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RE: Condemania
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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 RE: Condemania (in reply to Ricardo)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
16 years of some crazy abuse and wild adventures including having heavy stuff dropped on it, crazy drunk people bang on it, dropped off chair, forced through baggage claim, tons of crazy weather events and not a scratch on the top...till tonight.
Sorry to hear of that, Ricardo. :O[
-
Years ago in a discussion at AG about humidity issues, I was about to conclude that once a certain period of time has passed a guitar should have acclimated and be out of the woods.
A member nicked "Sasquatch" ( mis the ol´grumbling `redneck´. Hope he´s doing alright) from around Arizona´s desert climate then urged caution, mentioning how two of his finer guitars cracked in the top, still after more than 10 years of stay in his house ( under constant / humidified conditions ).
I am of the impression that antique guitars show more durable ( as I assume due to all the endured fluctuations / thus grown flexibility or lessening sensitivity ) than fresh ones, but apparently you can´t really feel safe when the discrepancy between assembly and current humidity exceeds some -20% or so.
Reassuring how builders estimate dryness much slower effecting than I am afraid of ( I get nervous already when the guitar is exposed to lower RH [ ~-10%] for more than ~ 3 or 4 hours ), but axes will probably not mind after all to slip back into their watched out for case as soon as session is over.
Just mentioning; sorry for OT!
Ruphus
PS:
Any here rember the times when humidity was not even known of as a factor?
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Date Sep. 19 2013 9:57:56
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: Condemania (in reply to krichards)
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quote:
I would love to have met him too. I have a friend , Les Mates, here in UK, who has a Sobrinos de Estoso that Diego played (and nearly trashed). I've repaired this guitar recently, so I feel I have some tenuous connection with Diego.
He apparently played everyone's guitar...haha
On the first popular internet discussion group on flamenco in the 1990's one of the continuous topics was something on the order of: "Why do so many old Hippies in California know Moron Toque?"
It's because lots of Americans went to Diego in Moron to learn guitar, then came back and shared the experience. The frackus was all about how important Diego was in the bigger picture of flamenco. On one side you had people saying he was not important in Spain in any way and was basically a back water unknown guitarist who taught few guiri to play guitar. On the other side there were those who maintained he was a saint and to learn guitar you had to go to Moron and nothing else worked. There were lots of axes being ground and lots of hack opinions. Mostly it was non Spanish aficionados working out deep personal vendettas they had against each other that had started in the Moron days of the 60's and 70's - It was all about who was where at what time. It often came down to really insanely petty stuff like jealousy that one person had been invited to a fiesta that happened in 1967 and rubbing it in the face of someone who was not invited. Then the non invitee would proclaim they had some thing better to do then hang out with that stupid unflamenco American clique. It was one of those things where all the foreigners were trying to posture to each other and prove they were more aware of Spanish culture than anyone. It was a protracted show of one upsmanship that was centered on how your side understood Diego's place in flamenco. It was not always pretty, showed some very nasty sides of human nature, but it was very interesting as adebate when it was not getting too personal.
That topic came to almost dominate the entire time that list was running on the a server at Temple U. Internet discussion careers were launched, and some of the best writing about flamenco happened. it was also really really funny, and the flame wars have become legendary. Some of those discussions were so intense that instead of people on the internet relating to each other what happened at a flamenco show, it was the other way around. People at flamenco bars would discuss what happened on the internet that day.
_____________________________
https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Sep. 19 2013 22:23:02
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C. Vega
Posts: 379
Joined: Jan. 16 2004
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RE: Condemania (in reply to machopicasso)
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A hotel like the Emperador was not only beyond my limited budget but not at all the type of place I preferred to stay in when abroad. I much preferred the local color of the small, family-run establishments that were clean, safe, convenient and reasonably priced. A decent place to leave my bags and sleep were my only requirements. Think Rick Steves or "Let's Go" as opposed to Michelin guide books.
In Madrid I usually stayed at a third floor walkup hostale on the C. Nunez de Arce just off the Plaza Santa Ana (good area for tapas grazing) that was run by an older couple and their son and daughter. They had a second establishment on the same street. It was not only convenient to many of the guitar shops but Casa Patas was also only two blocks away.
Richard has obviously spent much more time in Madrid than I have.
The only "famous" person I ever encountered at any of the shops, other than the makers themselves, was the American luthier turned parts and accessories manufacturer/supplier Michael Gurian. He was in the Ramirez shop one evening when I was there in 1996, not long after they had moved to their present location on the C. de la Paz. The place was still being set up and finished and was in a bit of disarray. Jose IV and Amalia were both there that evening as well.
Another evening in the Contreras shop there was a young Japanese player trying out guitars in the back. He had a small entourage, mostly female, fawning over him. He seemed to have some good chops but I neither cared for nor understood the dissonant contemporary stuff he was playing.
I asked Pablo Contreras who he was. He told me the guy's name and when I said that I had never heard of him before Pablo just smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and said that he had never heard of him either until his agent called to set up a time for him to try some guitars.
