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Racial Profiling in Choosing Luthiers
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Armando
Posts: 302
Joined: May 27 2005
From: Zürich, Switzerland
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 RE: Racial Profiling in Choosing Lut... (in reply to Exitao)
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Hi exitao
Yes, i think names are important,..... not really, but in the heads of most customers.
Would i buy a flamenco guitar from somebody having a chinese or whatever non-spanish name? I doubt.
Not that the chinese maker must be a bad builder by any reason, but most customers associate certain names with competence in a certain area of skills.
So the thing with Anders and his ancients being vikings and shipbuilders is probably not so much off the mark as it might seem, allthough ships and guitars are not exactly the same.
Allthough the genes may play a role, i don't want to believe that the influence of the genes is superior to what tallents and ambitions i have to make something different than what my ancients did. If it wouldn't be truth, then it would really mean that nobody could become master on something that is out of his family history. I for one could not do any other job nowadays than milking cows and exhume potatoes out of the acre 
There are a number of well known and acknowledged luthiers who didn't became famous because of their name or their family tradition, but because they dedicated their life to the luthery and therefore became masters in the trade. The american guitarmaker R.E. Bruné is an example for that.
So the "intuitive" awareness of most customers do cause the effect of having a couple of brands and names being totally overpriced while other less, or even unknown luthiers often not even have the chance to get a fair price for the guitars they have built.
The same is valid if you want to sell a used instrument. The resale price of unknown makers is equal sero, while a guitar made by a famous brand or luthier will mostly retain his value or even increase with its age.
Things in this world do often not work with facts or logical explanation but rather with emotions and feelings and there Mr. Chang Xiupeng from China lost against los Señores Santos Hernandez, Marcelo Barbero, Manuel Reyes, José Ramirez, Faustino Conde etc... from Spain.
Btw: interestingly, no chinese want's a chinese car. No, they all want german cars such as VW or BMW or Mercedes.
regards
Armando
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Date Jan. 2 2009 9:59:50
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Exitao
Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada
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RE: Racial Profiling in Choosing Lut... (in reply to Exitao)
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I speak Spanish rather well. At this point my biggest problem is huge voids in vocabulary related to anything remotely specialised.
However, when I learn these words and when I look at the old Germans (watch makers, carpenters &c) who I grew up around in my home town (the little of the language I know) and the way they work and think, I don't think these innate talents are genetic, but more cultural.
The primary transmission of culture is language, learning to think in a language brings a different perspective of the internal and external. If ship building was a big part of a culture language would have grown to include it, or create new concepts, so some languages lend themselves to certain skills better than others.
Incidentally, I was at fretts.com and reading an article about how he was using a ship builder's technique to make curves that a French curve would never allow. Once you get past the issue of scale (a pretty big issue, pardon the pun), there should be a lot in common with the two crafts.
You are correct Anders, the value of the Euro is one of the biggest reasons I didn't try to order from you. Us poor Canadians just can't keep up with you guys.
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Callidus et iracundus.
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Date Jan. 3 2009 18:26:07
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Exitao
Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada
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RE: Racial Profiling in Choosing Lut... (in reply to cathulu)
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I had no options in regards to the one I chose. Really. I when I decided to get a teacher (I was a terrible student with myself as a teacher), I asked for his advice. My thought was that Yamaha was consistent/dependable for a starter guitar.
The teacher in question has been dealing with Jeff for well over 10 years and said he'd see what he had going on. I was told that he was finishing a guitar for a guy, on spec, but there was a cosmetic blemish and he didn't want to sell it as a 1a because of the blemish which is really just a small spot under the saddle where it darkened when he applied the French polish. And really, it's barely noticeable, as a person who works with wood myself, it's just the sort of thing I expect from real wood.
I had given my price range and I was given a choice of that guitar or a student model with a cutaway, and considering the choice of materials I was prepared to accept a much bigger cosmetic flaw.
My guitar has a german spruce soundboard, Spanish cypress body, Spanish cedar neck, bindings, bridge and headstock veneer are all rosewood, with an ebony fingerboard. The soundboard is French polished, but the rest is lacquered. I do think I got the budget Gotoh tuners though, but I can't grudge him that.
It's built on the 1951 Barbero design, like the one Barbero built and dedicated to Carlos Montoya, who then gave that same guitar to Sabicas.
This was intended to be a concert guitar, and I got it for less than half of what he'd agreed upon with the guy who ordered it.
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Callidus et iracundus.
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Date Jan. 5 2009 15:33:16
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