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Shortly after my Dad passed away, I decided to have a custom guitar commissioned to honour him and the role he had in starting me on my musical journey many years ago. His playing style was firmly rooted in folk music and he always played a nylon string acoustic. I decided to have a Flamenco Negra built with the styling cues based on his original guitar (which he sold many years ago and we only had a handful of old photos to go on). This is the reason the headstock shape is different than Andy's typical guitars.
Andy did an absolutely amazing job, surpassing all my expectations. I actually learned about him and his work on this very forum, so... thanks Foro :). After a number of months, I finally got to pick up the new guitar today. The sound is fantastic, the intonation is amazing, the playability is off the chart (2.7mm action @ 12th fret).
The guitar has a cedar top, East Indian rosewood back and sides, and macassar ebony fretboard. I also upgraded to Sloane tuners and they are fantastic. The guitar is french polish finished, with a slight orange tint on the top. I also selected the iSeries case for maximum protection (it will also fit my Taylor GC when I want to travel).
Andy and I also went through a bit of a CITES learning curve on this one so feel free to ask me questions about that as well :). If you are considering a flamenco custom build, definitely consider him. The whole process was very smooth and enjoyable, the price and wait times are very fair, and the end product is truly amazing. Andy has also posted some pictures and a short video he shot playing the guitar under the "Luthiers share your creations" thread.
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RE: NGD: Andy Culpepper Flamenco Negra (in reply to rob2966)
I own Andy's #4 cedar/cypress blanca. I almost sold it but changed my mind as its just too nice not to keep. Love the sound and look of your new instrument!