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faridtoghi -> RE: Hello everyone - newbie here, hoping to share in your infinite flamenco flavored wisdom (Apr. 2 2013 22:58:10)
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Hi LLFlamenco and welcome to the forum. I am also in the decision process to buy my first Flamenco guitar. I started a couple of weeks and I tell it's significantly more difficult than choosing and buying an acoustic guitar. So let me share my experience and research of last two weeks to save you some time. I live in Canada-Calgary so in Europe things could be different.
- I first went to the 3 biggest Guitar stores here. They carry literally hundreds of acoustic guitars. But in whole Calgary I could find only 4 Flamenco guitars (one Yamaha and 3 Cordoba). So this is a problem that you don't get to go to a shop and play 10-15 guitars in your price range and hear which one you like. The Yamaha was $400 and Cordoba from $700-$1600.
- I searched the internet and talked to one guitar builder, one Flamenco player/instructor and one experienced Flamenco player. It seems like for something decent that later when you develop technique and have better understanding of Flamenco it's still playable and enjoyable you need pay over $2000. The Flamenco instructor I talked to has hand made guitar by a Canadian luthier (Dominelli). I checked the website and base price is $4000. The Flamenco player (friend of my colleague) has a handmade guitar (I don't know from who) purchased $6000.
- For this type of guitars if you buy it from a shop it will be at-least 30% more expensive.
- So my conclusion is that for a decent Flamenco guitar you need to go with Luthier which has been building consistently good quality guitars and it's in your price range. Like every other thing for very famous names you need to pay both for the quality of the guitar and the name. So the most important decision won't be selecting a guitar but a luthier. Since you won't be able to play many guitars to choose from and you will put an order and he will build a guitar for you therefore it's extremely important to go with someone who has been building good quality guitars consistently. It's a big investment to leave it to luck :-)
- I haven't ordered my guitar yet and I have no bias. But based on what I read on this forum, some sample videos, my extremely stretched price range and what I read, watched and listened on the web I suggest you have to look at his Anders Eliasson's website (Google search Anders Eliasson).
I hope it helps a little bit. Good luck
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