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Who has tried out a Grit Laskin guitar?
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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 Who has tried out a Grit Laskin guitar?
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Used to eye this maker´s output, thinking of one day buying a guitar of his.
Never played one, but from what I heard from users ( e.g. from W.L.´s website: "This is the finest instrument I have played in all my travels." -Paco Pena ), as well as from recordings I imagined exceptional sound and playability.
Years ago however, contacting him again in order to join his waiting list, it turned out that he had doubled the prices.
As he had been stating before to not be wanting collectors, but players to obtain his guitars, thus not raising his prices for to keep them affordable, I found the new price of 14 US grands too contradictive and cancelled the idea of signing the waiting list.
Yet, I remained curious to these days.
Anyone here played one of his, and how would you describe your experience?
Thanks!
Ruphus
PS:
Remarkable in general that Laskin´s nylons seem just as accomplished as his acoustic guitars.
Audio: http://www.williamlaskin.com/audio/freefall1.mp3
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Date Jan. 18 2011 16:12:50
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avimuno
Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France
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RE: Who has tried out a Grit Laskin ... (in reply to Ruphus)
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Hi Ruphus,
I've played a number of his guitars (both at the 12th Fret and from people I knew who owned them).
First of all, his building quality is excellent. Really good workmanship using the best tonewoods. My teacher used to own one. He took it with him in Spain and apparently the late Pedro Perez (from 'Pedro de Miguel') was really impressed with the finish of the instrument. Pedro had a close look at the guitar and inspected every aspect of it before declaring: 'Good guitar, but it does not have the secret ingredient!'.
In a nutshell, that's how I feel about Laskin Guitars...
Laskin's flamencos are beautiful instruments that sound good. Both his blancas and his negras are good and they are very delicately build with a very thin neck (which I personally do not like, but it's a question of taste... I can see an electric guitar player feeling at home on it).
However, they quite simply lack that special something that makes me wanna play my Conde day in day out. It's not the sound... it's the way the guitar reacts and interacts with you... which affects the way it sounds. The Conde fights back and begs to be played. The more you put in the better it sounds... which makes you a better player in the long run because you have to clean up your technique to make it sound right.
Another thing I feel very strongly about is the pulsation/tension of the guitar. A flamenco guitar's pulsation is a tricky thing to get right because it has to be soft enought to allow for rasgeados but hard enough to enable alzapuas and picados to cut through clearly. A lot of people complain that concert instruments (and particularly Condes) are super hard on the right hand. In my experience it's a good thing... here again you need to work on your technique. Playing guitar is a workout for your hands and eventually your hands will be able to coop with a guitar like that. Just listen to every good guitarists out there... they have very strong hands and the guitars do not sound mushy, which means that the pulsation is fairly high.
I have never played a Laskin for more than 1h30 at a time but I have never found them to have the kind of pulsation I like... it was always too soft, even with hard tension strings, which resulted in the guitar sound mushy and having to real definition when pushed hard. Here again, it's a question of taste so what's true for me is not necessarily true for you.
Last, coming back to what Pedro Perez called the 'secret ingredient'... I think that he was referring to a sort of natural 'compression' within the guitar itself. It's really hard to explain otherwise... it's like that guitar has a compressor in it. I've played Condes, Pedro de Miguel, Gerundino and Plazuelo... and they all had this. It's as if the guitar evens out all the frequencies before the sound leaves the box, resulting in the sound blossoming from the guitar rather than just coming out of it (sorry for the metaphors, but you have to hear it to understand what I mean). I can hear and feel it on my Conde but not on my Sanchis for example. I couldn't hear or feel it on any of the 4 Laskins I've played. Here again, i guess that it's a question of taste... Sanchis makes great sounding guitars but in the end the sound of my Conde is more refined.
In the end the choice is yours... as I said Laskin makes really good guitars. He's certainly very famous for his steel strings. My feeling is that if you're gonna pay 14 grand for a Laskin, you might as well get something from Conde, Reyes, Barba, Pedro de Miguel, Juan Miguel Gonzales, Marvi etc.
Hope that helped.
Saludos
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Date Feb. 7 2011 5:49:13
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avimuno
Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France
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RE: Who has tried out a Grit Laskin ... (in reply to Ruphus)
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You're welcome Ruphus!
