Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars

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DonS

Posts: 232
Joined: Mar. 1 2007
From: Florida and San Francisco Cali

Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars

I was told by Lester that Vicente used his DeVoe's on "Paseo de Gracia" and possibly getting it ready to use for his concerts. I know DeVoe's well and the track on his website sounds very much like a DeVoe especially the trebles. I wonder if he is going to use it live cause that Reyes has been his sound for a long time.

There is a pic under the Discografia page on his site showing a new photo of Vicente playing a DeVoe blanca.

http://www.vicente-amigo.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2009 9:59:31

Posts: 524
Joined: Jun. 15 2006

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

Hay Don,

I see the picture. Yes it is a Devoe Blanca. But I think the sound of this clip with Niña Pastori is more of a Reyes sound than Devoe.

I could be wrong but I am 90% sure it is a Reyes. I think it is very hard for these famous Spanish players to drop down their initial guitar and play something else in concerts. Behind the scenes is different when they are recoding. But concerts, they are always loyal to their initial makers.

If you look at Andres Segovia for example, he was always (almost) seen with his Ramirez yet he loved and recorded with Fleta.

Paco and his Conde same thing. The last several CDs are all recorded with different guitars than his Conde but he always shoed up with it in the concerts.

Just a thought.

TK

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2009 10:43:52

avimuno

Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

I was thinking of posting about that subject... you guys got there faster! :)
From what I've heard from the album, it sounds like he's using his Reyes for most of it, but the photo op was done with a DeVoe... it even looks like a Cedar top from certain angles, the top seems much darker than the back and sides... interesting!
No matter what guitar he uses he always sounds amazing!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 4 2009 12:55:15

DonS

Posts: 232
Joined: Mar. 1 2007
From: Florida and San Francisco Cali

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to tk)

Yeah that clip sounds like his Reyes for sure. I think he uses both his Reyes' and DeVoe(s) I agree Spanish flamenco guitarists are very loyal to their initial makers. I think they also know their guitars very well so there is no point in getting used to a new guitar. I think the fact that Vicente chooses to use DeVoe guitars for recording is a testament to how good a luthier Lester is...could be Lester's marketing as well but at the end of the day, I'm sure Vicente can play any guitar he wants.

According to Lester: "Vicente told me he is playing and recording with the new blancas and getting them ready for concerts in the future, hopefully." We shall see if he does use them for concerts...I sort of doubt it but I saw Gerardo tour with his negra Marvi which I thought didn't sound as good as his Conde blanca live. It could've been where I sat during the concert but there were times when I wasn't able to hear the clarity of this playing like before.

By the way, I gave Lester that avatar pic you have :) thats a great pic from the Bryan Adams photo book.

saludos, Don

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 5 2009 7:51:04

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

thought you guys would like to see these promos... check out the end of the first one in particular:

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/05/06/cultura/1241603982.html
http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/videos/20090504/guitarrista-vicente-amigo-publica-nuevo-trabajo-que-llamado-paseo-gracia/497339.shtml
http://www.vicente-amigo.com/2009/ecard.html

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 8:32:30

Ricardo

Posts: 14822
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

Well, hopefully he will realize that Reyes are going for up to $30,000 nowadays...he would be smart to leave her safe at home and take a nice cheap DeVoe or something on tour.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 9:48:12

JasonMcGuire

Posts: 1141
Joined: Apr. 10 2007

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to Ricardo)

V's Reyes is worth a lot more than $30k. He is the reason other 88 Reyes' are fetching that much. He could name any price and I bet he would have a buyer within a day. I have played a bunch of Devoe's lately of various flavors. I didn't care too much for any of them, especially the blanca I played. I don't miss my Devoe negra either. I bet the guitar he gave Vicente was fantastic though. I have played blancas by Aaron Green, Eugene Clark, Glenn Canin (of course) and Stephen Faulk and Chris Berkov. I have heard great things about Tom Blackshear's guitars. Glenn Canin really enjoyed playing one recently and he is super picky about guitars. I have a feeling about Anders too. I bet his guitars are great and I would love to play one someday. Another guitar I would love to play is Les Stansell....... after I steamed the visible label off my first Spanish made guitar only to reveal another label underneath (with a different name), I was sort of turned off by guitars that I didn't know from birth. The Montalvo's I used to play were so good for the price, I got over the fact that it was a simililar label over a label scenario.
Juan Huipe if you go to Paracho;) There are some really great guitars out there to choose from these days. Its nice. I remember back in the day it wasn't nearly as easy.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 10:40:47

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to JasonMcGuire)

I noticed that Vicente is holding a different Reyes for the MTV-style video treatment for Paseo de Gracia. You can see clearly at the moment when his son hugs him that it's a different rosette, same as this one:

http://www.guitarsalon.com/product.php?productid=630

...And the headstock is darker, without the streaks. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it. I'm sure he has many guitars. I always wondered what guitar he is miming with in the Tangos del Arco Bajo video.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 12:26:20

Posts: 524
Joined: Jun. 15 2006

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to Conrad)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Conrad

I always wondered what guitar he is miming with in the Tangos del Arco Bajo video.

