Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
|
|
|
Tomatito guitars... tried a couple today!
|
You are logged in as Guest
|
|
Users viewing this topic: none
|
|
Login  | |
|
   
avimuno
Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France
|
 Tomatito guitars... tried a couple t...
|
|
|
Hi everyone,
I just came back from 'La Guitarreria' in Paris. It's a very nice classical/flamenco guitar shop located in the 8th arrondissement, in the midst of many similar shops. If anyone is ever in Paris, I suggest you take a stroll in the area because there are so many shops... some of them with very nice guitars but very rude staff, and some of them with very nice guitars and even nicer staff... like 'La Guitarreria'.
It is however hard to find many 'luthier-made' instruments in the quarter... most shops carry Sanchis and Bernal. Some of them are however in contact with luthiers from Spain and it is possible to order through them.
Anyways, 'La Guitarreria' had a selection of guitars from the new Tomatito line... amongst others. I tried two Aguadulce (the student model) and two La Chanca (the 'concert' model)... all guitars were blancas.
The Aguadulce models were pretty nice... they were very 'green' and had to open up, but i didn't think that there was anything really special about them, but they were good guitars none-the-less.
I would say that they were both fairly good and honest guitars for the price, very comparable to a Sanchis 1F in terms of the quality of the woods used and the craftsmanship. The feel was however different from a Sanchis (which in my opinion tends towards a Conde), the Aguadulces tended more towards a warmer, less mid-heavy sound, in my opinion.
All in all, honest guitars that would suit well in a gigging situation I think... the kind of guitar any good player would not be 'scared' to travel and gig with, and that would still get the job done pretty well. They did not however have the dynamic and tonal range of a higher end guitar... but then again, they still had to open up.
For the price, it's cheaper than a Sanchis 1F (which have become really expensive lately! The cheapest I saw was in Sevilla... Euro 1,900!), but one might argue that Bernal can make an equivalent guitar for slightly less... but still for Euro 1,700 I think that this was a very correct and honest guitar (bearing in mind that you could probably buy this guitar for a lot less in Spain - duties kill in France!)
Picking up a La Chanca after that, you really feel the different... it's lighter... which sort of anticipated the kind of guitar it is. There's definitely a jump going from the Aguadulce model to La Chanca. If that jump justifies the hike in price... more than double the price of the Aguadulce... is of course completely relative and subjective.
I can see some people loving that guitar and some people not so much... for my part, I thought that it was a really good guitar.
I have two points of comparison when it comes to a concert blanca, my Tom Blackshear 'Reyes' and my Conde Hermanos, and the La Chanca was closer to the Blackshear (which is itself pretty close to a Reyes!). The sound is well balanced and covers the entire sonic spectrum very well... strong basses, thick mids and sweet trebles. Nothing was overly predominant and the projection was very nice. The guitar feels right and has a very nice spectrum of dynamics and tonal variety... what a good concert guitar should have in my humble opinion.
Since I did compare the Aguadulces to a Sanchis 1F above, I'll stick with Sanchis and say that the jump from the Aguadulce to the La Chanca is more significant than the jump from a Sanchis 1F to a Sanchis F-Extra... this comparison only serves as indication of the difference in built/quality/feel/sound between the two Tomatito models.
Both La Chanca guitars were of course very green and remained to be played heavily in order to reach their potential, but you could already hear and feel this potential. Visually, I also think that they were beautiful guitars... very striking headstock, and nice understated rosette. The finish was excellent on both guitars, and although they didn't come in a shellac finish, the thinner lacquer feels really nice.
Would I recommend this guitar to someone? Yes, but like with every guitar, try it first! Would I buy it? No... but this is because I'm already very happy with my Blackshear and my Conde... and in a sense this guitar does not 'add' to those. But I would seriously consider trying a negra... which I think I might really like.
There of course remains the question of the endorsement... I personally tend to be careful with endorsed products... generally it's a way marketing something not so amazing as amazing because someone amazing has his name on it. And at the end of the day it is a very legitimate question to ask oneself why Tomatito would endorse something he doesn't play (I saw him at the Bataclan last week end and he was playing his Reyes! - same with PdL when his line of guitars came out).
Maybe I was lucky in trying the 4 Tomatito guitars... as they were all nice and consistent with their respective price range, and I must add to that that the owner of 'La Guitarreria' selects the guitars himself (or at least that's what he told me), but those guitars were honest in my opinion. I'm sure that the Tomatito name adds a few Euros to the price tag, but it is definitely not a rip-off... you're getting a good guitar!
I think that we are currently living a sort of golden age of guitar making... the explosion of flamenco around the world certainly helped that. Anyone can find something really nice at any budget. It's a question of doing your homework and digging a bit around to se what's available... there are many luthiers who practice excellent pricing and allow you to buy an amazing guitar for a very fair amount of money... from that perspective, the Tomatito guitars have serious competition... but they do also hold their own... and if you feel that this is the guitar you've been searching for after having tried a few, then whether it is endorsed by Tomatito, designed by Juan Miguel Gonzalez and built in the 'factory' of Vicente Carillo matters very little.
In other words, don't diss it because of it's label and its marketing... try it, you might be pleasantly surprised... if not, then no harm done, but at least you made a proper opinion for yourself.
Saludos,
Avi
ps: I also tried a very very nice Vicente Carillo concert negra (palosanto de rio back and sides)... great guitar for the money!
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Oct. 18 2011 13:14:27
 |
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Forum Software powered by ASP Playground Advanced Edition 2.0.5
Copyright © 2000 - 2003 ASPPlayground.NET |
0.078125 secs.
|
Printable Version
So I don't see why it is such a stretch to understand that an endorsement is simply a way for an artist to both steer his fans in a safer direction, at the same time make some $.