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.
I am tired of screwing around with all the issues I've had with my sub-standard cheesy cheap flamenco guitar.
For a hard limit of $2500 what's the best blanca with mechanical keys that I can get?
I prefer solid cypress back and sides, europan spruce top, ebony fretboard, and please come with decent tuners on it. I like plank style necks, not modern. Fast action required.
I don't need fancy anything it just needs to be very playable and musical. I've played on a few flamencos over the years that literally sang - that's probably too much to ask for but along that path would be great.
Any advice on which guitars to start hunting down would be greatly appreciated!
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
For that price I think you could do very well with a used guitar from one of the Foro's trusted luthiers... Ethan Deutsch, Anders Eliasson, Jorge de Zofia, etc. I would say just watch the classifieds for a while.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
To add, Andy Culpepper and Stephen Faulk. You can't get a custom built guitar from these guys for that but you can maybe pick up a used one. I own two Stephen Faulks and love them and played one of Ethans and loved it. Get a used luthier built guitar and you'll be stylin.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
There really isn’t much in terms of new guitars in the 1k-3k price range that’s worth the money. you could get a Sanchis 2f for 1500-2000 grand I believe if you don’t want to wait for something used. Definitely not on the handmade/concert level sound wise but it should play like a decent guitar.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
+1 for old Sanchis Carpio or Hermanos Sanchis Lopez. You can happen to pick a very good guitar and not only for the money. In my case I arrived to the conclusion to sell a good luthier guitar of mine as My Sanchis Carpio 2f was just better. Good advice also to look for used guitars of the Foro’s luthiers.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
There's an Ethan Deutsche at a local shop. I haven't gone to play it because it has old style tuning pegs, rather than machines. Having never used them I am really worried about that - I am sensitive to tuning issues.
Posts: 294
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Germany
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
what you're looking at might be a guitar with mechanical pegs by pegheds. ethan has been using these almost exclusively. they look like traditional pegs but are geared inside. I'd say go give it a try, ethan makes monster guitars.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
Even if the Deutsch guitar has traditional pegs, you could possibly get Ethan to retrofit Peghed mechanicals. Pegheds tune easily and you’d be getting what is likely a really nice guitar.
Posts: 141
Joined: Nov. 29 2012
From: San Francisco
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
My experiences have been very off. I have gone through a few luthier-made guitars, a few factories, even a HSL 1F extra and then finally settled on a $300 lucida picado 797 from valencia. Its easy to play and has plenty of growl and attack that I really was looked for in a guitar.
Also, my level of playing is not nearly in a place for me to really appreciate a concert-level guitar, but bottom-line, you won't know what works for you, until you actually hold the guitar in your hands and play it. So, whatever decision you end up making, hopefully there is a refund policy in place.
Posts: 4530
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
I have a Hnos. Sanchis 1F extra cypress which is best bang for the buck imo. I don't know how the prices are today, haven't checked in ages. But a used good one is probably in your range.
I don't know what you exactly mean with "sang".... if you want one of those guitars with crazy sustain and growl, then this might not be one for you.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to NewPlayer)
quote:
My experiences have been very off. I have gone through a few luthier-made guitars, a few factories, even a HSL 1F extra and then finally settled on a $300 lucida picado 797 from valencia. Its easy to play and has plenty of growl and attack that I really was looked for in a guitar.
Say what? We’re the guitars not set up right?
I will say, it took me many years of playing to detect subtle differences in guitars. Now it seems obvious but at the time it wasn’t.
Posts: 141
Joined: Nov. 29 2012
From: San Francisco
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
JasonM,
The guitars were set up very nicely. Its my own personal ignorance that limits my ability to really appreciate luthier-made guitars. For what i do, the Lucida guitar does the job. I hope that in time, I can be at a proficient level to actually enjoy the beauties that luthier-made instruments have to offer.
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to MikeChandler)
I got extremely detoured from my mission of buying a good flamenco.
One of the shops I went into had a guitar built by, Dennis (DW) Stevens (aka Denny) a luthier in Colorado who is deceased. He had done work for me in the past, including the complicated repair of a 1972 contreras. He was a great luthier - and he built everything himself.
This guitar's a cutaway style classical, built with 60 year old Brazilian rosewood and a European cedar top. It sounds spectacular, although with a 660mm scale and setup like a Ramirez it's making my fingers do some push ups.
I went over budget, but luckily the wife was with me. When she saw that it was one of Denny's guitars she said, "We need to bring it home!"
So... I will have to live with my beat up Juan Huipe for a bit longer... somehow I will get by.
Posts: 1708
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: Best flamenco for $2500 (hard ll... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Thanks for the plugs, Andy and others.
There are no Ethan Deutsch guitars that I have put wooden pegs on. I often use Pegheds mechanical pegs, and sometimes "regular" tuning machines such as Rubners.
I hope people will consider saving up and buying new guitars from us luthiers. Just think, comparable instruments in the violin world cost ten times as much.
Printable Version
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