Jim Opfer -> RE: Classicals Flamencos and Negras (Nov. 25 2004 17:25:00)
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Hi Kate, Yes, that's my experience. I went to Granada a few years ago to find a great guitar. I wrote to Manuel Bellido before going as I had a nice guitar made by Montero y Bellido in 1968 (the year they both started, worked together and shared a label). When I got to his big shop, the son in law brought out very poor guitars, telling me thay were 1a quality, I have very little Spanish, but had enough to tell him that just by inspection, they were 2nd quality. I was invited to sit down and play, I'm no great player by any standard but as soon as I did, the reaction changed. Manuel's daughter came out from a room behind the display case and told me she would take me to meet her father at his workshop as the best guitars were kept there. I went back the following day and she drove me to the workshop about 1/2 mile away. Manuel was there and let me play a negra guitar which he said was a sister guitar to the one recently bought by Tomatito (now, this might have been a sales pitch but it seemed very sincere to me). I liked it but didn't buy it. Also in Granada, I went to German Perez. His wee shop on Gomerez about 3m by 2m. His wife and daughter were there and showed me rubbish guitars claiming them to be 1a. Again, invited to sit and play. When I did, the son came through from next door, took the guitar off me and invited me through to see more guitars (next shop unit up the hill). He was very honest, he had no quality instruments available, November was the wrong time, something to do with few guitars being finished because of the damper climate that time of the year. He offered to have his father make me a guitar, but I thought German might be more a classical maker, so I declined. Great thing was that while this was going on, the mother and daughter were off speaking to Mario Maya and they brought him round to meet this odd Scots guy who played flamenco guitar. I was stunned to meet this mega star I'd just watched on the Flamenco video a few weeks before, pinching myself to make sure it was real. Very surreal experience. If my Spanish had been better than just being about able to ask for a beer, I reconed this man would have been very willing to spend more time with me but no way given that our conversation was all through the daughter who speaks english. What a wasted opportunity. Anyway, point is may be not so much to do with being a famous player and more about being genuine and interested in flamenco with some ability to play. Jim.
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