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RE: What is your string of choice and why?
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: What is your string of choice an... (in reply to BarkellWH)
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In the January, 1982 issue of "Frets" magazine there is an interview with Jose Ramirez III. He details the process of constructing his top of the line instruments, designated "1a" in those days.
Different parts of the instrument were made by different individuals, depending upon the skill required. The final assembly was done by one of the designated "oficiales," the highest ranking artisans, except for the foreman of the workshop, who also assembled guitars.
Something I had wondered about for a long time, but regretted not asking Felix Manzanero, Manuel Contreras Sr., Paulino Bernabe Sr. or Ramirez himself, was how much freedom the oficial had in thicknessing the top and fan braces, key dimensions in determining the quality of the instrument. All emphasized Ramirez's insistence on adhering to his design.
Ramirez says the tops were machined to a standard thickness by other workers, but the final half millimeter or so was determined by the oficial whose initials were on the foot of the neck inside the guitar. No mention is made of final dimensioning of the fan braces, but I suppose that may have been left up to the oficial's judgment as well.
Many operations on Ramirez's famous guitars were done by machine, or by less skilled artisans, but the highly critical judgment of top dimension was left to the most skilled.
Hand made? ¿Quien sabe?
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Feb. 9 2022 21:21:00
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Ricardo
Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: What is your string of choice an... (in reply to trivium91)
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You can ask any luthier, it is not really possible to build a guitar for $900, as the materials cost more than that. $3000 is about the lowest I think handbuilders can get away with and make profit. The reason guitars cost less than that is that there is a relatively larger “factory” of sorts where they have many workers doing different parts (many “by hand”, some by machines), and are pushing out so many cheap guitars per year that they can afford to buy materials in bulk in order to significantly lower costs and reduce build times. The cheaper the guitar the more they sell of those models to balance the costs to make them. When the higher end models get into the $2-3000 range, things get tricky. “Factory” guitars like these have a reputation which means it is not easy to resell and make back the money paid. Like cars, they lose value. It is the problem market because all the people ready to upgrade need to jump to the $4-5000 for it to be worth the change from a factory instrument. Starting Luthiers are the best to cover this market but it is a gamble for everybody involved, because nobody knows which Luthier guitar is gonna be a hit and go UP in value.
Once you get to the $5000 range and up, it is usually fine to resell used models which can market themselves thanks to label recognition. It might seem like a luxury, but it is really an investment because you know the instrument might be gaining value in the market. At least it was the case decade or 2 ago. Big names like Conde and Ramirez have great reputations for resale value….and the irony there is that there are so many of those on the market since the 1970s that they defy the logic spelled out earlier about cost of materials and time spent to construct….there should not be so many in other words. It implies some sort of “factory” building or mass producing going on. The story of Ramirez, who used apprentices is well known, he had a dozen or more guys working on the top models. Conde has historically pretended they only made B models in the factory (out sourced) and A models were made by hand in house and sent off for varnish (the French Polish can be done in house, but the toxic materials needed for synthetic varnish have to be done by specialists in a controlled environment). So if you ever come across a guitar with French Polish, it was a good chance it was made by “hand”. 
_____________________________
CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
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Date Feb. 10 2022 12:18:29
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, and of course because I like them. I really like the sound they have on my guitar and love the easy tension. I also tried the 820 a couple of times on this guitar but for my weak hands felt a bit stiff. Other than the tension I really like a certain "radio" quality they have on the sound, that I cannot express actually in the correct words. It reminds me of something of what an old Ramirez sounded like, that a friend had and I tried almost 20 years ago (It was from the 1960 to 1970 I think) and they also remind me of PDL's older recordings. There is a familiar 'warmth' in La Bellas. 