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: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to mark indigo)
quote:
Camarón?
Yep. Tom said it better than I could have! Camarón's "not Moorish, not Christian" star and crescent tattoo. It's a hole/port. I decided to carve it with the back off for easier access to the inside. I still have to clean it up a bit.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
quote:
but what is that puppy going to sound like. This will be proof of the pudding :-)
Nah, that doesn't matter anymore Tom. The only thing that matters is how it looks on Instagram. In the future AI will play better flamenco guitar than any human anyway, and it will just pull perfectly distilled guitar sounds that flow fluidly together out of its near-infinite sample library. I'll continue to make these decorative wall hangings if I can but since you can just pop on the VR goggles and become Super-Paco there's not much point. I can't wait to get this one strung up
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
You know I've had this fantasy since I've started building. I'm walking down the dirtier part of a city street and hear some one just ripping away some rosgiodo like no one is listening and they didn't care if someone was. I come around the corner and some young guy or teenage gal is just getting it on: think proto-Paco. Anyway I walk up, notice the few shekels in his upturned cap, I set my guitar case down, open it up and hand the young person one of my guitars to play. I take their store bought plywood so called guitar put it in my case and walk away hoping I've given someone a tool they can use to take their music to the next level.
Andy, I know you were joking about it not mattering anymore. It might feel that way as the world contracts, your orders disappear, no one calls texts or emails. I wouldn't give up just yet. I mean who gives a rats ass about social media anyway. The trick is to find that gypsy group who still plays and I'm not talking about the Roma specifically but you know. I had some kids working for me last summer, work exchange kids from all over the world, and one day I noticed my #2 aka the shop guitar had been gone for a couple days. I didn't ask as I had made it clear anyone could play her. I heard later in a round about way from someone who had made their way to a mid summer Alaskan bonfire that my multi mistake guitar had been a feature of the party; being passed around here and there throughout the night. Wish I could have been there to hear what kind of magic had been extracted from the bits of wood I had fashioned with these two hands...
The point I'm trying to make is that they are out there, young or old, who will do justice to the love and sweat you put into your instruments. The trick of course is finding them.
I'm laying here with my splint off and some ice on my foot. Usually we go to the doctor at this point but instead texting photos. I've hit the post op nurapathy lottery; bad and nothing stops it. Guessing Tom knows what I talking about as he was doing chemo. Playing keeps my mind preoccupied so it forgets all the oddball signals my cut up and damaged nerves send up stream but as soon as I stop playing the little buzzing and big lightning strikes come right back. Fun times for sure!
I've got a strap on peg leg and am allowed to spend 30 min a day on it so I snuck out to the shop this morning, about a 50 foot walk, and was able to get things squared up; had a top plate ready to glue up on a commissioned parlor. I'll get her on tomorrow am. I feel so lucky.
HR
_____________________________
I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
HR, I was just being silly. I've made 117 guitars, kept one and sold 114 so I've been very lucky. I've never had more than one available though, so this is a first to have two, soon to be three. Strange times we live in. Hope you feel better soon!
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to ernandez R)
You get that moose yet, Ernandez? Sorry to hear about the neuropathy man. I know it sucks, been dealing with it for 10years now. I take Gabapentin and a small dose of a SNRI and it helps a lot.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Andy, Glad to hear you were kidding. I told myself I would actively try to sell after I had built my tenth. I have a couple in a kind of boutique shop in my town and I started an instagram presence just for kicks. Building and selling over a hundred as you have is a sure sign of success. Congrats and may you sell a hundred or more!
Stu, Isn’t every builders dream to have one of their instruments get into the hands of a beginner and have them be inspired to become greater? In my life I’ve had a handful enable growth in my life by gifting me something, be it the right words of inspiration or like when I was fifteen when my aunts boyfriend gave me that practice amp to go along with the POS strat clone I found in a pawn shop. I have over a handful of success stories, kids that walked into my shop with nothing and now fly for major airlines and the like. A couple I fired who wrote back months or years later apologizing for not understanding and thanking me for giving them the tools to success. As to my #2 she came how after having absorbed a few nights worth of dew. She was still playable but it was midwinter before her back side had shrunk back to mostly flat. Couldn’t sleep last night so I snuck out to the shop on my crutches and worked her green tinted strings for almost two hours.
