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What do you look for in a flamenco guitar?
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[Poll]
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What do you look for in a flamenco guitar?
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| Handmade rosette |
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| French polish finish |
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| Light weight - negra |
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| Light weight - blanca |
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| Cool headstock design |
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| Cool bridge tie block inlay |
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| Traditional design |
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| Balance across registers |
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| Gritty attack with some controlled bass string buzz |
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| No bass string buzz at all (even on initial attack) |
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| Raspy/breathy basses |
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| Firm, supported basses |
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| Round, sweet trebles |
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| Cutting, metallic or nasal trebles |
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| Punchy, percussive midrange |
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Total Votes : 311
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(last vote on : Oct. 29 2022 18:12:46)
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Tom Blackshear
Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
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 RE: What do you look for in a flamen... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
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Andy,
I think you are building some pretty nice sounding instruments right now, so the only thing I could say about them is make sure they play right. And this is pretty much determined by the action that most guitarists prefer.
There's no way to get things totally straight with all players but there is a way to hit a happy medium that the majority likes. This is one reason that I chose a certain style and design. They appeal to most players on the average, even though I may lose some sales.
So I just strive to build the best I can and leave the rest to players discretion, however they may choose a builder for their instruments. None of us are going to totally capture the market with an add-on or too much question and answer, so I try to build to a high level and leave the rest to those who are interested in reading about different designs, etc.
You have very appealing prices, and if you can build a guitar that goes beyond that, in its quality, then you have a niche, for sure.
_____________________________
Tom Blackshear Guitar maker
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Aug. 27 2014 0:09:27
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: What do you look for in a flamen... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
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One thing about guitars that still mystifies me is action. For my first 8 years or so of playing, my guitars all were too high and I hated it and lusted after a low action. Nowadays, my guitars are all set up with a low classical/high flamenco action. When I play other guitarists' axes, I usually find they are too low for me. When I play guitars at stores, they are all way too high. Salespeople and other guitarists say, "oh, you can just lower that, don't worry about it", but I have found if you do that, often you will get weird buzzes and not be able to dig in at all. So I won't buy a guitar unless it is set up low enough for me already.
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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Aug. 30 2014 18:25:01
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Tom Blackshear
Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
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RE: What do you look for in a flamen... (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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quote:
Salespeople and other guitarists say, "oh, you can just lower that, don't worry about it", but I have found if you do that, often you will get weird buzzes and not be able to dig in at all. So I won't buy a guitar unless it is set up low enough for me already.
Miguel, you have a point as guitars are normally set up to where they don't have a buzzing problem, and it takes a certain amount of time for the top to tighten up so that the strings can be lowered.
Don Pohren suggested for players to buy used guitars that had already settled in and had the string action the way players liked them, as most new guitars will always need to be adjusted after a period of time.
Most guitar makers can not wait to have a guitar sit in their shop until it has settled in, so they work on the articulation of the top as best they can before the instrument goes out the door.
But make no mistake, all new guitars will need some adjustment as they age. And every player will have his own idea of the action he likes so this is always going to be an issue that we have to deal with, no matter how the guitar operates when new.
It also takes an experienced player to determine how a guitar will age, to some degree. When I played professionally I learned how to adjust my own guitars the way that felt best for me. This is a prerequisite for players since they might not have a repairman in the neighborhood. It's always best for a player to learn simple adjustment techniques.
And the more a player understands how a guitar works, the better he will produce music from it.
_____________________________
Tom Blackshear Guitar maker
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Sep. 1 2014 12:14:19
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