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GailP, are you the same person who posted this question on the flamenco-teacher forum? I'm assuming you are and that's why I posted about Jose Oribe because I knew you were looking at this guitar. Just me being stupid.
Anyway, I don't know about Jose's maple cedar top flamencos but I can tell you that Jose is well respected and makes very fine guitars. Is the one in question a student model or one of his 1a's?
Is he the one selling it or someone else. If it's someone else, the best person to ask about it is Jose himself. Send him an email: joribe@cox.net
I've played some rather cheap maple flamenca blancas. I don't remember the brands but i still remember that i didn't liked the tone.
My first classical guitar was a cheap guitar made of flamed maple. It was not all solid but laminated. I've brought that guitar with me to Spain to take some guitar classes in Sevilla, but nobody liked the sound of that guitar. They all said "suene como una caja de carton" and "no es hecho de una madera noble". I had to buy first another guitar, before i could start to take classes.
I know that Torres have built guitars with mable backs and sides. I don't know though, how good they sounded.
Personallly i think that birds eye maple is not very good as tonewood due to the fact, that the grain is too curly. Birds eye maple is also not that stable and not that flexible as the regular one.
Mable produces usually a rather sharp tone with plenty of trebles but it depends on the type of maple used and the construction of the guitar.
I have no experience of flamencoguitars from maple, but there is a fantastic combination of spruce and maple in a very lightly built classical guitar that I am fond of. I think Torres used maple very conciously, not only for the looks but for the sound, and I am currently working for a renaissance of this guitar in Sweden (or for anyone else that is interested).
However, if I am aloud to speculate I think that maple is less suitable for flamenco guitars since it has quite a big inner damping. In flamenco guitars we want wood that reacts fast and bright, no?
GailP, like I said on my post to you on the f-t foro. It really depends on the maker and the kind of maple he uses. They are nice though and more and more makers are using it in their flamencos.
The best advise I can give you is to play this Oribe first and see if you like it. That's all that matters right?
Return policy is a difficult matter. My experience from showing guitars on festivals is that too many guitarists don't handle the new guitar with enough respect. "Accidents" happens all the time and the new guitar looks second hand and used in a minute. Even if scratches really isn't important for a guitar as soon as it is sold and the owner use it to make music I think that my customers have the right to expect that my guitars are unscratched when sold as new.
I'm not talking about the cosmetics. Scratches and dings are common. Especially in used instruments. I mean sound and playability. If the guitar your looking at doesn not have the sounds your looking for, or if it's playability is not to your liking then you should be able to return it. A trial period or return policy is a must. Especially if your buying the guitar unseen through the internet.
Well, I did'nt say there should not be a trial period. I just feel that the mutual respect between builders/dealers and guitarists for each others needs could be better sometimes and want to point out the fragility in the situation. I have had new instruments scratched and "ruined" in a way that they had to be sold as used only because of lack of reasonable attention and care from the persons trying the guitars. I am sure most people are careful during the trial period but if even more people pay attention to not causing damage we get a better situation, right? It's not an unreasonable wish from a guitarmaker.
I understand your worries. I have the same, and I think it´s important that we are very strict with this issue. IMO the buyer who returns a guitar will have to pay the costs of the trial period. If this means a refinishing of the guitar, well the client pays, if it means that the guitar has to be sold as used, the client pays... It may sound very strict, but it´s the only way we can survive. A lot of peole tend to compare us with a large car manufactor like Toyota etc, but if you have a yearly output of 10 - 12 guitars it can be difficult or to be honest impossible to have a return policy like a car company or a guitar factory.
But... the best way to avoid problems is to make the client happy.
Yes I agree Per. If I send out a guitar on a trial period, and it's not what the customer likes, it' must be returned in the exact condition it was sent out or a deduction will be made. I agree that more care should be taken when testing an instrument.
That is why I make sure my Doberman is watching the client play. He is trained to attack when the finger misses the golpeador
Better late than never (I just joined the forum). I have a guitar from sweden, called a Bjarton and rumored to be made in the 1960s, with a spruce top and maple sides. It's not a flamenco guitar, but that's what I play on it anyway. The sound is really warm and it looks fantastic:
Ricardo has a sanchis-lopez with maple back and sides, and he swears by it (not at it).its the 1F Arce, heres a link to a great website that has them (Toms site of course) http://www.lafalseta.com/SanchisLopez_flamencos.html