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RE: Conde Questions
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: Conde Questions (in reply to sartorius)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: sartorius
Isn't it often said that what makes a great guitar is its ability to excel in both classical and flamenco playings?
Pepe Romero, both father (mainly classical player, one of the few top classical pros who can actually play some flamenco) and son (guitar maker) have said that. Pepe Sr. often plays a Sabicas alegrias or bulerias, quite competently, as an encore on the guitar made by Pepe Jr. that he just used for a classical concert. Mario Escudero is widely quoted having said, "There are not classical guitars and flamenco guitars, just good guitars and bad guitars." One of my favorite Escudero albums was recorded on a Hauser, widely regarded as a classical guitar par excellence.
But my experience has been different.
My most Hauser-like guitar, a '73 spruce/Indian Jose Romanillos, has a pretty good flamenco picado and arpeggio sound, but both the Ramirez and the Arcangel Fernandez far outshine it on rasgueados. The Romanillos rasgueados remind me of Escudero on the Hauser. The Arcangel has really brilliant flamenco picado and arpeggio, but not much tonal variety for classical playing. The Tom Blackshear cedar/Indian has very impressive picado, arpeggio and rasgueado, but far too much sustain for flamenco.
One possibility is that more specialized instruments have been produced since the days when Romero, Sr's and Escudero's tastes were formed. Pepe is 6 1/2 years younger than I, Escudero was 9 years older. My first good guitar was the '67 Ramirez blanca, given to me when I was almost 30 years old. Both Romero and Escudero would have been familiar in their youth with great guitars from an earlier era.
RNJ
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 6 2018 19:05:19
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tri7/5
Posts: 570
Joined: May 5 2012
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RE: Conde Questions (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Richard Jernigan
quote:
ORIGINAL: sartorius
Isn't it often said that what makes a great guitar is its ability to excel in both classical and flamenco playings?
Pepe Romero, both father (mainly classical player, one of the few top classical pros who can actually play some flamenco) and son (guitar maker) have said that. Pepe Sr. often plays a Sabicas alegrias or bulerias, quite competently, as an encore on the guitar made by Pepe Jr. that he just used for a classical concert. Mario Escudero is widely quoted having said, "There are not classical guitars and flamenco guitars, just good guitars and bad guitars." One of my favorite Escudero albums was recorded on a Hauser, widely regarded as a classical guitar par excellence.
But my experience has been different.
My most Hauser-like guitar, a '73 spruce/Indian Jose Romanillos, has a pretty good flamenco picado and arpeggio sound, but both the Ramirez and the Arcangel Fernandez far outshine it on rasgueados. The Romanillos rasgueados remind me of Escudero on the Hauser. The Arcangel has really brilliant flamenco picado and arpeggio, but not much tonal variety for classical playing. The Tom Blackshear cedar/Indian has very impressive picado, arpeggio and rasgueado, but far too much sustain for flamenco.
One possibility is that more specialized instruments have been produced since the days when Romero, Sr's and Escudero's tastes were formed. Pepe is 6 1/2 years younger than I, Escudero was 9 years older. My first good guitar was the '67 Ramirez blanca, given to me when I was almost 30 year old. Both Romero and Escudero would have been familiar in their youth with great guitars from an earlier era.
RNJ
Always had a hunch that a romanillos would work for flsmenco if lightly built and setup correctly. Sort of like a Miguel Rodriguez they are fine spanish guitars that can blur the lines.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 6 2018 23:17:37
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Conde Questions (in reply to mark74)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mark74
Is the Arcangel the guitar with the most "flamenco" qualities you've played? By that I mean raspy and percussive with rapidly fading sustain.
What's "flamenco" is to some extent a matter of taste. The second time I saw Ricardo we had a drink in the bar after his and Sara's gig. He handed me his Conde. I played it for just a few seconds, but I was impressed by the crisp, almost snare drum-like rasgueado, and the "dryness" (very short reverb) of its picado.
Compared to those few seconds on Ricardo's Conde, the Arcangel has a lot more bass and a lot more sustain, but its rasgueados are percussive and brilliant enough to overpower the sustain. It takes a strong right hand, at least for me. My guess is that the Conde would be better for gigging with a microphone and P.A.
A couple of years later I was in Alexandria, Virginia, and had the Arcangel with me. At his gig at La Tasca I asked Ricardo if he wanted to play it. The next day he showed up at my hotel in Old Town with his son. He posted here the cellphone recording of his nice E-minor alegrias. His comment was that the Arcangel was better than the Arcangel negra that he had played at Brune's shop. Earlier he had commented that the negra didn't impress him.
I think it was more than a year later that Ricardo told me his mother (a professional level classical guitarist, who plays a Hauser) had heard the clip of him playing the Arcangel. She said it was the best guitar she had ever heard him play flamenco on, and I ought to give it to him. 
When Ramzi was here in Austin, he liked the Ramirez better than the Arcangel. The Ramirez had new strings on it, and was at its best. Ramzi sounded better on it than he did on the Arcangel. Different strokes for different folks.
When I bought it 18 years ago the Arcangel was in absolutely mint condition. Brian Cohen said it had belonged to a collector, and was seldom if ever played. I immediately got offers from Japan for 25% more than I paid for it.
Opinions vary. I like the Arcangel. Some do, some don't.
RNJ
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 6 2018 23:58:38
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