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Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
sooo...due to the outage my posts went down the drain :( take two:
i had a look at my baby a week ago and man she looks beautiful now. let's start off with something we haven't talked about yet: bindings and purflings! i wanted to have bindings that are lighter than the body itself, so he went with a slightly lighter cherry binding and black/white side purflings. the pretty curls on the sides made me call this guitar curly fries.
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Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
here's the front. he went with half herringbone purflings for the top, which i wanted to be really thin, cause otherwise it might disturb the top's appearance. i believe since a guitar is made by inputs from two people, both need to be satisfied with the outcome. of course, merlin knows best how to mould the sound of the instrument (which btw sounds very promising, literally. the body produces a really loud and harmonic tone when the top is tapped...i'm afraid it's gonna be a beast) and put it all together to achieve an optimal geometry for playability, the only thing i can do is tell him what my desires and requirements are. but aesthetically speaking one can talk about and discuss a variety of possibilities. and i'm very glad to say that not only do merlin and i have similar tastes, but also we can work on this in a very constructive and fun way. guess that's really important: getting to know the maker as a person and getting the maker to know you as a person. i find this an important part of giving the guitar its soul.
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Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
little heads up: still waiting for the final touches to be made, should be ready in a couple of weeks. these last weeks are pure torment And I'm afraid that the case I ordered from Visesnut might be too small for my guitar as it has a lower bout of about 390mm (case has 380mm inner lower bout tho "bigger dimensions may be OK"). I really like the Visesnut case and if the classical model doesn't fit I might even go for the OOO model.
Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
I went over to Merlin Grote today and got my guitar, it has arrived safe and sound at its new home!!! It's STUNNING ! It has a really clear voice, lots of overtones and volume and an incredibly light touch, i'll have to readjust my left hand completely so i don't have to strain my fingers that much...playing my old guitar really has been a fight. also I need to learn how to get out all that it has to offer. however here it is. if you'd like to see other pictures hit me up. i'll try and do a video/audio demo if you like to hear my miserable flamenco skills as well
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Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
thank you so much lenny ! I don't really know what to do with my new baby, I feel like i'm starting from zero again. and here's the back for ya. the finish does some magic, like you said: KILLER !
I'm uploading an awkward video right now so you can have a little sound bite and hear my school englisch with German accent
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Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
here's the video, enjoy my nervous playing and too much talking. I'll put the blame for my bad playing on the fact that I was a little nervous because I'm not used to talking into a camera and i've been playing it non-stop since yesterday night so my fingers are hurting
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
Olé jalalkun! Very nice. Time to put some sweatmarks on it now
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RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
quote:
here's the video, enjoy my nervous playing and too much talking. I'll put the blame for my bad playing on the fact that I was a little nervous because I'm not used to talking into a camera and i've been playing it non-stop since yesterday night so my fingers are hurting
Wow man - that sounds amazing, and you play really well. Why don't you upload more videos?! I need to see more of you, dude. Arabs on this forum gotta thrive too! LOL
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
Great looking guitar, like the look of the lighter color in the bindings, against the walnut. Has a great lively sound, which will only get better with the guitar being played, and after the wood finds it's path to settle in. Great job Ole' muy Bravo.
Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
thank you all so much for your words, your positive replies mean a lot to me and literally made my day! I'll have to get used to her first and then I'll try and upload some stuff. saying that merlin did a great job is an understatement, this guitar is frickin awesome !! the guitar opened up a bit more the last days. the basses are boomy and the trebles are bloomy and only time can tell how it's gonna sound in my hands the next few years...i'm excited we'll definitely see and hear her on the foro a lot more often.
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
quote:
arabs are gonna take over this place soon
Over my dead pale freckled body #mffga (make foroflamenco great again)
There's only one way to settle this. RASGWADO BATTLE!
PS: BTW, "the basses are boomy and the trebles are bloomy" I see what you did there Dr Seuss!
_____________________________
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to Leñador)
quote:
We got Pepe Fernandez on our side!
And if anyone resists, we've got Chuck Norris.
_____________________________
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to edguerin)
Thanks Ed! These should be Luthier 20s, though it sounds like they're having a composite 1st string in this set from now on.
I've lowered the saddle inlay Piwin, now she sounds like a true dirty flamenca. I came prepared for the ultimate RASGWADEW BATTLE and good thing you saw my little wordplay there
btw guys, lebanese and iraqi people are known for their crazy ass minds, so I doubt that ramzi would have any problems getting me some gunpowder and petrol...where chuck norris at
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
RE: New Flamenco Guitar by Merlin Grote (in reply to jalalkun)
quote:
btw guys, lebanese and iraqi people are known for their crazy ass minds, so I doubt that ramzi would have any problems getting me some gunpowder and petrol...where chuck norris at