Jason, That moose would have been in my freezer but I was in no shape afterwords to process him. The Troopers gave me permission to dispatch him but I hate killing any living thing. I do love BBQ moose ribs and I make a killer bacon wrapped moose burger; it’s all vary lean and super healthy. They have me on the Gabbapentin also but I’m not a week into it and it takes that long to build up to know if it even works for me. Highest concentration of nerves are in the foot, always thought it was the end of the pointy part of our anatomy? It’s crazy how much of the nerve issue is in our mind. I could just get comfortable with a guitar and play for almost two hours but as soon as I stopped playing: ZAP! My playing is getting better and the other night my parter said she had to stop and listen because what I was doing sounded really good. She is no fan of the busy fingers of Flamenco as a rule. Of course my middle fingernail is paper thin down the middle. Superglue is my friend!
TicTok I’m almost afraid to google it. I was on the FB for about three days many years ago and found it strangely perverse as I was looking up friends and enemies or whoever. I just deleted the account and never looked back. I like the mostly non contentious nature of Instagram which works out for sharing creativity with mostly photos.
Sitting out on the porch swing, got my foot mostly unwrapped and an ice pack cooling to get the swelling down. The boss is doing my mowing or I would ask her to bring me a guitar...
HR
HR
_____________________________
I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
Posts: 3446
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to ernandez R)
Sorry to hear about the neuropathy HR. For an old fart I'm pretty lucky. The recent (first) bout of plantar fasciitis seems to have almost gone away. When you get to be 82 and something gets out of whack, there's always that little question in the back of your mind, "Is this the way it's going to be from here on in?" So far, the answer has been "No."
Next time i'm in Alaska or other moose country I need to ask for some well prepared moose. My first encounter with moose meat was fortunate. In July, 1949 we drove from Oklahoma City to Anchorage, Alaska in the 1948 Lincoln Continental Dad bought before he found out he was being assigned to the Alaska Air Command. Twelve days of adventure for Mom, Dad, my brother, Bubba the Boston Terrier and me.
First stop north of Edmonton, Alberta was a log roadhouse at Lesser Slave Lake. The owner/chef was a relocated Quebecois. He wore watch cap, a full beard, a flannel shirt, "tin" pants and logger boots. The main course for dinner was moose meat pie. The owner told us he shot the moose the day before. The pie was delicious. The crust was rich and flaky, the filling expertly seasoned.
Subsequent encounters with moose meat were less fortunate. My Anchorage Junior High homeroom met first thing in the morning in the High School cafeteria. A couple of times a month in the dead of winter we saw a dreaded moose carcass hanging in the kitchen.
The snow piled up so high on either side of the Alaska Railroad tracks that a moose on the rail line couldn't get off it. The railroad crews had no option but to kill such an unfortunate animal. They didn't carry rifles to do the job. They just ran them down with the locomotive. Then they picked up the carcass and loaded it into the baggage car. By the time the train got to Anchorage the moose was frozen. They donated the carcasses to the public schools, maybe some other institutions.
In the winter the moose were skinny. Just about all they had to eat was spruce and fir needles. The piney flavor combined with the gamey taste of a skinny half starved moose was repellent. The meat was full of little bone splinters from the encounter with the locomotive.
So when we saw a moose carcass hanging in the cafeteria kitchen we checked our emergency funds, and ate hamburgers for lunch at the drugstore across the street.
But I still remember that moose meat pie at Lesser Slave Lake.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Andy, as you know I’m a fan of your guitars. Very nice Rosette and lovely carved headstock but maybe I would have used alternatively either the unusual bridge shape or the soundport in order to avoid too many visual elements all together. Obviously it’s a matter of taste and someone else will go crazy for it. You are very skilled.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Echi)
quote:
Andy, as you know I’m a fan of your guitars. Very nice Rosette and lovely carved headstock but maybe I would have used alternatively either the unusual bridge shape or the soundport in order to avoid too many visual elements all together. Obviously it’s a matter of taste and someone else will go crazy for it. You are very skilled.
You might be right! I had a lot of different ideas to try but editing is also important. Thanks amigo.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Andy, Vary nice!
I've Not tried metering the binding at the tail seam yet but it's on the menu. We don't need to mention the bee stinger ;)
HR
_____________________________
I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
quote:
HR, I was just being silly. I've made 117 guitars, kept one and sold 114 so I've been very lucky. I've never had more than one available though, so this is a first to have two, soon to be three. Strange times we live in. Hope you feel better soon!
