Morante -> RE: how you found your partner (Oct. 1 2015 15:34:38)
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When I and my friend John founded the Peña Flamenca de Irlanda del Norte, I realised that I needed a decent guitar. I phoned Ray Mitchell in London, he phoned Rafael Romero ( the great cantaor) in Madrid. Rafael said the best was the student model from Conde Hermanos (these were the guitars from Pozuelo). That summer, I took my holidays in Madrid and went to Gravina where I was attended by Faustino. He began to show me guitars. I rejected 5, until he offered one which was not badly made and sounded OK. It cost 15,000 ptas. At this point, he brought out a media luna, signed by himself. This was a monster, but cost 35,000 ptas. I did not have the money, so had to refuse it. The student Conde was for several years the main guitar of the Peña. One day we heard of a Gerundino for sale in Dublin and went to see it, in a barrio muy conflictivo. The guitar was sensational, but it had a cedar top, which I have never liked, the owner asked an astronomical amount of money and my beloved Conde in exchange, so we left. But I was so struck by the Gerundino, that in the summer I went to his house in Almería and eventually persuaded him to sell me a guitar. This was and is the guitar of my dreams, now widely regarded as one of the best guitars in Cádiz and will never be for sale.
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