guitar for $1000 in the US would be around $500 - $700 in Mexico, but I have no way of being certain about that.

As for splits and cracks, I've heard of Spanish guitars doing similar things, depending on who made them, where etc.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 21 2009 6:41:19

Güiro

Posts: 158
Joined: Aug. 22 2008
From: Colorado

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

I purchased a decent flamenco guitar in Paracho a few years ago for around $300.00 (US dollars). It came with the traditional style tuning pegs. It had a decent sound for the price. I checked out guitars at about 20 different stores or so before choosing that guitar. Watch out because most of the luthiers will try to sell you a classical and call it a flamenco. I would just move on to the next guitar shop when they would do this. I eventually came across a shop where the owner was playing a little flamenco when I walked by. I think the maker was Ignacio Barajas.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 21 2009 14:16:31

kovachian

Posts: 506
Joined: Jan. 30 2008
From: Americanistan

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Güiro)

quote:

I eventually came across a shop where the owner was playing a little flamenco when I walked by. I think the maker was Ignacio Barajas.

So this is the place?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 21 2009 19:16:18

Güiro

Posts: 158
Joined: Aug. 22 2008
From: Colorado

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to kovachian)

yeah that was it.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 21 2009 19:55:06

johnfraser

Posts: 4
Joined: Jun. 21 2011

RE: GrJeat Guitars in Morelia, mich,... (in reply to Wannabee)

Hi there,
I am a new poster here, I am off to Mexico for 4 weeks and wondered where else is recommended to buy a nice Mexican flamenco guitar from other than Paracho.
I would probably be looking to spend up to $400. My trip takes me down Baja where I will fly from la Paz to Mexico city. Then down to taxco, oaxaca, Puebla then over to the yucatan. I am keen to visit Paracho however it is a bit of a detour so wondered if anyone could reccomend any other reknowned alternatives.
Any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks
John

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 21 2011 11:38:11

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3431
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: GrJeat Guitars in Morelia, mich,... (in reply to johnfraser)

There are (at least) two big music stores in Mexico City which sell a variety of guitars. One is the Repertorio Wagner, 3 Calle de 16 de Septiembre, near the Zocalo. Nearest metro is San Juan de Letran. Another, whose name I can never remember, is in the old Colegio (some say Convento) de Vizcaínas at the corner of Mesones and Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas (used to be Niño Perdido). Nearest metro is Salto de Agua. It's walkable from Wagner.

Both carry a variety of instruments from Paracho, and a few better grade ones. Wagner used to have (maybe still does) a used stringed instrument department, which once in a great while may have a very good guitar. Once, 40-odd years ago I played a Santos Hernandez blanca there. I still remember it. Magnificent guitar, but at the time I couldn't afford it.

The neighborhood around Mesones and Republica del Salvador had several smaller music stores when I was last there ten years ago or so, but they seemed to be mainly electric guitars, keyboards, drums and such.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 21 2011 15:48:35

johnfraser

Posts: 4
Joined: Jun. 21 2011

RE: Great Guitars in Morelia, mich, ... (in reply to Wannabee)

Thank you very much for the reply. Will these be hand made guitars? Will have a look on google maps for the general location as this is our first trip there.
What about around the yucatan or oaxaca, anything around there? Will definately visit those you have mentioned just trying to get a few options as our travel plans are quite vague at the moment. Though where we are flying home from cancun we will be spending about 2 weeks doing a circle around the yucatan area. Thanks

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 22 2011 7:12:38