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Richard Jernigan -> RE: Tom Blackshear (Sep. 16 2023 20:45:30)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: constructordeguitarras
quote:
my settled opinion is that the ‘73 Romanillos is the best guitar I have ever owned, though I agree with Antigoni Goni that it is hard to play. Your right hand has to be exactly right.
Hi, Richard.
I am curious about what you said here. Does your right hand have to be "exactly right" so you won't play too hard and cause buzzing? Or is it something about the string height at the bridge? Or the string spacing? (Or just not left? [;)] )
The Romanillos doesn't buzz. The setup is approximately 4mm on the 6th string, 3mm on the 1st, at the 12th fret. But with D'Addario EJ-45s the strings feel more taut on the Romanillos than they do on the Abel Garcia with the same string variety, same setup and scale length. Both instruments have very slight relief in the vicinity of the 7th fret.
Still, it's possible to play too hard with the right hand on the Romanillos to get the best sound. This results when the angle of attack of the nail is not precisely the best, and you compensate to get a louder sound by attacking harder.
The impression I have when adjusting to the instrument is lightening up on the right hand touch, yet getting a louder and more colorful sound by perfecting the angle of attack.
Another requirement is that the nails should not be too short. My nails can even be too long to comfortably play flamenco, yet still get a good tone and be agile enough to play the Romanilos.
If you look closely at videos of Bream playing Romanillos #501, his nails are quite long-longer than I can tolerate-and filed to a sharp point. I keep my nails relatively blunt, but I have to adjust to not digging as deeply on the Romanillos as I do on the other classicals.
I haven't measured the top thickness on either instrument. The Romanillos has a standard seven fan symmetrical bracing pattern, with a flat, fairly narrow bridge patch and diagonal "closers" at the heel end of the braces.
The Garcia's bracing pattern is more elaborate, 5 asymmetrical fans, progressively shorter on the treble side. There is a treble "cutoff," much lighter than I have seen on Ramirez and other classicals. The bridge strap is high and narrow. There is an additional cross brace under the top, made of spruce. It is nearer the sound hole than the bridge. It is scalloped so that the fans pass under it without contact, except for the center one. It actually touches the center fan only at a narrow spot at the center of the cross brace span.
On the Romanillos the 3rd string may sound very slightly duller to the player, yet it is perfectly balanced to the listener. On the Garcia the 2nd and 3rd strings are the best balanced and easiest to play of any guitar I have gotten to know, but I have never listened to it from the audience's perspective.
RNJ
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