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prejudice against U.S. made guitars?   You are logged in as Guest
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etta

 

Posts: 342
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

prejudice against U.S. made guitars? 
Does it seem to you that there is a prejudice against U.S. made guitars as compared to Spanish made instruments? I have owned several first class Spanish made guitars and sampled many of them in Spain, but for the most part they seem not on par with the best American guitars. In particular, it seems that the least experienced players nearly always want a "Spanish" guitar. Spain builds some great instruments, but many great guitars are built in the U.S. I hope this does not seem like a chauvinistic exercise.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 22 2015 14:33:55
 
etta

 

Posts: 342
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
To follow up, I understand that there are few inexpensive U.S. luthier made flamenco guitars, and there are numerous shop made/factory made Spanish imports which are relatively inexpensive. I think most of the appeal is that the music is Spanish in origin and therefore should be presented on a Spanish guitar...not sure about that logic?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 22 2015 14:41:45
 
El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
there are many here on the foro that have a Yamaha flamenco ...i am one ..
and all speak good of them ..for the price range ...

i can see the attraction of being a purist in some way, to have an 'authentic ' Spanish guitar .. made in Spain .. from Spanish wood . grown in Spain by a well known and respected luthier .. in Andalucia ...

but like in another post i was just writing in .. times are changing and the world is much more connected now ...
I still have a guitar i got from Manuel Reyes .. but really my dream is one day get a Glen Cannin guitar ...USA.. i just heard so much about them .. and like what i hear ..

This also reminds me of those who want flamencos with wooden pegs ... even though the later inventions mean you dont need to ... traditionalists ...

I think it will take time for things to change ,, but i see that things are changing anyway ... many great players use guitars that come from other countries .. greece for example ...


I dont think there is anything against USA guitars alone ... its just ..

.non Spanish Vs the rest of the world...perhaps ...


.I also remember a thing once ,, in reverse , about having , here in Europe , a USA fender ..the real deal, or a one made in another country .. like japan ...

some more purists had their say and others, more practical had theres...
its a... how do you feel about it thing ....

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 22 2015 15:09:17
 
Ruphus

Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
My humble experience from decades ago confirmed that Spanish guitars were special compared to what you used to get in Germany.
And the most intriguing nylon / flamenco guitar that I ever had in hands must have been one from a maker in Granada.

I own a negra from an american builder that is maybe not too typical flamenco, but allover of such merits and versatility that it stays just a gem. (To Paco´s impression as well, which in fact was how the world and me came to hear about this shop.)

And in regard of the adored specimen from Granada, I described its characteristics to an American maker (whose examples of recorded guitars I liked a lot anyway) who according to recordings managed to actually translate the described properties perfectly.

Now I am only trying to get the instrument to here. (And after 2 years actually found someone reliable who might be bringing it to Germany at least, next time she´ll be crossing the pond. -From there it will be easier to slip it to here.)

Guess what I want to say is to not only have changed my mind about guitars from outside Spain, but am amazed how flamenco-sounding some non-Spanish builders are able to produce.

There have been factory made upper shelf flamenco guitars from Spain (for 3000-5000€) in my hands that had much less flamenco timbre than the American builds I own, or listen to from recordings.

Ruphus
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 12:32:39
 
tri7/5

 

Posts: 570
Joined: May 5 2012
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
No prejudice here, in fact I feel more comfortable buying domestically than something that just has the hype of a spanish name and potentially having to question who actually built the guitar. I have played guitars from american builders: Aaron Green, John Shelton, Peter Tsiorba, Glenn Canin and all have been beyond stellar instruments.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 13:27:40
 
keith

Posts: 1108
Joined: Sep. 29 2009
From: Back in Boston

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
What is interesting about about this topic is that classical guitarists, considered "stuck in the mud types" by some, have been pretty non stuck in the mud with respect to using non-Spanish guitars. Of the major names, Segovia was the first and then Bream then Williams and then a host of others. Australia could now be considered the classical guitar capital (Smallman, Redgate, etc.). As to flamenco guitars, I think the days of only good flamenco guitars come from Spain are over. There are a lot of great flamenco guitars being built in the USA.

