avimuno -> 2013 Graciliano Perez Cedar/Rosewood (Dec. 17 2013 15:56:16)
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Hi guys, I thought I'd give my impressions on a guitar I received a couple of months ago. I got in touch with Graciliano Perez from Cordoba a year or so ago about ordering a guitar. I was hearing some good things about his guitars, and I must confess that seeing Vicente Amigo playing a bunch of them made me tip over (I'm weak like that! [:)]). After almost 11 months in the waiting list, my guitar was ready in October. I ordered a cedar top/rosewood back and sides guitar, with some custom measurements. I'm a big guy and it was great to have Perez build me a guitar with bigger dimensions (665mm scale, 54mm nut width, 62mm string spacing at the bridge). The guitar is finished in french polish and overall it looks gorgeous. It also feels very comfortable... it is the first time that I am getting a guitar built to me own specific measurements, and this will be my way to go from now on. The difference is only of a couple of millimeters but my right hand does not feel cramped, and my big left hand fingers do not feel awkward when fretting the strings... it just feels right. Otherwise, building quality is very good, and the woods look very nice. The only minor flaw is that it came with less than satisfactory tuners and a cheap case. At the price I paid, I did not expect more, since most of the money probably went in the woods and the craftsmanship, so I changed the tuners to a set of Fustero I had lying around and I bought a really nice BAM fiberglass case for it. The set up and the action are very nice and the guitar is just a great player. Sound wise, after playing it intensely for a couple of months, I must say that the top is really starting to open up. The pulsation is somewhat harder than my Tom Blackshear Reyes, but I like it. The trebles really sing very nicely, and they have a lot of meat to them. The basses are strong, crisp and deep. I expected the cedar top to produce a really round tone, but the sound is actually very very flamenco with just the right amount of warmth and roundness. The guitar is loud, and the dynamic range is just great... it can go from very lyrical to a big flamenco bark depending on your right hand attack. Rasgeados and alzapua also sound great and explosive... this is definitely not a classical guitar with tap-plates on it. All in all it's a great flamenco player, with the ability to explore other styles of music (I also play a lot of brazilian music these days - mostly Baden Powell stuff - and this baby does a great job for that too). The sound is not as refined as my Tom Blackshear, especially the trebles, but this guitar still has some opening up to do. So far I am enjoying the contrast between the sweet lyrical trebles and the raw bark of the basses. A word must also be said about dealing with Jose Antonio and Graciliano (the former deals with clients whilst the latter builds the guitars). They are both great guys. Jose has always replied to my (many) emails promptly, and Graciliano has delivered on the goods (especially when it came to the custom measurements). My order got delayed by a couple of months since they have a huge backlog of orders, and to make up for it, they gracefully offered to pay for shipping, which I found was a nice gesture. I am attaching 3 pictures... the first two are of my guitar. Jose Antonio sent me these pictures when the guitar was ready in their shop. The third picture is my guitar's twin, which is owned by Vicente Amigo... same woods, and built at around the same time as mine (mine was build right before Vicente's according to Jose Antonio), measurements are however not the same. I will try to upload a video of me playing the guitar so that you guys can get an idea of how it sounds and feels like. Gracias! Saludos, Avi
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