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Hey everyone, here's the guitar I just finished this week. I know its not a straight up flamenco guitar, but I build seven (or more) string classical guitars as well as straight ahead flamenco guitars.
Brazilian jazz and choro players use the seven stings guitars extensively. I'm putting it on the flamenco forum to show the breadth of my guitar building. Follow this thread and in a day or two I will post some nice well lighted photos of this guitar so you can see the tasty details.
I have made the seven stringers with two basic characteristics. One is like this guitar, which is more classical sounding, crystal clear trebles and the whole guitar rings when you hold a chord. When I heard this I thought it sounded like a piano with the pedal being held down. These are braced with a crossed fan configuration and can be cedar or spruce topped. These guitars are great for bossa nova, choro and classical music which can be arranged to use the low bass string in classical music for composers like Bach or any modern arrangements you might want to do. One client did really nice Beatles songs for seven string and I'll put some sound samples together.
The other type of seven string is braced like a flamenco guitar and you can do nice rasgeuado with it, however you still have the issue playing flamenco and dealing with the seventh string. In some palos like Granaina the low bass B could be an interesting thing to play with. The main reason I brace them like flamenco guitars is that it gives them a husky dry voice, I like that and it does make for a good jazz guitar because you get the kind of decay in the notes that lends itself to playing scale passages. It also gives the guitar unique color in the tone, which I have not heard in many guitars. Most of the time when guitarists think about classical guitars with more than six strings, the round classical sound comes to mind. I went against that idea and gave it a more flamenco voice and the result is a guitar that has a gritty satisfying envelope of sound, but you can still play "polite" music with it.
So seven strings, not really a flamenco guitar, but as a guitar makers every type of guitar we make adds to our understanding of how to shape sound. Each new guitar we make informs us about how to brace or modify the next one. And that information transfers from one style of guitar to another in some way.
I have a real flamenca negra on the bench which will be done soon and will make the guy who ordered it a happy camper I'm sure. I'll have Mr. Mc Guire demo that too, but we'll put it through it's paces in buleria.
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
do you still have the video where Jason demos the tuning system (not the tuning of a guitar, but how well it stays in tune on different spots), ie playing to notes very high and very low on the fretboard. I couldnt find that video.
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to XXX)
I'm not sure if Jason still has that video around, you could email him, he probably knows where it is. I just searched on Jason's name with the terms compensated or intonated saddle and I could not find it. If I talk to him over the weekend I'll ask him where it is.
Did you just want to see Jason jam or was there a specific question about intonated saddles I could answer?
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
The headstock. On the seven strings I make a simple headstock end because there is a lot going on visually with the asymmetrical slots for the tuners. It helps the overall design to not make it just a smaller version of my other design. My six string and flamenco guitars have a different headstock.
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RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
People who bought this type of a guitar also bought this:
EDIT: Ok..coz I respect the work of estebana... Im convinced that this picture should only be presented to nerds like myself.. Since Im the only one here... I take it down. ;.)
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to Doitsujin)
Doit i love you bro, i really do but you just dont dont know when to not make a joke took the guy what 6 months to build the guitar ...took you 2 seconds make a pretty incentive joke undermining it..u think that's cool or fair ?..u do realize this is his work and pays his bills right ? hes got time and money invested in it...
cmon bro il always have time for your jokes but not at the expense of someone just trying to make a living...funny is not the issue here just the timing
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
The seventh string is a bass string and it's usually tuned to B or C below the E bass in the Brazilian music, although it can be a D if the player wanted that. Then nut is on this one is 61mm. The string is .058 in diameter, it's a wound string.
Posts: 797
Joined: Jun. 1 2010
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
gawd that sounds huge - makes me miss my acoustic baritone. I think the Acacia one sounds insanely good, even better to my ears. Jason should definitely have one of these - he's a guy who has the technical and compositional chops to make some powerful music with a guitar like this.
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
Diot, I made this ray gun drawing for you. I'll send it to you for $500.00..
^_^ It actually looks great. I would be proud of having that picture at my workplace on the wall. But I have not the money.. :./
Hey Florian. I think the guitar and its great quality speaks for itself. Such a tiny joke doensn´t change the mind of any potential buyer. Only people who know waht to do with such a guitar would buy one. And they would give a **** about my joke. I see no problem there. I saw jason playing such a guitar. It was awesome. And Im also pretty sure the boy loved that intergalactic glasses, too...
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to Doitsujin)
quote:
Hey Florian. I think the guitar and its great quality speaks for itself. Such a tiny joke doensn´t change the mind of any potential buyer. Only people who know waht to do with such a guitar would buy one. And they would give a **** about my joke. I see no problem there. I saw jason playing such a guitar. It was awesome. And Im also pretty sure the boy loved that intergalactic glasses, too...
ok ...maybe it was just me reading too much into it Stephen seems ok with it
RE: New 7 string negra Brazilian jaz... (in reply to estebanana)
I'm ok with Diot sense of humor I've been watching it for a long time. There are some things I don't l like but with, my personality you would pretty much know it I was pissed off.
I'm interested in drawing old fashioned sci fi stuff.
Printable Version
took the guy what 6 months to build the guitar ...took you 2 seconds make a pretty incentive joke undermining it..u think that's cool or fair ?..u do realize this is his work and pays his bills right ? hes got time and money invested in it... 
il always have time for your jokes but not at the expense of someone just trying to make a living...funny is not the issue here just the timing 
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