I think an interesting side note to the question is if the reputation of Spanish guitars has been tainted by a level of poor quality guitars produced at the factories in Valencia. I do not know of any classical/flamenco guitar factories in the USA or by USA companies and therefore the representation of USA guitars is luthier built and not factory built.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 14:03:29
 
jg7238

 

Posts: 2869
Joined: May 11 2009
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to El Kiko) 
One of my guitars is a Darren Hippner Flamenca negra and I can't complain in general. I like the sound that I'm getting from it.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 15:52:12
 
Dudnote

Posts: 1805
Joined: Nov. 13 2007
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to El Kiko) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: El Kiko
This also reminds me of those who want flamencos with wooden pegs ... even though the later inventions mean you dont need to ... traditionalists ...

Perhaps this is tangental, but do traditional pegs have any advantage over their modern machine imitations?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 16:08:12
 
El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to Dudnote) 
i dont think so .. i think they are more fiddley to get right and not as accurate ..
You may get someone to say the guitar sounds different , but i think it is in there head it does ,,
traditionalist like it .. people with quite a few guitars will have one , or 2 just for to have one ,,,...
and now they even make geared pegs to look like wooden ones but arent ...to preserve the 'look' and yet have the precision ..

its all a matter of taste ...almost literally

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 16:23:24
 
tijeretamiel

 

Posts: 441
Joined: Jan. 6 2012
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: etta

Does it seem to you that there is a prejudice against U.S. made guitars as compared to Spanish made instruments?


I'd say anyone who's come across Lester DeVoe (and others) guitar would refute the prejudice against USA built guitars. If a DeVoe is good enough for Paco, Vicente etc then IMO not much else needs to be said.

If anything I'd extend to Mexican built guitars wrongly have a prejudice against them. There are some great guitars from Mexico, I love Castillo guitars in particular.

It's a such a shame many have to say things like 'x is the best country for a guitar etc', why can't we just enjoy the guitars from wherever they have come from?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 16:47:42
 
keith

Posts: 1108
Joined: Sep. 29 2009
From: Back in Boston

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to Dudnote) 
i use to be a "stuck in the mud" peg guy but the guitar i now have has the mechanical pegs which work really well. the mechanical pegs work really well and do the job without any obvioius drawbacks. the only negative i have is that the mechanical pegs are slightly shorter than real pegs and are "ebony" and not "rosewood". for my tastes a slightly longer peg in "rosewood" would be the best.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 17:16:16
 
Morante

 

Posts: 2180
Joined: Nov. 21 2010
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to El Kiko) 
En mi experienia, palillos son más bonitos y más rápidos. Si no funcionen, es que el guitarrero no trabaja bien. Tenía una guitarra de Melero del año 1979, con palillos originales de palo santo, y funcionaba de maravilla.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 18:41:17
 
El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to Morante) 
quote:

es que el guitarrero no trabaja bien.



anda ..........capullo........ ..no esperaba esto............

now we got Spanish all over the site .......

still prefer normal machine tuners though......
.however ...........you might be right about the Guitarrero.....

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 20:18:07
 
tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
I think europeans are likely to have prejudice for the guitars in the same way as they have for US people. The tensions are still rising with the ukrainian conflict etc.

Also the thing is that spain is home to the flamenco guitar so that's a factor. Even when they make for example one of the best whiskies in japan, still Scottish whisky is the real deal

Morante, are you spanish or is it easier for you to comment in spanish to an english post?

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 21:58:48
 
guitarbuddha

 

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to El Kiko) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: El Kiko


now we got Spanish all over the site .......





I don't know about Spanish but my French becomes more fluent when I keep drinking.

D.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 22:10:41
 
minorthang

 

Posts: 222
Joined: Dec. 25 2014
 

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to etta) 
oh totally with the usa strat i bought one for a heap only to trudge up too school use the japanese strat which never went out of tune yet mine was out like nothing

always true depends on the player their judgement what they seek - many great players from out of spain why not guitar luitheir either
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 22:48:41
 
Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: prejudice against U.S. made guitars? (in reply to Dudnote) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: Dudnote

quote:

ORIGINAL: El Kiko
This also reminds me of those who want flamencos with wooden pegs ... even though the later inventions mean you dont need to ... traditionalists ...

Perhaps this is tangental, but do traditional pegs have any advantage over their modern machine imitations?


Yes. Fewer people will ask to play your guitar.

RNJ
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 23 2015 22:59:26
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