As I said, these are just my opinions and experiences. Some people will certainly disagree with me so the best things for you to do would be to actually try one, maybe it will be the 'holy grail' for you... all I have to say is that if Miguel de la Bastide used to play Laskin, it certainly shows that they are good guitars. But bare in mind that he only swears by his Pedro de Miguel now.
The mistake would be to think that if it costs more than 10 grand than it will have to be amazing... it's not the case. But here again, it's a question of taste... Some guitars fit some players and not others.
I've gone through a lot of guitars and burnt a lot of money to find what works for me: Kenny Hill 'Reyes', Conde (Felipe shop), Antonio Raya Pardo, Luis Feu Mezquita, Ramirez... Andalucian (Grrrrr... don't get me started on that one!) etc etc
I currently have an Atocha Conde (much better than the Felipe I used to own - here again, my opinion), a Tom Blackshear 'Reyes' (#1 of the 4 he made - AMAZING trebles! It's like that guitar has a human voice - very lyrical and romantic sound, yet muy flamenco!) and a Hermanos Sanchis Lopez 1F (definitely one of the best 'value for money' choices out there - they are really really good for the money). I'm currently saving up for a Marvi or a DeVoe.
Do shop around as there are some really good luthiers who will build you a wonderful guitar with your specifications and taste... just ask around, you might end up having a really good guitar for a fairly good price.
Good luck!
Saludos.
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Date Feb. 8 2011 7:21:43
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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RE: Who has tried out a Grit Laskin ... (in reply to Ruphus)
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Hi Avimuno,
I know about the matter of taste; even of its extremes, as I used to know someone personally whose name was Vladimir Vissotsky ( most popular contemporary Russian musician ) and who prefred a cheapo dud eventhough he could have used any of the finest guitars out there. Further, I met a couple of musicians who just prefer low-fi, - including totally distorting PA.
From there I wasn´t attracted to Laskin because of his prices, but for glewing reviews and because of a recording that contains a beautiful sound ( especially regarding the mid frequencies ).
Yet, I can imagine possible limits as you described and welcome hearing of them in the same time as they shall calm down a rather lost hunt, seeing how hard it is to try one out outside of Canada and considering affords and expenses.
Finally, it is hard to get a hold on concert level instruments in the country I am right now. ( Where the market only bears entry- to mid level guitars, - which on top of it are usually stored at around 30% RH [ equalling bent necks, protruding fret wires and sunken in or cracked tops]).
Letting the idea of a Laskin aside and focussing on other makers that I bookmarked in mind, makes things much easier.
Interesting to read that an Atocha would outperform a Felipe. Many years ago I contacted the Atocha store and they sent me a couple of recordings that didn´t impress me. Maybe production level of the one or the other Conde shop might have changed since then. ( Some say the former Felipe shop wouldn´t be what it used to before the nineties.)
Congratulations to your Blackshear!
Since I heard how one of his guitars strong attributes coming through even through a mediocre youtube recording I appriciate Tom´s art of luthiery a lot.
I wrote to him:
quote:
I have heard yet even more raspy sounding flamencas, but don´t remember any that would have been as deep and lush in the same time like yours. What a combination of attributes!
Responsive like a Porsche turbo!
From the distance, merely comparing recordings ( and providing your T.B. guitar to ressemble the 2004 specimen I listend to ) in sight of tonal qualities me would not expect a specimen from Lester DeVoe to surpass the Blackshear you already own. - But possibly in terms of playability, I dunno.
As soon as you come to compare these I would love to hear of your impression.
I have a DeVoe coming. It´s the one Grisha played on last years GFA ( in Boston I think ).
Already lurking, it actually was Mr. Blackshear´s recommendation that made me finally go for it. He had been on the exhibition too and praised this specimen passionately.
Notwithstanding individual ergonomics and subtleties of taste; as I couldn´t be there myself, I am sure Tom´s expertise to be about best remote testing I could get.
That way it shall become a negra with cedar instead of a blanca / spruce combo that I had in mind originally. (As life likes to turn things around.)
Having waited for so many months, I hope that it will finally arrive over here at early March.
Ruphus
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Date Feb. 8 2011 11:58:02
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It used to belong to Miguel De La Bastide (I confirmed this with Miguel himself). Based on the pics and info I got from the seller, it seemed to be in decent shape with a proper flamenco setup. Grit did tell me that they installed the white golpeador because the top was heavily worn from Miguel's muscular golpes. 
