Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Full Version)

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Richard Jernigan -> Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 4 2016 15:59:43)

I am now the proud owner of this great instrument. On Thursday, June 2, I visited Tom at his home and shop in San Antonio, Texas, about an hour and a half drive from my home in Austin. I took with me a couple of guitars, a flamenca that Tom had expressed interest in seeing, and the Abel Garcia classical to "calibrate" the room where I would try out his. The room has an important influence on the sound of a guitar, and I wanted to be sure what I was hearing.

Tom's guitar is a magnificent instrument. Based on only about an hour's serious acquaintance, it may be the best classical I have ever owned. It definitely wants to be a classical. Played softly the sound is full and deep. With a little more force in the right hand and the correct angle of the nails the depth is augmented by a clear and brilliant attack. The combined depth and brilliance of tone is one I have rarely, if ever, experienced.

I'm traveling at the moment, attending the high school graduation of one of my grand-nieces and the resulting family gathering. I'm eager to get Tom's guitar home and compare it with the Romanillos. At present my impression is that Tom's guitar speaks more easily, and yields its glorious tone immediately. The Romanillos is a very different guitar, and a little more particular. The right hand attack has to be precise for it to display its beauty and variety of tone. Will Tom's guitar yield the same wide tonal range as the Romanillos?

I will write more about Tom's instrument as I get to know it better. On my brief acquaintance with it, I feel very fortunate to have it.

Time to shave and dress for the graduation ceremony, and more family get-together. I see some of the people who live overseas only rarely, but enjoy it when I get the chance.

Thanks for a wonderful instrument, Tom!

RNJ

By the way, Tom insisted on throwing in an expensive Visesnut case (see Richard Brune's web page rebrune.com) at a steep discount.



davidhi -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 4 2016 20:44:09)

Congratulations on the new Blackshear. I played a used Blackshear, Rodriguez style, several years ago. It was a phenomenal guitar with a beautiful musical tone. I believe Chaconne Klaverenga later purchased it.

I currently own a Blackshear built in the Reyes style which also is a wonderful guitar but is completely different in tone than the Rodriguez.

Anyway enjoy your new instrument!!!



Ricardo -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 6 2016 12:18:31)

I got to play a Blackshear Rodriguez looking classical, and his Reyes flamenco, several years back. Both were superior instruments.

I got to finally try out my Visenut rain cover on Sunday, but alas it was not the torrential down pour as was predicted.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 7 2016 3:52:24)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo
I got to finally try out my Visenut rain cover on Sunday, but alas it was not the torrential down pour as was predicted.


Apparently you should have been in Austin on Thursday while i was visiting Tom Blackshear in San Antonio. Nine inches of rain in one day! One of the roads I often travel in Austin parallels Bull Creek. There are seven low water crossings. The creek was still flowing a few inches over the road yesterday on all seven--on Sunday after the rain on Thursday! There was plenty of evidence that the creek had been out of its banks, and took out fair sized trees and heavy underbrush.

But today was clear and sunny, and I got in a full practice session on the Blackshear Rodriguez model. It's even better than I thought.

After a couple of hours on the Blackshear, with frequent short breaks, I compared it to the 2009 Abel Garcia and the 1973 Romanillos. The Garcia is an excellent guitar, but the Blackshear is objectively better, being stronger above the 12th fret. The Blackshear also can go louder with little sense of strain. As far as tone, it is a matter of taste. The Garcia has a brilliant, complex spruce tone, the Blackshear has a lush cedar tone, but it can be as brilliant as you would like.

Compared to the Romanillos, the two are, as I said, very different guitars. I would not say one was better than the other. The spruce Romanillos tone is more "pure" with a less complex harmonic structure than the Blackshear, but the Romanillos is capable of great tonal variety--so is the Blackshear. The Romanillos can go just a little brassier near the bridge, for me at least, but the Blackshear is not seriously lacking in that department. I would describe the default tone of the Blackshear as more "lush" than the Romanillos. Both are very great guitars, for whatever my opinion may be worth.

