Richard Jernigan -> RE: The "lacquer sound"? (Jun. 21 2020 2:03:04)
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Here's Tom's first post about this instrument, his number 329, a 1987 Manuel Reyes style spruce/Indian. It's dated almost exactly two years ago. The label is dated 2-1-19, but the check I wrote the day after I first saw it is dated 12-11-2019. Tom asked me to bring my Arcangel Fernandez blanca down to San Antonio to compare. He expressed some uncertainty about his guitar. I took the '67 Ramirez too. After some comparison Tom said he was relieved that #329 stood up well. When Tom played #329 and asked my opinion, the first words out of my mouth were, "It's new, isn't it." This was not a criticism. In my experience, new spruce top guitars develop considerably in the first few months of playing. The guitar was loud, with very brilliant trebles. I remember playing a Reyes blanca at Richard Brunés shop a few years ago. Richard described the trebles as "glassy." I'm not very good at the usual descriptive words for guitar tone, but I suppose that might apply to #329 when it was brand new. Tom said he had been concerned about the basses, but he felt they were adequate. They didn't growl quite like the other two guitars, but they certainly supported the trebles. I play different guitars over time, but Tom's has been played more than any other since I've had it. Shortly after I got it home, I noticed I could play classical as well as flamenco on it, the only guitar I have ever owned like that. Tom had it set up for flamenco, maybe 2 1/2mm at the 12th fret for the 6th string. The fifth string buzzed a little when fretted at the ninth fret, an important note in a classical piece i play. I took the guitar to the great repairman Mark Erlewine here in town and asked him to make a saddle one millimeter higher, raising the action to 3mm at the 12th fret for the 6th string, still OK for flamenco. It's always hard for me to tell how much a guitar has changed, and how much the change is due to my learning how to play it. That said, I think the basses have come in more solidly, and have plenty of flamenco growl. When I tuned the 6th string down to D to work on Ramon Montoya's Rondeña, it even seemed to gain a little in volume. If anything, the trebles have increased in brilliance. And the pulsacion of the high tension D'Addario EJ-46s feels softer than the same strings on Tom's cedar/Indian Rodriguez model classical with the same scale length that I own. Also softer than the Savarez "red cards" on the '67 Ramirez blanca. Maybe about the same as the Arcangel with the lower tension Savarez "white cards." But moving toward the bridge with the right hand, or putting a capo on II or III stiffens up the feel of #329. There's plenty of percussion in rasgueados anywhere between the soundhole and the bridge. Pulsacion is perfectly fine with no capo. The response of the guitar is very even, there are no loud or soft notes anywhere on the fingerboard. It is as even as any guitar I own or remember playing. I particularly like this about the instrument, for both flamenco and classical. Compared to the Arcangel and the Ramirez, #329's trebles are more brilliant with the same touch. #329's basses aren't quite as loud, but they are plenty loud enough. Some of the classical guitars are better for classical. They can produce a "fuller" tone. For flamenco, #329 is certainly as good as any other i own. It's not clear how much it will continue to change. Spruce guitars often continue to improve for 2 or 3 years. At present it's a great pleasure to play for either genre. RNJ
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