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.
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
Steve
I think they are both available with spruce as well. I dont think you'll get them with pegs. As far as I remember, they are both with solid cypres. The cheapest with a quite low quality flatsawn cypres, the other has a 3 piece bag. This you do in order to be able to use a cheaper piece of wood, but it will be quatersawn (more or less)
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
Hi guys, thanks for responses.
Anders, do you think that a 3 piece back quartersawn would have any sonic advantage over a 2 piece flat sawn cypress back?
Shame re pegs; I'm learning to play using the traditional flamenco position and I thought that as pegs are lighter it would make this easier than machines. What do you think?
Also would I be better waiting for a while and spending more on, say, a Jesus Bellido or Jesus Bellido Taller model guitar at 1200-3000 Euros?
Many thanks for your informed and informative advice. Steve
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
stevep, I have a Bernal Sueño, cipres. Nothing wrong with the guitar at all, very bright. A bit on the hard side to play, but that's more to do with the setup IMO. (The pulsation could be wrong for me, maybe, but I would not be able to tell that without having it setup properly first.) All in all, a nice guitar for under 1000 Euros. I'm playing an Anders Negra now, which is a lot more friendly and has lots of nice added tones. But it costs a bit more.
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
Steve,
A quartersawn back will always be better than a flatsawn. Not just talking sound, but also stability, but to be honest, I don't know how much difference you will notice.
If you want a peghead, you'll probably have to pay some more. It makes sitting in trad position easyer, but we are talking small difference.
If it's better to wait and save more money, it depends on your economical situation, what you play now and what you end up buying. Bernal guitars are a good solid product for the money you pay and they have a reasonable resale value.
Posts: 302
Joined: May 27 2005
From: Zürich, Switzerland
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
Prodigio and Sueno are the low end models. For less than 1000 Euros they wont make you a customized guitar. I don't think they will offer the features that you are looking for on one of this two models, but to be sure i recommed you to send a mail to guitarras@antoniobernal.com Antonio is the nephew of Valeriano. He is a nice guy. I bought my Bernal Maestro Palosanto in his shop in Sevilla.
Regarding the Maestro Palosanto i can tell you, that it is good value for money. It is a negra with cedar top. The soundboard is to my opinion somewhat too beefy and the bracing to stiff, therefor the guitar is lacking on dynamics and attack, but the sound is good and with a strong character.
You will probably not find another guitar that is handmade to a considerabe part such as Bernals in this pricerange.
RE: Bernal Guitars-quick questions. (in reply to stevnp)
I had an opportunity to play Bernal Maestro - blanca. It's a nice guitar but it had a bad setup (but it was bought with a huge discount). After being corrected by a local luthier is's a nice sounding instrument. However the scale length is 660mm - a bit more than what I like. All in all its a true flamenco guitar.