Richard Jernigan -> Reyes models (Jan. 7 2018 20:54:03)
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Driving from Lafayette Louisiana to Austin yesterday (383 miles=617 km) I stopped off in Houston to check out some of Francisco Navarro's "Reyes Model" guitars at Ron Hudson's Memorial Music. Having driven for a few hours before enduring the ever-expanding nightmare of Houston traffic (4 lanes in each direction, dense traffic traveling 80 miles/hour=130 km/hour, 18 miles=30 km through most of the Houston megapolis) my fingers were stiff from a death grip on the steering wheel, but I found Navarro's guitars interesting. I played a used cocobolo/spruce negra, and two cypress/spruce blancas, one with the Reyes headstock and Navarro's standard label, one with a slightly different headstock and the Vicente Amigo/Navarro label, with a signature, presumably Vicente's, on it. All were strung with Savarez Alliance "carbon" trebles, which I don't particularly like. I had my trusty '67 Ramirez blanca along, with well broken in Savarez "red card" 520-R strings. The basses on the Navarros, looking pretty new, equalled the power and brilliance of the Ramirez's well broken in ones. The trebles of the Navarros seemed to me overbalanced just a little by the basses, but when Ron played for me they seemed a little louder than the Ramirez trebles. My touch was calibrated to the Ramirez, since it was the guitar I had been playing for several days. I commented that the Ramirez nylon trebles had a fuller sound, while the "carbons" on the Navarros were loud, but a little shrill to my taste. The workmanship, setup and prices of the Navarros were all excellent. I might go back some time soon, if I could persuade Hudson to string up one or more of the Navarros with nylon trebles and let them settle for a week or so. I might even take along the '82 Arcangel blanca to compare. Hudson also mentioned that Navarro is making some guitars for the Cordoba brand. The last time I was in Paracho, Mexico at the end of 2006 I visited Navarro's shop. It is on the main street of the town. The only place to try a guitar was by the door opening onto the street, with so much traffic noise it was impossible to tell much about a guitar. Hudson says that since then Navarro has built a house and no longer lives behind the shop, which has expanded. Maybe there is some hope for a quiet place to try out a guitar. Speaking of the Arcangel, I plan to take it to San Antonio on Tuesday. Tom Blackshear wants to compare it with his latest Reyes style build. RNJ
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