Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any opinions and reviews would be appreciated

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avimuno

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

Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any opinio...

Hi everyone,

I am interested in getting a negra from Jeff Sigurdson. He has quite a reputation in Canada and his instruments seem to be a lot of guitar for the money.
Jeff will be building a Conde-style negra for me.
Does anyone here own a similar guitar
What do you think of it
Gracias
Saludos

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2010 0:05:33

Ricardo

Posts: 14806
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

I played one that a student owned. Yes a good guitar for the money. It had a kind of nasal woody accent that reminded me of some old conde guitars, like Niño Ricardo's for example. Not sure if you like that, but I personally found it distracting. But it was a good guitar, and I think that sound was deliberate. I saw a Conde student EF model negra from Felipe V address that was essentially the same exact guitar and I felt both were made by the same maker. What does that mean? I am not sure actually but my hands were telling me it was more then a coincidence.

ricardo

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2010 7:40:48

Patrick

Posts: 1189
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Portland, Oregon

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

I can only speak about the one I owned. I had an East Indian, Euro top negra a few years ago. I agree with Ricardo. It was exactly that "a great guitar for the money". It wasn't world-class by any means, but I didn't pay much above $2,000 for it.

It had that exact "nasal" tone Ricardo mentioned. Initially, you really like that tone, but after a while it get's in the way. Again, all and all, a lot of guitar for the cash. Enjoy.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2010 9:20:49

avimuno

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

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

Thank you both for your replies. Really appreciated.
I am looking for a good negra that would tend towards the Conde-type of sound and that would be under 3000... I know, it's asking a lot :-)
It seems that Jeff's guitars are a good choice. Hermanos Sanchis Lopez is another good choice... I used to own a 1F blanca which I really liked but I've never tried their negras.
Do you guys have any experience with them?
Also, would you have any suggestions as to which builders I should have a look into considering what Im looking for and my budget?
Thank you.
Saludos

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2010 15:56:57

Barry

Posts: 2
Joined: Jun. 15 2006

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

I have a used blanca with pegs. Have had it for less than a month and consider it my first good flamenco. The others were student guitars and I think this one is too-but the tone and volume are more impressive.
Lightly built and the pegs are easier to use than on anything I have previously tried. There is no ebony strip on the back of the neck and I do not know if there is anything internal or not but there is just enough relief to see the tiniest amount of daylight and the action is lower than my steel string. The neck angle is not real flat and the bridge is shorter than any I have seen. When I first saw it-I wondered if it had been shaved. It looks original and the shop owner assured me it was. Almost forgot-the bridge is the 12 hole style. It is the most easily playable guitar I have owned.
As for the sound-I wish I could be of more help there. Unlike many here I have never played an expensive high end professional flamenco. My previous entry level flamencos seemed all treble to me. This one has a beautiful and strong bass. The trebles are nice but not as powerful. I suspect they would have more bark with higher tension strings but given the lightness of the guitar I will likely not tempt fate, overbow, or neckset.
In all fairness-though three years old-it seemed nearly unplayed. Had it not received a divot behind the bridge from what looked like a stringing mishap and one tiny mark on the lower bout of the top I would have mistaken it for new.
I mention this because it is probably not broken in yet. There might be a little more treble in there as time progresses.
Just my 2 cents-Barry

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2010 6:48:33

gemelo

Posts: 84
Joined: Aug. 23 2008

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

I have a Jeff Sigurdson flamenco negra. I believe it is a Marcelo Barbero design. It has a traditional flamenco sound and it is very very easy to play. Excellent guitar, I highly recommend it.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2010 12:04:04

cathulu

Posts: 950
Joined: Dec. 15 2006
From: Vancouver, Canukistan

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

I have a Sigurdson Blanca and I love it. Much much better than my Raimundo 145. Jeff has built a lot of guitars, I have number 361. I don't think that means he built 360 flamenco guitars before mine, it might include some other guitars. Not sure even if he started at number one. But it is a lot of guitars, and he used to work at Larrivee I believe so he has been around guitars a long time.

FYI, I also have this Steve Heizen (a local luthier on the Island) nylon string guitar that is real nice build, but the action is a bit too high and can't be lowered without major work as the neck angle is not great and the strings are nearly touching the wood on the bridge, so I leave it basically as is. Why did I mention that - because I took the guitar to Jeff to see what he thought and he immediately diagnosed the problems.

What that says is that Jeff has built a lot of guitars and knows how to build the action right. He uses a carbon rod in the neck to strengthen it yet give it enough give to get the right shape under tension. Jeff also uses a non water based epoxy to set the ebony fret board to minimize neck changes from moisture during the build.

What I don't like is that Jeff has not developed a custom handmade rosette design like Anders. Jeff is very practical, I don't think he sees the value in that.

You can't go wrong getting Jeff to build a guitar for you. He probably is the go to guy for flamencos - he built guitars for all the local players if I am not mistaken - Geraldo Alcala and Juan de Marias to mention a couple. And they like his guitars very much. And his pricing is very fair.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 6 2010 19:16:30

Jamey

Posts: 187
Joined: Jul. 7 2004
From: Winnipeg, Canada

RE: Jeff Sigurdson guitars... any op... (in reply to avimuno)

You really can't go wrong with Jeff's guitars. He's also rather particular about them. If there's something that you feel is wrong with it (be it sound or whatever), just tell him and he's on it.

I can't speak directly to his negras. I have played (very briefly as the owner let me try it) one of his negras and it had the tone you expect to hear. They are very well made guitars, workhorses basically.

I have a blanca. Like others have mentioned, his guitars do have that nasal tone to them. However, he can also build them with an added dimension of fullness at the same time (hard to describe this and I think I'm not doing a good job at describing it). Basically, the blanca I chose (from a few of them - all student models but great none the less) also has a fullness to it on the low end (I like this, I used to be a bass player). The one thing that is for certain regardless, is volume. Once Sigurdson guitars have a bit of time in them, they really open up and project outward with a lot of volume. The trick for me has been to learn to work with that volume and not end up making a loud racket. That's more a statement on my lack of skill than on the guitar.

For the money, you get a lot more guitar. After a year of playing it often, it will open up and become even better.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 21 2010 7:59:18