Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to duende)
it is amazing what great art is able to do. I remember when Jackie Chan talked about how he was affected so badly by a crazy girl fan that killed herself publicly when it was announced that he was getting married. And now Poor PDL has to deal with a nut job like this guy that he unknowingly created by doing nothing more then simply performing his art. No wonder he moved out of mexico.
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to Ricardo)
Since my post in the General Forum is now locked, I'll repost it here.
Have any of you ever met Ruben? I have. He's a bit exciteable.....but he's also very passionate about flamenco. He's very knowledgeable about music and is an amazing guitar player. Not only that, he's very friendly, enthusiastic and helpful.
Some of you don't believe he's spanish. I've seen his national identity card - it says "Esp" on it. One of his parents and his wife are from Mexico.
Some of you make jokes about PdL having to put up with him. In reality, he knows PdL through a family connection - Ruben's mother was a dancer and PdL was a player at the tablao before he became famous. Since then, Ruben has somehow become a friend / acquaintance of PdL and he and his wife have spent time at Paco's place. Ruben has received guitar instruction from PdL and I've seen pictures of them together at PdL's home.
PdL came to Toronto to do a concert shortly after Ruben left for Malaga. Before he left, Ruben wrote a letter of introduction for one of his young Toronto students which the student somehow managed to have delivered to PdL. The student was then ushered in to meet PdL backstage. I've seen pictures of the meeting.
About those guitars you don't like....Ruben has loads and loads of guitars (including multiple Condes) but that's what he prefers. He genuinely believes in them. I've seen him using them on Spanish television and in night clubs.
I could go on, but I'll stop here. Go ahead and criticize, but do it without the inaccurate and uninformed personal comments.
_____________________________
The universe is indeed expanding - to get away from this planet.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to Yojimbo)
quote:
Have any of you ever met Ruben? I have.
Close personal friend has, and has the guitar he peddles from mexico....that is good enough for me in addition to our first encounters on line. The reasons for "bashing" is because of his attitude. Only HE is in with PDL and techniques??? Give me a break man sorry. He is teaching some wrong things, and has psycho insecurity and vendetta against anyone point out his faults. Unless you want to label yourself a follower or mindless minion of this nut job, I would drop it if I were you. Get a real flamenco teacher or go to spain if you are serious about this art form. Get away from this guy if you can. good luck to you my friend.
Posts: 4530
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to Yojimbo)
Oh no...not the Professor again... There should be some automatic filter in the foro whenever the words "ruben" "diaz" "Professor" "rd" appear, the thread should be locked and deleted automatically
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to duende)
quote:
ORIGINAL: duende
What do our luthiers at the foro think?
Perhaps I'm not hearing his guitars right, on some of the other threads, but I find them sounding too stiff for my taste. There's something missing. But to be fair, the website links might not be that clearly demonstrated.
However, if he feels the builder/s is/are good craftsmen for his purposes, then I would like to see them build replicas or in the style of some of the old masters, as a true rendition of some of the Antigua sounds.
This would prove their worth very fast and it would put guitars in the hands of deserving players who could not afford higher priced instruments.
As it is, I find the motif of some of these guitars to be rather unpleasant to look at; just my opinion, and I would encourage him to be more business minded and perhaps adopt a motif of this older style.
There is no greater honor to any master guitar maker than to build in his style. Personally, there is no way anyone can emulate an old master to be exactly the same, but they are fun to build and can be exciting to play.
Hopefully, I'll be getting ready to build the old 1955 Conde; the style that Nino Ricardo used to play, by November 2011. I'll do some fine tuning to try and make its articulation more up to date for modern players..we'll see what happens.
RE: How to choos a good flamenco guitar (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
it is amazing what great art is able to do. I remember when Jackie Chan talked about how he was affected so badly by a crazy girl fan, <snip ...........> And now Poor PDL has to deal with a nut job like this guy <snip........... nothing more then simply performing his art. No wonder he moved out of mexico.
Paco should move to San Antonio. Practically everyone here speaks Spanish, and he can have a beautiful big city to live in where accommodations are very comfortable, reasonably priced, and he can have his pick of any one of hundreds of dancers to accompany, if he chooses.
He won't be bothered, much, as most of the city doesn't know him, and they are more inclined to Mariachi music.
Also, he would not see this writer....... unless he has to have one of my guitars :-)
I think he is pretty happy with Lester DeVoe's guitars right now.
And who knows, I might even go to see his performance on occasion, if he chooses to do some club work. As it is, I neglected to see him the last time he was here at Trinity University....... ooops!
Printable Version
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread