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Hi guys, I need your advice here. I'd like to get a relatively decent guitar and my price range is £1,000-£1,400. I know there's no chance to get a luthier's one. And as of now I wouldn't like to. The problem is that I found only a couple of places where I can go and try the guitars out. It's a guitar studio in London and some shop in Sevenoaks, Kent. I wouldn't say they've got a huge range of flamenco guitar though. So what I left with is Camps Primera and a couple of Alhambra guitars. I didn't have a chance to try any of them yet but I did listen to some clips in youtube. Camps in my opinion is too bright and buzzy. Probably in real life it sounds differentelly though. What are the other guitars I can think of? Does anybody know other shops in south-east? Thanks!
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
You could also try london guitar studio. they have a selection of flamenco guitars and also Exclusive flamenco guitars is also in London. I reccomend both them.
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Stephen Eden)
quote:
You could also try london guitar studio. they have a selection of flamenco guitars and also Exclusive flamenco guitars is also in London. I reccomend both them.
It seems the cheapest guitar they've got costs £2,800. A bit of a stretch. But they are realy beautiful no doubts Still since I'm a begginer I think I'll be better off starting from something more sensible. BTW what do you think about Cordoba both GK Pro and F10? Couldn't find a proper clip on youtube. They advertise their flamenco guitar by playing jazzy pieces on it. Not that wise
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
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BTW what do you think about Cordoba both GK Pro and F10?
no!
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Get a Bernal student model £600-ish I would think, but don't know current prices. You won't go wrong.
yes!
I bought the cheapest model from Ramon a couple of years ago as a knockabout guitar for £800, but ended up playing it all the time, preferring it over two other (luthier) guitars that were much more expensive. I think he selects the guitars himself from the workshop.
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to mark indigo)
Thank you all guys for your advises! I'll contact Ramon and will try this Bernal out. It seems they've got an youtube channel named Valeriano Bernal guitars or something like that. Their guitars sound impressive indeed. The only thing I don't really understand is why these guitars as well as Camps Primera are so buzzy? Is it a "must have" feature? I've been listening to some contemporary guys like Amir Haddad or Adam Del Monte and it looks like guitar they play are not that buzzy. Is that because of the quality of the guitars or just their musical preferences dictate it?
Posts: 6444
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to mark indigo)
quote:
I bought the cheapest model from Ramon a couple of years ago as a knockabout guitar for £800, but ended up playing it all the time
I bought a used one for £450 from Stephen Hill when he was in Lewes and played that most of the time in Spain over my Anders blanca, as I was less concerned with damaging it i.e. it was my street guitar.
Posts: 6444
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
quote:
The only thing I don't really understand is why these guitars as well as Camps Primera are so buzzy? Is it a "must have" feature?
Some flamencos like a little fret buzz but it may be adjusted by a competent luthier with a saddle/nut swap. I swapped the plastic ones on my Bernal for cow bone and installed some better Schaller machine tuners. Probably cost about £80 for the lot.
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Joined: Jul. 18 2011
From: the Netherlands
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
Hi Lionheart, Geert here from the Netherlands. Why not buy a Kevin Richards guitar, I think at the moment he has a few guitars for sale in your price range. And I asure you, you get more than what you pay for! He has a workshop in York, England. https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/kevin.richards.1048554?fref=ts
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to clevblue)
I've been in the same situation as the OP, and there are very few flamenco guitars in London.
London Guitar Studio, do have a range of Flamenco Guitars from £400+, with the lower end of the region represented by Camps, Alhambra etc. There are some ok models but the £1000-£1500 range is a little underwhelming in some ways. They had a second hand Ricard Sanchis Carpio 2-0F which is one of the worst guitars I've ever played, it was like a plank of wood with rubber bands for strings. The only Bernal I've played was a second hand Prodigio in Wunjo, which again was a horrible, bright piece of crap. Both those guitars were eclipsed by a Yamaha Flamenco in Rose Morris. I'm sure there are great Bernal/RSC/HSL guitars but I imagine there are a few duds here and there which were probably the ones which I tried (try before you buy) which also had most likely suffered from being maintained very badly (the RSC in particular)
clevblue, when did you get a negra from Blair? I went to his workshop and tried a few guitars, there was a negra which was very nice. It might have been the guitar which you bought! The blancas which he had there were great too.
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Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
can anyone give me a brief history of the relationships and say pricing/calibur of the different "Bernal" makers? I hear lots of different first names but surely we are talking very different levels of instruments.
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
can anyone give me a brief history of the relationships and say pricing/calibur of the different "Bernal" makers? I hear lots of different first names but surely we are talking very different levels of instruments.
Valeriano founded the workshop bought the wood and made the top level guitars himself. Due to demand, he expanded the taller, employed other workers and started to make more affordable instruments. At one time almost all the guitarists in Carnaval played Bernals: a friend of mine has a great one, with plywood back and sides which he bought for 25,000 pesetas and refuses to sell in spite of many offers!
Valeriano has retired and left the taller, though he makes an occasional guitar for his own amusement, though he seems to prefer a glass of Rioja in the street with his friends.
Rafa is his son. He has taken over the taller and makes the high end instruments himself. They sound and play very well indeed: Keko Baldomero has a great one.
His assistants still produce the cheaper models: in fact the setup is quite similar to the Sanchis taller in Valencia.
Any other names are primos, who have nothing to de with the original taller.
RE: Whom to buy guitar from in London? (in reply to Lionheart)
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Any other names are primos, who have nothing to de with the original taller.
Thanks for the info. How is Antonio Bernal related to Valeriano Bernal? In the past Antonio used to sell Valeriano Bernal guitars in his Sevilla shop. Now Antonio no longer does that, and he has his own range of guitars.