I showed both classicals and the Arcangel Fernandez blanca to my 19-year old grand-nephew, in my brother's nice sounding, good sized, high ceiling living room with a hardwood floor, only partly covered by a rug. He played them a bit--though he has been mostly doing steel string finger style lately. He liked the Blackshear better than the Garcia, but the Arcangel best of all.

My sister-in-law, an accomplished singer, liked the Blackshear best.

RNJ



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 15 2016 13:03:44)

Richard,

Thanks for the feed back on the guitar, I would like to hear it in about 6 months as to the tone and top tension, and left hand articulation.

These guitars normally take some time to grow into an educated sound.

The ideal is to give them a little push off the bench into a more mature voicing, where they can grow with age.

Keep the name brand strings on it so they can marry with the top.



FERREREZAKI -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 15 2016 19:17:19)

Congratulations Richard,

I enjoyed following the building process very much, and I Think the outcome was very succesful.
Nice to know it ended up in a good home. :)



SephardRick -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 16 2016 14:31:32)

RJ,

Congratulations!

And a classical, not a flamenco. I believe a classical built by an expert flamenco luthier can be as satisfying as a flamenco. I have a classical Vicente Sanchis I can't part with because I can play all styles on, including flamenco.

Here is a link to one of Tom's classical guitars for other members curious about how they sound. IMHO, they sound flawless.


Rick



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 16 2016 16:51:06)

quote:


Here is a link to one of Tom's classical guitars


Actually, in the beginning of our business dealings, this guitar was made by Manuel Adalid but with my fine-tuning done at my shop in San Antonio. The guitar turned out well, but since then, Manuel has done most of the fine-tuning techniques by his hand.

And I'm very happy to say he learned the fine-tuning system well.

His quality has risen to the highest-end with a price you can afford.

Manuel knows how to build magnificent guitars.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 16 2016 20:32:43)

Hearing Tom sound the guitar in the videos here on the foro, with his decidedly flamenco touch, I thought it might be good for both classical and flamenco, and asked him whether he thought that was the case. He responded that his classicals tended to have a bit of flamenco edge, but this instrument was mainly classical in character.

After playing it for several days, I conclude that this guitar really wants to be played classically. I have played both classical and flamenco for years. I started off with flamenco.

I hold a guitar differently for classical and flamenco, which emphasizes the difference in presentation of the right hand to the strings. The two genres are played with different right hand technique, for pulgar, picado and arpeggio.

I audited a master class where Grisha gave a very informative lesson on rasgueado to classical students of Adam Holzman at the University of Texas. Holzman himself paid very careful attention, and the student's rasgueado improved significantly.

I have played classicals whose pulgar, picado and arpeggio sound very good played with flamenco technique. In fact I own at least one. But both of my flamencas are way, way better at rasgueado.

Tom's Rodriguez model is an outstanding, world class classical instrument, but I like both of my flamencas better for flamenco.

RNJ



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 17 2016 10:02:33)

quote:

but I like both of my flamencas better for flamenco.


If I may add to this. Based on my experience, it's easier to make a flamenco guitar a little sweet in its trebles to afford a classical sound rather than try and make a classical guitar into a flamenco. The Rodriguez guitars could be altered to play flamenco, as I noticed with some of Miguel's art but his thrust was mainly toward a classical sound. And over the years I've built this style I have found that parts of the top have to be stressed a little in certain areas to accomplish greater volume and stability. Otherwise I have to raise the action higher or curve the finger board to erase string buzz, as much as possible.

But as the guitar ages and the finger board pulls up a little, then there should be room to lower the action at the saddle end.

So the top stabilizes with age and becomes more tonally perceptive, and this effects its voicing as well as playing technique.

There is so much trial and error that goes into making a guitar that I think there is no end to it.



SephardRick -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 17 2016 21:04:31)

quote:

Actually, in the beginning of our business dealings, this guitar was made by Manuel Adalid but with my fine-tuning done at my shop in San Antonio. The guitar turned out well, but since then, Manuel has done most of the fine-tuning techniques by his hand. And I'm very happy to say he learned the fine-tuning system well. His quality has risen to the highest-end with a price you can afford. Manuel knows how to build magnificent guitars


I stand corrected. It really sounds top notch. Your fine tuning technique will live on.



SephardRick -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jun. 17 2016 21:10:49)

quote:

Tom's Rodriguez model is an outstanding, world class classical instrument, but I like both of my flamencas better for flamenco


Nice to know it ended up in your hands, RJ. It is poetic in a sense to me. I read everything you and Tom post on the forum. I have grown to admire both of you, because of your experiences and love of music and instruments.



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 4 2017 14:48:16)

quote:

Tom's Rodriguez model is an outstanding, world class classical instrument, but I like both of my flamencas better for flamenco.


This reminds me that we talked about your Arcangel Fernandez and the idea of doing a copy for the list.

Are you still in the mood?

I'm almost finished with my proto-type and will have time to address the Arcangel in about a week.



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 6 2017 15:39:24)

This also reminds me that although I'll be interested in doing a drawing of the Fernandez, I was talking with one of my music store peers the other day and he said, beside the older collectable flamenco guitars on the market, the newer guitars basically suffer from a lack of attention, as far as sales are concerned.

Essentially, Flamenco guitarists pay very little for a builder's living wage.

He suggested I stay with what I'm known for, which is the Miguel Rodriguez style, as that is what will sell in today's market.

I think this is quite insightful, as many classical guitar styles are selling in the market compared to flamencos. But there are those who will pay a fair amount for one of my flamencos so this present guitar I'm working on will determine what I'll do in the future.

I hate to think that cypress guitars are going out of style but builders have to pay more money for top grade cypress than for a good grade of EIRW. This has been my experience and I've been using EIRW for my flamenco guitars for quite some time now. So this seems to satisfy most classical and flamenco guitarists.

But back to the Miguel Rodriguez style?



Ruphus -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 6 2017 16:54:59)

Another proof of how recordings, even though insufficient for to obtain full impression, can be telling enough when instruments show to be so outstanding to come through in very special ways.

E-mail from 10-29-2010:
quote:


Dear Tom,

...
From before, I knew that you are quite an acknowledged luthier, but did not know precisely in HOW far.
Now, a couple of days ago me came across a video with a 2004 Blackshear guitar and was just flabbergasted.
I have heard yet even more raspy sounding flamencas ( like lately a Teodoro Perez ), but don´t remember any that would have been as deep and lush in the same time like yours. What a combination of attributes!

Very obviously you have achieved to conjure some truely magnificent quality. What I heard in that video was absolutely astonishing to say the least.

While you must certainly not be lacking excellent feedback, still it urges humble me to happily convey my highest admiration for the very special gift you have.


Last week I listened to a YT video with a Manuel Adalid guitar that featured Tom´s fine tuning done by Adalid. I really wasn´t expecting it to sound THAT good.
Very impressive!

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 6 2017 21:00:23)

quote:

Last week I listened to a YT video with a Manuel Adalid guitar that featured Tom´s fine tuning done by Adalid. I really wasn't expecting it to sound THAT good.
Very impressive!


Manuel is a very accomplished builder and all he needed was some fine tuning information and another design to put him over the top.

I wish I had the knowledge he has for an over-all building practice.

But as it is, there is always a way for the lesser of us novices to make an impression with what we know.

I'm currently working with an idea from a friend of mine to improve sustain in the treble end. But can't talk about it further...right now.



nhills -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 6 2017 22:30:02)

I must admit that I'm a fan of the old-timey blancas which have a noticeably short sustain. Consequently, your attempt to increase sustain seems to me to be misguided for a flamenco (a classical, yeah, but....)
To each his own.
norman



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 6 2017 23:37:08)

I understand what you mean but I won't know how this is going to work until it's finished.