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Date Sep. 20 2013 0:03:22
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Condemania (in reply to C. Vega)
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quote:
A hotel like the Emperador was not only beyond my limited budget but not at all the type of place I preferred to stay in when abroad. I much preferred the local color of the small, family-run establishments that were clean, safe, convenient and reasonably priced. A decent place to leave my bags and sleep were my on
The above-cited quote represents a form of inverse snobbery: the smug, facile conceit that only by staying in "small, family-run establishments," pensions, hostels, and the like, can one really get to "know the local people." The implication is that those who stay in hotels such as the Emperador are unable to connect with or get to know the local people. I have met many acquaintances who stayed in upscale hotels and took the time to explore the local environs, and they knew more about the local people and their customs than many who stayed in pensions and the like. On the other hand, I have met many who stayed in pensions and didn't take the time to pick up any of the language or broaden their vision of a country beyond the level of the people they met in that millieu.
Regarding this thinly veiled swipe at Richard, I am certain that he can defend himself, but I would just like to say that I know Richard, have had dinner with him in Texas, and have conversed with him on all manner of subjects, both in person and on the Foro. I can unequivocally state that whatever hotel he may have stayed in while visiting Madrid, it would be a mistake to assume he knows less about local color and the local people than someone who stayed in "small, family-run establishments."
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Sep. 20 2013 13:26:26
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Condemania (in reply to C. Vega)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: C. Vega
A hotel like the Emperador was not only beyond my limited budget but not at all the type of place I preferred to stay in when abroad.
When I first stayed at the Emperador in 1968 it was around $30-$40 per night. Just about everything in Spain was cheap in U.S. dollars in those days. I was paying well under $1,000 for Ramirez 1a classicals, and selling them in Texas at a profit.
The marble foyer of the Emperador made a good impression, as did the leather and mahogany lobby. The marble tiled lobby floor had rugs instead of the anonymous fuzz that the same price would have got you at the Holiday Inn. The bar was nicely decorated in a somewhat dated Spanish style, and had a big 2nd story window that looked down on the sidewalks along the Gran Via that remained crowded until 2 AM. The mahogany paneled dining room had white table cloths, and an excellent selection of bread, pastry, ham, cheese, fruit, fresh orange juice and coffee for breakfast. There were several reliable restaurants close by.
The rooms were a bit worn, but decent and spotlessly clean. The dark hardwood floors had seen a bit of traffic, and the rugs were threadbare in spots. The furniture was substantial but dated. The bathroom was tiled in a dismal brown shade. The porcelain fixtures were dark maroon. The electric light seemed barely to penetrate the gloom, but again everything was spotless, substantial and worked perfectly.
The air conditioning and heating were reliable and quiet. All in all, a good place to stay, and a real bargain for an American in the late 1960s.
As time went on and Spain joined the general European economy, prices went up at the Emperador, but the accommodations remained the same familiar and reliable ones. I kept on staying there. Besides proximity to the guitar shops, the Union Musical Española with its extensive sheet music selection was within convenient walking distance. So was the department store El Corte Inglés with its big record department. I bought my copy of Sabicas' "Flamenco Puro" there and made the acquaintance of a number of cantaores.
But at last the Emperador got too expensive for what it provided for me. When I bought my spruce/Brazilian doble tapa from Manuel Contreras, Sr. in 1991, he complained that the 14% value added tax would soon be implemented. He said he would raise his prices.
"But Maestro, the IVA won't apply to the guitar!"
"It will apply to everything I buy."
By then the Emperador was above $100 per night. I stayed at a pension a couple of blocks further along the Gran Via. It was owned by an Argentine, who had made his living as a classically trained pianist before he moved to Spain. The food and company were good, the room small, and without air conditioning in July it was hot. But I was happy with my new guitar.
I wasn't at all well off in 1991, but from then on I prospered considerably. I have been flat broke more than once. I have stayed in some execrable dumps in my travels: not safe and respectable places like Charles Vega describes, but dirty places in dangerous neighborhoods.
Larisa had a pretty rough time of it after moving with her mother from the Soviet Union to the USA at age 13. She was unhappy at Kwajalein, but to cheer herself up a bit, sometimes she would list its advantages. One was "No drive-by shootings."
To balance things out a bit, I tend to compensate. When we stayed in Madrid in 2007 the Ritz was full, so we stayed at the Palace across the street. Breakfast was impressively sumptuous. The balcony gave a nice view of the fountain, and the concierge got us tickets for the Prado, also across the street, without having to stand in line, and good prima barrera seats for the corridas of the Fiesta de San Isidro.
Neither of us felt guilty. We felt we had paid our dues.
Where you stay need not dictate who you meet. We were staying at a hotel across the street from Ipanema beach during Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Prices go up then. The mother of this little girl had a souvenir stand at the station where you board the train to go up to the big statue of Christ on Corcovado. We fell into conversation. Fascinated by Larisa's blondeness, the girl asked for a photo.
After we came back down from the statue, we stopped in a little cafe in the neighborhood for lunch. It opened onto the sidewalk, and was a bit crowded. We got talking to this guy at the next table.
RNJ
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