New blanca guitar from Spain!

New blanca guitar from Spain! (Full Version)

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stratos13 -> New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 7:21:30)
Hello to all. I recently got married (4-7-09) and my honeymoon was spent in Spain! Wonderful experience, that was made even better by the fact that I bought from Sevilla my first flamenco guitar, after years of trying to play flamenco on classical guitars. I am excited with this guitar, and i would like to share with you the story behind it.

stratos13 -> [Deleted] (Sep. 27 2009 7:25:27)
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stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 7:44:56)
this is a picture Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 8:02:17)
The guitar is handmade, from a luthier named Antonio L. Garcia. I bought it very good price from compas-sur, a flamenco specialized store in Sevilla, that mainly sells CDs, books and DVDs for flamenco. The guitar is very loud, but with a sweet sound at the trebles that resembles a reyes, and has an amazingly flamenco tone at the basses. In one day i visited all stores and played all guitars i could find in Sevilla and at any price given (even 7-8000 models), and this guitar was simply no match for any other. Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

gj Michelob -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 8:15:19)
quote: my honeymoon was spent in Spain! Wonderful experience, that was made even better by the fact that I bought from Sevilla my first flamenco guitar You were supposed to "buy" a baby during your honeymoon, not a guitar [;)]!!! Congratulations nonetheless, buying a blanca is a momentous event. Thank you for sharing it here. A few cynics will ask how intimately familiar you are with the sound of a Reyes (to dare drawing such resemblance between your bargain and the Amigo’s magic flute). My take: if it sounds like a Reyes to you, enjoy it and let it inspire you. Probably when Vicente Amigo played his first Reyes, he thought it sounded like Paco de Lucia’s Conde…[:D]

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 8:57:18)
I totaly agree with you on everything you said. There are many "strange" things regarding this guitar, that i would like to clarify in my mind, through the knowledge of more experianced people in the foro. 1 How is it possible that a guitar sold for 1400 euros is a handmade guitar? (It is more than clear to me that it is a handmade guitar, but with a very bad finish- glue here and there, while all the other guitars i played were clearly industrial models with perfect finish and very dull sound) 2 The guitar seemed not to want to sell itself. The strings were very old (yet the sound was amazing). The bridge had a bone that was very high - yet the guitar is easy to play. There are some mistakes in the finishing. 3 I had to buy a guitar in one day. So i saw many things that are really interesting in the guitar market of Sevilla. There was an imposter who tried to fool me with his guitars (i don't know if it is correct to mention his name, but i am very pissed off with him) 4 Does anyone know this Antonio Garcia or his work? 5 I have not played a reyes, but i have played a Gerundino, an Arcangel Fernandez, a Ramirez and others and did not like these guitars as much as this one. The headstock design in the following picture Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

gj Michelob -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 9:56:08)
I “googled” the name as Antonia J[ose] Garcia and found a couple of references to this guitar maker, regrettably with no further information. I am sure Tom Nunez who imports guitars from Spain may have something more to say. The first link is to a page listing the luthier, but “in construction”. Keep an eye on it, it might eventually provide some insightful material about your “find”. Query, did your new blanca come with the Fustero I see on your pic, or did your replace the machines? http://www.casaluthier.com/guitarras/guitarras.php?ref=400215 http://guitarreria.eu/es_index.html

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 10:05:49)
The first link is to a page listing the luthier, but “in construction”. Keep an eye on it, it might eventually provide some insightful material about your “find”. What do you mean? I am going to check this site now. Also I did not know they were fustero. Or are they just a cheap reproduction. I have not made a change to the guitar so far. But i am going to lower the bridge. See how high it is now. Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