I remember this happened to me around the 110 mark, I noticed that orders weren't coming in as fast. I still had orders just not as many to fill all of the slots I had for building. That's partly how I came up with the idea for the student guitar. Although money was a bit of a worry it was nice being able to build a guitar based on something different.
I still haven't run out of orders which is amazing considering I've built 285 guitars now I have come perilously close a couple of times with as little as 1 order last year . A lesson I did take away from that tough time was that I will always build a guitar for stock along side my orders.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Stephen Eden)
quote:
I remember this happened to me around the 110 mark, I noticed that orders weren't coming in as fast. I still had orders just not as many to fill all of the slots I had for building. That's partly how I came up with the idea for the student guitar. Although money was a bit of a worry it was nice being able to build a guitar based on something different.
I still haven't run out of orders which is amazing considering I've built 285 guitars now I have come perilously close a couple of times with as little as 1 order last year . A lesson I did take away from that tough time was that I will always build a guitar for stock along side my orders.
If you build it, they will come.
Stephen, I appreciate the honesty and I think you're right. I've had periods of patchy orders and times when I've had almost a year waiting list. 2015 was a rough time when flamenco orders dropped off in a big way and I transitioned more to classicals. Now this Covid thing is really squeezing folks financially and I've had 4-5 orders get cancelled. I think it's important to use those lean times to come up with something new like you did and come back stronger than ever.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
quote:
Now this Covid thing is really squeezing folks financially and I've had 4-5 orders get cancelled.
My prayer for you and this list, is that you be restored to that which was taken away, 10 fold, and see the joys of God's universal reciprocity for all peoples. Amen.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Oh tasty - very nice. I think its great you have had space to do this. It should push the boundaries even further for you. Im guessing you have been looking at Japanese construction methods for your rosettes? There are a few up on the tube. Great detail for the sound port. I'll look forward to seeing the final piece. Well done.
Posts: 2699
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Cheers Andy Things have slowed down. Realised I was lacking a few materials/tools to progress so waiting on a wood order.
quote:
HR, I was just being silly. I've made 117 guitars, kept one and sold 114 so I've been very lucky. I've never had more than one available though, so this is a first to have two, soon to be three. Strange times we live in. Hope you feel better soon!
I was thinking about this comment. So I assume you kept No 1?? (Kind of priceless?) But maybe I'm wrong.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
quote:
Thanks, Rae! I'm actually not familiar with these Japanese construction methods, can you link a video?
The construction technique is called yosegi and they traditionally use this to decorate boxes with thin shavings as in (hopefully the link). I think though you could apply the same binding technique (much as you have done and why I mentioned it) to make a unit suitable for rosette use. https://youtu.be/tFQgWafq4yY There are many more detailed vids but this is a short one to show the example. Enjoy.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Not much one can say... Stunning.
I have two that were waiting for it to warm up after a cold Alaskan winter before FP then I got a nasty viral/bacterial lung thing, five weeks to clear it out, then the damn moose got me. Now the biggest issue I have is staining from my thumb doing rasgeos. Of course I can't just let them stay unplayed ;)
Made it into the shop today, glued on a top, took,three hours out to ice my foot with one of those beer cooler pumps ( insert margarita joke here), then back out to trim and sand the top so I can prep for the bottom. All in all about two hours total on my iWalk strap on peg leg ( insert NSFW joke here ;) and the doc says no more then 30 min. Mostly sure he is not on the Foro.
HR
_____________________________
I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to ernandez R)
quote:
Now the biggest issue I have is staining from my thumb doing rasgeados. Of course I can't just let them stay un-played ;)
My biggest problem is having a guitar to play. I sell everything I build and this seems to be my shortsighted plan since the last one I sold paid for Doctor bills and stuff.
Well, I hope to have one more, one of these days :-)
And Andy's guitars are getting so good, I might as well retire and let you guys prosper.
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Rae, that stuff looks incredible. Very inspiring. It's tough to get those things precise.
HR, I can imagine how hard it would be to follow those doctor's orders. At least you can get some good strumming practice in, and that pain will have you singing seguiriyas
Tom, you never kept one? That's too bad. Any other nice guitars lying around?
RE: Carved/stippled headstock, new g... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
The guitar is finished! I've christened it "Najmat". Video coming probably later in the week as I have a small injury on my thumb that hurts when I play.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
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