Classical on a flamenco guitar

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Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

Classical on a flamenco guitar

Makes me wonder why I even make "classical" guitars anyway. Also, watching this video on YouTube is worth it just for the bottom comment

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 3:15:55

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Guitar sounds really great.

I play both classical and flamenco on my Blackshear "Reyes" model negra. I have classicals that are more "classical" and a couple of blancas that may be a little more "flamenco," but not much more flamenco, if any. They're all different.

Pegs, or Pegheds on yours? I had Kenny Hill replace the rosewood pegs on my Ramirez with machines. The pegs had worn a bit and were hard to use.

I took the guitar to Gryphon in Palo Alto to ask them to do it. Frank Ford came out of the back room to lecture me about "preserving the character of the instrument." I told him Jose Ramirez III had offered to do the job, but I never had the guitar in Madrid long enough to get it done. Ford acted like he didn't believe me.

A while later I was at Randy Osborne's shop in Campbell, next to San Jose. I grumbled about the pegs. He said he would call Kenny Hill. The deed was done.

I ordered a first class blanca for a friend from Juan Pimentel in Mexico City. The ebony pegs on it worked like a charm for years, better than the Ramirez did when it was new.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 14:13:58

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

The guitar sounds amazing!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 16:18:27

Morante

Posts: 2179
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I once lent my guitar to a friend who was a student in the conservatorio. The top students had to give a short public concert at the end of the course. Six had classical rosewood guitars, he had a flamenca blanca. He won the prize for best performance and the guitar was considered the best of the concert.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 16:29:12

Piwin

Posts: 3559
Joined: Feb. 9 2016

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Your guitar sounds fantastic Andy! But yeah, I gotta agree with that commenter: those tuners are just blasphemous man. What the hell, they're underneath the headstock???!!! I know people want to innovate but sometimes the traditional design is the better one. I mean, who the hell does that?!

@kitarist Ruchenitsa?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 16:35:09

kitarist

Posts: 1715
Joined: Dec. 4 2012

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Piwin)

quote:

@kitarist Ruchenitsa?

More like a slow 'horo'. You are right that the piece is in 7/8 which is the same time signature as ruchenitsa, but with the subdivisions they are different. Ruchenitsa is a fast 2,2,3 while this piece is a very slow 3,2,2, so the time signature with its two numbers is not enough information by itself to distinguish between these.

One might say that 2,2,3 and 3,2,2 should feel the same once you start repeating the pattern (2,2,3,2,2,3,2,2,3,2,2..), however the melody and harmonic changes are such that the difference to the ear remains. The very different expected tempo also makes a difference to my ear.

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Konstantin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 16:44:57

Piwin

Posts: 3559
Joined: Feb. 9 2016

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to kitarist)

Cheers. Thanks.

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"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."

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 17:14:03

JasonM

Posts: 2054
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Man it sounds great! Who’s the luthier?

Toddk had a couple of vids of him playing classical on his Brune Blanca, I was amazed at how classical it sounded.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 26 2021 19:00:55

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Thanks all. It's a really nice performance, and he found a real sweet spot for pulling out that tone. It's amazing how much you can do with right hand positioning. I would be interested to know why he chose my guitar for that piece, but it makes sense that the earthier tone works well for somewhat folk-inspired music.

The tuners are planetary geared pegs. I'm willing to bet that that commenter did not know that, or that Torres used wooden pegs. If their point was that friction pegs are superior or more traditional then touché.

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 27 2021 3:28:19

rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

quote:

The tuners are planetary geared pegs. I'm willing to bet that that commenter did not know that, or that Torres used wooden pegs. If their point was that friction pegs are superior or more traditional then touché.

That commenter is just an idiot.

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Ramzi

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 27 2021 4:22:44

RobJe

Posts: 731
Joined: Dec. 16 2006
From: UK

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Other GSI videos remind us that the flamenco guitar offers possibilities for other non-flamenco music that doesn't demand that 'sweet spot' sound. Miroslav Tadić frequently plays a 1987 Manuel Bellido blanca.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 11 2021 21:31:46

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Classical on a flamenco guitar (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Ole! He even plays in the flamenco position. Not a huge fan of the first piece but the guitar sounds great.

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 12 2021 4:21:41