gj Michelob -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 10:47:32)
quote: did not know they were fustero. Or are they just a cheap reproduction. They look like Fustero, But compare with the link below. At 1,400 euros or $2,000 a guitar is not supposed to be that cheap, after all. It would be a good sign if mounting the traditional yet expensive Fustero. http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Tuning+Machines&NameProdHeader=Fustero%99+Classical+Tuners Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 11:14:41)
They look a lot like fustero. That's for sure. But they cost something like 250 euros. So the guitar is left to cost only 1150. Anyway... I had just gone to this store ( compas sur) in order to ask where i could find good guitars. But then i saw that they had some for sale, so i tried one or two. Then i asked the guy who run the store, if he had any better guitars. He told me that he only had one very good guitar (he said it is a maravilla), that is the best i could find for the price (relacion calidad - precio). Then he went inside and came back with the guitar we are discussing now (at the beginning he sold it for 1500). When i told him that i could pay more (like 3000-4000), he told me that perhaps i could find a better guitar at Valeriano Bernal. I thought he was very honest and went to see the guitar shop he mentioned. I did not find anything better than this guitar (although very good guitars indeed). Also i visited many other shops, including an imposter who tried to sell me guitars for 3000euros, that had their fretboards curled (very unprofesional on his part). The guitars were made in 2004 and were awful. So i got back to compas sur and bought the guitar, and he also gave me a discount of 100euros.

Escribano -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 11:43:09)
Found a 1A blanca for sale (2800 €): http://guitarreria.eu/g_fr_antonio_garcia_2.html

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 12:07:18)
Great find! My guitar should not be a 1a if this is the case. But then check this out. Perhaps the guitar i have was scheduled for a primera but due to these mistakes ended up not being one? The sound of the guitar is amazing! And it weights somewhere between 1.1 and 1.5 kg. Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

at_leo_87 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 17:26:43)
congratulations on both your marriage and your new guitar! i too played flamenco on a classical guitar for a long time before getting a proper flamenco. isn't it a nice feeling?

gj Michelob -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 17:58:21)
quote: Perhaps the guitar i have was scheduled for a primera but due to these mistakes ended up not being one? The sound of the guitar is amazing! One interesting detail Startos13, the flamenco 1a in the Guitarreria link mounts visibly cheaper set of tuning machines than those on your guitar. Typically guitars in that price range do not have Fustero tuners. A caring musician might have purchased it and switched to better tuners. Is it perhaps a used instrument, even though a 2009 built, with some dings rather than manufacturing defects? In any event, it seems that you have a very nice instrument.

Sbu_01 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 20:17:07)
Congrats on the marriage and the guitar... dont see how you found the time to get away from the misses or convince her to join you in this adventure... she sounds like a keeper either way. I am waiting for a blanca from Shelton-Farreta, and boy am I excited I have used a classical for a few years. I wouldn't mind though going to an actual taller and looking and trying guitars, like I did in Paracho But alas I was young and foolish and bought a guitar from a guy on a burro, as you may imagine the outcome was not so good. Never seen a burro run so fast.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 23:39:09)
Thank you all so much for your kind words. I wish the best for you also. The guitar is the wedding gift from my father in law, so it also holds a special place for me. In any case, there is no comparison to the guitars i have played so far... And it feels as though this guitar is superior to my playing. I need to improve to give justice to the sound of it.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 27 2009 23:48:35)
One interesting detail Startos13, the flamenco 1a in the Guitarreria link mounts visibly cheaper set of tuning machines than those on your guitar. Typically guitars in that price range do not have Fustero tuners. A caring musician might have purchased it and switched to better tuners. Is it perhaps a used instrument, even though a 2009 built, with some dings rather than manufacturing defects? Perhaps this is the case. I have many times thought that also. In any case this makes me like it more...If a good guitarist has played a guitar, it seems that the guitar has opened a bit.[;)] An interesting fact. After hearing all the good words and reviews for the yamaha flamenco guitar, i went to a shop in Athens (where i live) and found one. After having got used to my new guitar the yamaha sounded really struggling to make a sound [sm=rolleyes.gif](absolutely no comparison). I think that any guitar bought in Spain has a great chance of being far superior to guitars bought outside Spain.[8\|]

