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jorpheus
Posts: 8
Joined: May 13 2010

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RE: Antonio Marin Montero (in reply to Guest)
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Hello, sorry for the late reply. I am new here. I have a flamenca made by Antonio Marin Montero in 1971 that I got some time ago in France from the wife of a gitano who really played it a lot in the 70ies, they were actually close to the people around Manitas de Plata. She told me that, at that time, all these people liked very much Montero's guitars since they considered them to be very top of flamencas. Whatever that means. But you see, in the early 1970ies Marin Montero was not the famous guitar maker as today, and still the guys went all the way down to Granada to buy his guitars. It is history. The one I own was made "by personal order". The guitar is long-scale (about 665 mm) and very very light, with wooden pegs of course. The soundboard is very thin, and also the French Polish is very thin. It has a very sharp crunching sound when you play it loud but can be very soft and singing when you play a melody. I cannot compare with the others high-level flamencas. I have played a few others from less famous makers but nothing came close to this one. It is like an animal, can be very soft, and then suddenly be aggressive. There is a flamenco shop in Freiburg, Germany, (Mundo Flamenco) very good reputation; they consider also that these guitars are very good. The owner just went again to Granada to get new Montero guitars. Best wishes to all, jorpheus P.S. The video is great!!! Actually the sound is amazingly close to mine, you see (you hear....), the guitar sounds a bit metallic, or even flat, or sharp, not at all the "full volume" and bass resonances of a classic guitar, but yes, I do like that; the notes are well separated, and the high notes come out very clearly in all the rasgueados.
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Date May 13 2010 5:19:06
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johnguitar
Posts: 191
Joined: Jan. 10 2006

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RE: Antonio Marin Montero (in reply to Guest)
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Anders, About two years ago a conservatory teacher and historian I know was asking why we so seldom see guitars by Granada makers in the "coffee table" books about guitars. The italian book "Masterpieces of Guitar Making" has a picture of a Pernas, the Russell Cleveland book nothing, Sheldon Urlik's book has only a guitar made by Benito Ferrer pre-1900 I think and nothing about this very important school which seems to have undergone a renaissance at the hands of Eduardo Ferrer, the nephew of Benito. We thought a bit about how Granada has a place in the history of the guitar but life goes on and there is little time for fighting against the status quo. Over a year later one of the guitar makers here, Jose Lopez Bellido, had the idea for the makers themselves to organize an exhibition of our guitars, something that has not been done since 1989. He organized a meeting and I took the opportunity to push the idea that we needed a great catalogue to accompany the exhibition, something really professional because that is what will be around years from now. Not to mention that collectors, dealers and the like will love it. Thanks to my big mouth I got stuck with co-ordinating the catalogue! So far I have a photographer, an introduction by a well-known musicologist already written, two writers who will detail Granada's guitar making history since Eduardo Ferrer, the current panorama and the influence of Granada in the rest of the world. There will be photographs of the guitars and biographies of the makers along with the articles mentioned. Although most of the information will come from interviews of the Granada makers, there is a lot of information out there that has to be sifted through and verified. The article about the influence of Granada will take into account the situation of people like Anders who have worked here and obviously learned something and been generous with information and Stephen Hill who spent time in Granada well before he ever thought of moving here and teaching. In looking for more influences like that I have been doing searches on Granada makers and that is how this old thread came up. Now it seems that the exhibition is not going to happen but the book still seems like a good idea so it's full steam ahead on that. You asked, that is the long answer. The short answer is that I don't often visit the forum and when I do it is often from a search about something guitar-related or because I am watching a thread. John Ray Granada
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Date Nov. 8 2011 19:39:03
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jorpheus
Posts: 8
Joined: May 13 2010

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RE: Antonio Marin Montero (in reply to Guest)
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Hello, Well, I think it is OK to answer also to "old" posts. Why not? John, I am very glad to hear about your project. Please let us know about the details and when the book comes out. This is great news. Last year I was in Granada for the first time, and I also went to some of the workshops, incl. Marin Montero's and the two Bellidos. Granada is a wonderful place and I love these guitar makers and their guitars. I have two flamenca from Granada (a Marin Montero 1971 and a Gil de Avalle from 1998), and also classical guitars (Marin 2006 and Espinosa 1998). They are all very good instruments with individual voices. Granada is a great place for flamenco and guitars. If you wish to understand, go there and spend some evenings, like in the Pena "la plateria", or just walk around (I was there in May), and also take your time to sit and have a beer with some tapas. Or listen to "El Albaicin" from Albeniz. Best, jorpheus
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Date Jan. 13 2012 19:22:01
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