Richard Jernigan -> RE: Guitarra de tablao? (Jul. 8 2019 21:58:33)
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ORIGINAL: NorCalluthier Hello All, Player's response to instruments is about as subjective as any experience we have. This prompts me to repeat my experience with the well known Mexico City luthier Juan Pimentel Ramirez (now deceased). I bought a number of instruments from him for people here in Texas, mostly less expensive than the best, but very good value for the money. Pimentel's main clientele were the hard working professionals of Mexico City, including many of the most famous, for example the trio romantico Los Tres Reyes, which included Gilberto Puente, in my opinion by far the world's greatest requinto player. Pimentel and maybe a half dozen assistants stayed busy. During the late 1960s through the early 1980s when I dealt with Pimentel the wait for a guitar was up to a year. Pimentel's workbench was at a large window which opened onto the sidewalk. Most of his daily interaction with customers was through this window, while he continued working. If you were a regular, or a new customer who showed genuine interest in placing an order, you were invited into the somewhat cluttered shop, and seated upon a chair or an upturned wooden box. If you were a new potential customer you were handed a guitar by an assistant. Pimentel continued working while listening carefully to the player, only occasionally turning to glance at the player's hands. After observing this process for a few years, I asked, "Maestro, do you make the instrument to suit the customer's way of playing?" Pimentel raised his eyebrows in surprise that I should even have asked, nodded curtly in affirmation, and went back to work. RNJ As a regular I was sometimes handed an instrument as well. Once it was a 1930s Santos Hernandez blanca, brought to the shop to be refinished. I was bowled over. Pimentel smiled, said he thought I would like to play it, and went back to work.
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