Morao -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 5:49:18)
Congratulations to your guitar! Last month I´ve spoken with Mr Imhoffen who is the leader of a Flamenco guitar shop in Freiburg, Germany. It´s one of the best shops for flamenco guitars. He told me that he had found a new luthier from Sevilla named Antonio Garcia. He is a very young luthier who builds very light guitars in the style of Barba. Mundo-Flamenco (www.mundo-flamenco.com) sells them for 3500 Euros.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 6:11:15)
Thank you. It is nice to have good feedback for the guy who built the guitar because he has done a good job! When i was in Madrid i asked at a store where i could find good guitars. They called the owner who knew everybody who was anybody in flamenco (or so they told me). And the guy gave his honest opinion on the guitar makers of Spain. He said that he knew specifically the guitar i bought and said very good words for this Antonio Garcia.

Doitsujin -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 9:06:25)
quote: Hello to all. I recently got married (4-7-09) and my honeymoon was spent in Spain! Wonderful experience, that was made even better by the fact that I bought from Sevilla my first flamenco guitar, after years of trying to play flamenco on classical guitars. I am excited with this guitar, and i would like to share with you the story behind it. Yeah buddy ... be honest! That sounds like stag night in spain and you woke up with this expensive guitar in your hands that you bought somewhere completely drunk! Youre welcome! [;)]

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 11:23:28)
I have to admit it was organised crime

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 11:29:12)
Notice some bad finishing with the glue next to the fretboard and also how the golpeador is almost not visible Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Morao -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 28 2009 23:31:41)
Is there a E-Mail adresse on the label? Please post it! I wan´t to ask Antonio Garcia himself for his prices and options because I´m looking for a new Blanca.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Sep. 29 2009 8:01:08)
Yes. On the label of the guitar it says: guitarraartesana@gmail.com But i haven't used, so i don't know if it functions!

Morao -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Oct. 1 2009 2:31:53)
Thank you stratos! Yesterday I wrote him. He´s a gently person and will sent me some phots and infos. Maybe I order a guitar next year. He is a very young luthier and makes very attractive prices like many other young luhiers in Spain do. Unfortunately the results are very different between there guitars.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Oct. 1 2009 2:41:56)
Wow! You got an answer from him personaly? I think i have to write to him also... What do you meen by different results in their guitars?

Morao -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Oct. 1 2009 4:06:19)
Every wood is difference etc. I think a luthier needs experience. Maybe that´s the fact why one guitar from the same builder kicks ass and an other not.

stratos13 -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Oct. 1 2009 4:35:33)
You think that, if i played a negra guitar from the same luthier it is possible i don't like, or that i may even not like another blanca? I never had the experience of playing many guitars from a luthier. (except one and all guitars from him were awful, but he was trying to sell me one of his failures). But i think that this is the case with "industrial" guitars. That is why I have heard and played an Alhambra 1c that is better than any other Alhambra i have played (at any price). And also the reason why i think that in order to buy a guitar you have to play many guitars before, and choose from a wide choise (not mattering price, luthier or industrial guitars), so that you end up liking the guitar you bought.

orsonw -> RE: New blanca guitar from Spain! (Oct. 1 2009 14:44:48)
Those aren't Fustero tuners. They maybe these 25 euro Gotohs ? http://www.madinter.com/b2c/index.php?page=pp_producto.php&md=0&ref=ACG35G6202MB As is often said a great guitar doesn't need to be expensive and many expensive guitars are not good. My favourite guitar is worth four times less than my most expensive (£1000 as opposed to £4000). One guitar may be great for one player and no use for another. I think it's better to spend time playing music but of course I too find it seductive to obsess over guitars and imagine that some magical, holy grail instrument exists! Ultimately I feel a good sounding guitar has more to do with the hands and soul of who is playing it. A good guitar enhances that expression but it doesn't create it. Good luck with your new guitar.

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