I know its going to highlight some aspect in the treble end, but how much, the jury is out on it.

But if this is positive, then I may continue to build for awhile.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 8 2017 3:13:30)

quote:

ORIGINAL: nhills
I must admit that I'm a fan of the old-timey blancas which have a noticeably short sustain.
norman


My '82 Arcángel blanca usually has short sustain when played by classical players. They sometimes look puzzled, like, "What's the big deal?"

With proper flamenco right hand technique the tone fills out and there's considerable sustain. But its rasgueados are brilliant, percussive and gutty enough that the sustain doesn't muddy them up, as it does on a lot of classical guitars. Since he was formerly a pro flamenco player, I assume Arcangel was getting what he wanted out of his instruments.

RNJ



BarkellWH -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 8 2017 14:59:45)

quote:

I must admit that I'm a fan of the old-timey blancas which have a noticeably short sustain.


A kindred spirit, I see. I have a Gerundino that has great attack and short sustain in the "old-timey" sense you mention. In my opinion, Gerundinos are as close as you get to that flamenco sound. If you have ever seen Paco Pena perform with his Gerundino, you know what I mean.

Bill



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Sep. 10 2017 16:15:37)

I've had some success with a 1969 Gerundino cypress (pattern) that Paco del Gastor used to own; bought by a friend of mine in the 1970's when he was in Moron de la Frontera at Don Pohren's finca. Nice guitar.

But I'm pretty locked into the Reyes style, unless someone sends me a modern Conde Felipe V pattern to build...then I might be persuaded to change up my experimental practice..to see if it has potential toward another propio sello.

But one thing I liked about the 1969 guitar, (personal taste) was that it was patterned more closely to the Ramirez box style than the current shape it has now.



SephardRick -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 8 2018 20:05:39)

So, RNJ...

Care to give the forum members an update? Have you changed the strings yet?



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 9 2018 2:13:00)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SephardRick

So, RNJ...

Care to give the forum members an update? Have you changed the strings yet?


...at least a couple of times, sticking with the high tension D'Addario EJ-46s that Tom recommends.

I was enthusiastic about the guitar to begin with. It has continued to iget better.

One notable feature when it was brand new was a slight weakness of the note at the 8th fret on the first string. It's a climactic note in a piece I play frequently. On my other classicals the note can be made to really sing. On the Blackshear, when it was new, there was a slight loss of volume, and a lack of sustain. But it immediately began to improve. Meanwhile I found I could help things by moving the attack slightly toward the bridge for that one note, but the habit never really kicked in.

I spent three weeks in Mexico in November without a guitar, and I just got back from almost four weeks in Florida, traveling with the '67 Ramirez blanca.

Last night I got out the Blackshear, warmed up with scales and arpeggios, and launched into the piece with that climactic note. The weakness had disappeared. It had been the only note on the instrument that was even slightly problematic. Now it has the brilliance and sustain of the rest.

That caught my attention. Listening carefully, I felt that overall the tone had improved as well. But it seems to me that tonal perception is particularly sensitive to context and mind set. The instrument was impressive to begin with, and it continues to mature.

Changing strings: I left the original set on for quite a while. I didn't write down any dates, but it was at least a couple of months, maybe a little longer. But the reason I concluded it was "quite a while" was the surprisingly big improvement after a new set settled in for a few days.

Now I have four classicals. Last year I gave one that I played less than the others to the Austin Classical Guitar Society. A student used it to audition for a place at some conservatories and universities. I heard he got into one of his preferred choices, so I guess the guitar is reasonably capable.

I consider all of the four remaining to be really good guitars, but they are all quite different in sound and touch. I like to say that guitars are like fine wine and wonderful women. The better they are, the more individual their character is. I enjoy the character of the Blackshear. Like a good wine, it continues to improve.

RNJ



SephardRick -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 9 2018 17:22:38)

quote:

The weakness had disappeared. It had been the only note on the instrument that was even slightly problematic. Now it has the brilliance and sustain of the rest


Impressive! Tom's skills seem intuitive. Thanks for the update.



