Intermediate Guitars

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Santito

Posts: 3
Joined: Apr. 13 2005

Intermediate Guitars

Hi all,
First up, I'm new here but this is a fantastic forum - wish I'd found it a month ago! I've already learnt a lot through the posts.
Secondly this is an impossible question but I hope you'll bear with me; and any advice will be more useful than you can believe.
I'm in the same position as Jon Boyes was (is?) (I 'googled' to this site, and that thread, by accident) - that is, I'm looking for a decent 'first' flamenco guitar, a good, intermediate one, in the same sort of price range, £600-£850
I've been playing guitar for over 20 years and consider myself quite advanced, but have just, in the last year, started getting obsessed with flamenco and now want a decent, 'proper' guitar to play it on. I've only ever played electrics or steel-strung acoustics, and the nylon string 'classical' 'guitar' I learnt flamenco on cost (truly!) £16 - it was given to me after being used for some summer school music lessons; and to be honest, the cardboard box it came in had a much better tone - better action too, actually (I have compared). My rasgueados are going to sound GREAT on a proper guitar! (or at least not like a traffic accident) (or a summer school riot).
Anyway, to keep it short, I want to buy a good, intermediate, Spanish blanca but don't have the luxury of testing any. I know you can only really decide what's good once you've played it (but I'm from Liverpool, UK, and the nearest flamenco guitar I know I can get to play is an over-priced Rodriguez FF in Manchester) - that there are differences even amongst the same makers; that I'm only going to get a factory guitar; that you'll get much better value from a good second-hand (but alternatively you can't rely on second hand testimonials etc!) - as I don't know enough about 2nd hand flamenco guitars anyway though (and it would also involve travel) I can't go down that route; I just need pragmatic advice on buying a new, o.k. enough, guitar. After many crazed net-searches, possibilities I've come up with are;
Rodriguez FF
Alhambra 7FC
Burguet 2F
Giralda Jerez
Bernal Sueño
Raimundo 145
Cashimira 105
Sanchis Carpio 2F

So, I know a few bits about all of them, but all I'm asking is can anybody tell me ANYTHING - good or bad - about ANY of these guitars? One comment will probably be enough to cross something off this idiotic list! And that's all I want; to eventually, actually get a guitar instead of looking at weird sites on the Net. And is there any good reason why I shouldn't just get the Sanchis Carpio 2F for a cheap price?

Oh - Luthier's Supplement; what difference does a 'three piece back' (as in the Sueño) (dodgy name, I reckon) make to the sound, as compared to a matched one??? Anyway, sorry for the length of question from a newcomer, but....

Any comments whatsoever, on any of these guitars, welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Jimmy

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Jimmy

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 14 2005 0:56:26

Guest

RE: Intermediate Guitars (in reply to Santito)

Hi Jimmy

From the list you mention I would choose between the Bernal and the Sanchis Carpio.

The 3 piece back doesn't change much on a guitar in this pice level. On a high end guitar you can say that 2 pieces which are very well cut are better, But on this level a back with 3 (or more) quartersawn pieces is a lot better than 2 semi-flatsawn pieces.

Anders

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 14 2005 7:19:20

Escribano

Posts: 6415
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: Intermediate Guitars (in reply to Santito)

Welcome to the forum, I have no complaints of my Bernal, which is a cheaper model than the Sueno.

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Foro Flamenco founder and Admin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 14 2005 8:21:26

Santito

Posts: 3
Joined: Apr. 13 2005

RE: Intermediate Guitars (in reply to Santito)

Thanks very much for the welcome and both of your replies. You've made things a lot simpler for me - I'll just go for the Bernal or the Sanchis Carpio. Easy!
Anders, your explanation was a big help. I now know enough to know that the back isn't a problem at all in the Bernal.
Thanks again.

Jimmy

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 14 2005 16:29:05