That is his Devoe Negra

TK

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 12:34:32

rombsix

Posts: 7815
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to Conrad)

quote:

check out the end of the first one in particular:

Conrad! Thanks tons mate! Those videos were so great! But really, the end of that first one was so damn amazing! I just love good quality close-up views of guitarists playing dry with no other instruments around. The sound he can get out of that guitar is AWESOME! I don't know if it's the guitar that sounds so great, or whether his technique that is superb. I assume it's a bit of both, but my God! Those picados are so CRISP! I feel that Vicente is really improving as time goes by be it sound-wise, or technique-wise. He is really one of a kind.

Ole!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 12:41:54

DonS

Posts: 232
Joined: Mar. 1 2007
From: Florida and San Francisco Cali

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

I like Lester's guitars for recording especially the negras.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 13:58:22

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to tk)

Are we sure, tk? I've read this opinion before, but if you freeze the vid, the rosette looks nothing like Lester's three options or anything I've seen from him. The headstock is similar but not the same, IMO.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35898206

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 14:02:11

avimuno

Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

I agree with you rombsix, it seems to me that Vicente's playing is getting better every album... I just got Paseo and so far I really like Autorretrato... the falsetas (or letras... he really is singing with the guitar!) in the middle section are amazing... the delivery is stunning and the tone is just out of this world!!
I wonder how much processing there is in his sound... I saw somewhere a while back that a guy called 'Carlos' (if I remember correctly) had built a pickup for his Reyes, which I always found weird because you never see a cord coming out of his guitar live.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 17:15:52

Posts: 524
Joined: Jun. 15 2006

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to Conrad)

quote:

Are we sure, tk? I've read this opinion before, but if you freeze the vid, the rosette looks nothing like Lester's three options or anything I've seen from him. The headstock is similar but not the same, IMO.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35898206

well the headstock is Devoe. The rosette is a different one but when I asked Devoe, he did say that was a Devoe. The sound is Devoe IMO.

I heard Vicente has 2 reyes from the Padre and one from the son.

TK

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 20:13:14

avimuno

Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

One from the son... that's interesting. It's funny, I've heard mixed reviews on him... but I guess, like every builder he probable makes some amazing ones and some not-so-amazing ones.
The Reyes sound, thanks of course to Vicente, is so mystified with flamenco guitarists... i'm personally pretty obssessed with it. It's the most beautiful guitar ound I've ever heard, especially in the hands of Vicente. He brings so many nuences out of that guitar. And the other hand, Tomatito's Reyes sound is more aggressive and bold, whilst still retaining that sort of very dreamy quality, like some sort of natural compression to the sound. It's a good example of guitars from the same maker in the hands of two very different guitarists.

I was told that the guitars of Juan Montero Aguilera are very similar in both sound and feel to Reyes. Apparently they had the same teacher.
Has anyone here tried any of his guitars?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 20:58:02

avimuno

Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

It doesn;t get much better than that tonewise...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 7 2009 21:52:44

Morao

Posts: 81
Joined: Jan. 8 2009

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

I´ve played a few Aguileras and also a few Reyes. I`ve never heard, that Reyes and Aguilera had the same teacher. But Aguilera learned together with Gerundino. Officially Juan Montero has retired (born 1929). I like his guitars very much, but you can´t compare them with guitars from Manuel Reyes (son and father)-different styles IMO.

Last week I heard Vicente playing before his concert making the soundcheck and after in concert. He played his Reyes and his tone is so brilliant! In one word: perfect. It´s not same thing hearing him life and on youtube videos.

I don´t think that he minds about the price of his guitar and leave her save at home because: a)when he bought it, a Reyes was not so expensive because b) a Reyes is so expensive because Vicente plays ist and c) in Europe they aren´t up to $30.000. A friend of mine sells one for 12.000 Euro and this is a high price. I payed a new Reyes hijo (which is of course cheaper) last month in a guitar shop for 8.000 Euro.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 11 2009 3:54:22

Morao

Posts: 81
Joined: Jan. 8 2009

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

P.S. sorry for my English...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 11 2009 3:56:25

avimuno

Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

Hi Morao,
Thanks for the reply on Montero. How did you find Reyes Hijo's guitars?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 11 2009 21:43:58

Morao

Posts: 81
Joined: Jan. 8 2009

RE: Vicente Amigo - Lester DeVoe guitars (in reply to DonS)

Hi avimundo,

there´s a guy in belgium who´s getting one guitar from Manuel Reyes every year for selling in his shop. He was in the taller of Reyes and told me, that a guitar from the son and the father are absoluty equal. They´re using the same wood, the same machines and the same technique. But the guitars are very rare, every guitar ist different and not many guitar players have enough experiences with Reyes guitars. Every time I played them I would rather buy another flamenco guitar in his shop because they are much cheaper (half prive ore more) and suits better to me.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 12 2009 0:16:17