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 9 2018 18:57:56)

Hi Rick,

Yes, I work the fine-tuning strictly by feel and hearing. But I've come to realize that age plays a big part in the shaping of tone.

Also, keeping the same string brand, that I fine tune with, is vitally important for this process, since the top will try and marry with the string tension as it ages.

Pepe Romero would probably tell you that his Miguel Rodriguez guitars sometimes have problematic notes but that it doesn't mean it can't be managed with a little finesse, since he enjoys the sound and power of his beloved instruments.

43 years ago I was very impressed with the Miguel Rodriguez classical style, so I sought to try and build it with my limited knowledge at that time. It was a struggle but I stayed with it, as the guitar told me it was worth it.

So, now that I have somewhat mastered the technique of fine tuning, I find great pleasure in building this style, even though it is not perfect.

As I write this, I'm waiting for Richard to show up with his prized 1982 Arcangel Fernandez flamenco guitar. I'm sure his guitar is superior to my new build but I would be very happy to take second place[:D]



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 10 2018 14:32:09)

I had a good visit with Richard yesterday and had a productive comparison with his 1982 Arcangel Fernandez guitar. His guitar definitely has great separation of notes, even with rasgueado. I could really dig in with it.

I found that I liked his guitar's feel for the right hand thumb better that mine, for flamenco alzapua.

I understand how it works since I've built this many times, but on this new model I was trying to gain more brilliance and sustain, with power out-put. I think I achieved that end of it and this guitar will be a good cross over with a flamenco cutting edge to it.

Oy! Now I've got the flamenco bug again.

My humble thanks goes to Richard for showing his guitar to me, as it provided an excellent reference and a strict reminder on how a true flamenco guitar operates...a very good instrument.



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 10 2018 18:09:33)

News just in:

I had an idea to take a chance with the new model concerning the Fernandez flamenco, this morning, so I adjusted the new guitar inside to get a more inverted string pull like the Fernandez model.

IT WORKED!

This technique put everything in its place and this is one unbelievable guitar thanks to Richard taking the time to show me his Arcangel Fernandez guitar. Thank you, Richard, thank you, thank you, so much.

Also, this technique brought the top key into a solid G-F# and added to the ultra dimensions of the sound. Wow!



eccullen -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 10 2018 23:55:19)

Tom,
Can you say more about what this means:

quote:

adjusted the new guitar inside to get a more inverted string pull like the Fernandez model.


Thanks



Tom Blackshear -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 11 2018 0:44:38)

It's a long and drawn out process that takes certain intuitive skills. But if you search my other posts you might find enough information that would help.

I worked on the two inside struts on bass and treble side, toward the middle but left the middle fan brace alone to cause the middle register to drop off a little, but keep the 4th string sustain in place.

This amount of work was not tedious but fairly fast to cause the change, as I polished these fan braces with a couple of swipes at the bridge strap only.

This is a matter of learning voicing, and no two guitars are alike.

1-0-0-1-0-0-1 The number 1 fan braces I left alone. The 0 braces I did a slight sanding adjustment under the bridge.

But this is only what I did for this particular guitar to bring it into line with the Arcangel Fernandez flamenco articulation. The Arcangel guitar still had more separation in the notes but this can be changed with a pattern more like his design.

As it is now, this new guitar turned out well, with deep growl in the bass and penetrating trebles with a good vowel tone; quite easy to play.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear's 1977 Rodriguez Model (Jan. 12 2018 0:27:22)

Talking to Tom on the phone today I had the chance to ask him whether his phrase "string pull" was about the same as the Spanish word "pulsacion?" He said they were pretty much the same thing. "I say 'pull,' they say 'pulsacion.' "

Before Tom played his latest guitar for me day before yesterday, he said, "I know you're a fair person, so please don't beat me up too badly."

OK, here goes: It's a great guitar!

I'll say more about it before long.

RNJ



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