getting myself educated

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

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.

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Lutherie >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

jyee

Posts: 2
Joined: Jan. 4 2007
From: Denver, Colorado, USA

getting myself educated

My wife has been dancing flamenco for a couple years, introduced me to the flamenco community in Denver and took me to sevilla last fall... and now i think i'm hooked. so, it's time to get myself educated about flamenco guitars and hopefully invest in one.

As to education, what should i look for in a flamenco guitar? i've played acoustic steel strings for 15 years, so i assume most common things transfer: straight neck (although the flamenco guitars i've seen don't have truss rods... is this universal? lower string tension make the truss rod unnecessary?), good intonation, low action, solid woods, etc. anything distinctly different i should look for?

Also, i'm assuming that wood characteristics are universal - rosewood (negra - darker in sound), maple (brighter, tighter), cedar tops warmer than spruce, etc... where do cypress and sycamore (the other woods i commonly see) fall into the sound spectrum?

Finally any suggestions for starter flamenco guitars in the $300-500USD range? yamaha makes one in that range, but there must be better options.

I greatly appreciate any and all help as i dive into the world of flamenco!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 4 2007 19:55:17

Escribano

Posts: 6415
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Welcome jyee! You are in the right place to start a most intense and rewarding journey. Flamenco is a very demanding mistress.

Try a Search here for beginners' guitars, Yamaha etc. The Yamaha has some good feedback. Your budget is wisely modest. Don't get to hung up on equipment, I have heard great flamenco rapped on a table with the knuckles (though by flamencos with a singer, of course).

Myself, I think the Bernal is one of the most consistent but with the $ exchange rate?

About 600-700 Euros in Spain and the UK (más o menos).

First off, listen to as much flamenco as you can. Like all day, at work, in the car, in the bath. Subconciously, the compás needs to seep in. This is the most important aspect of flamenco. Think of the guitar as percussion though some here may disagree

Others will answer your questions about the guitar but for me THE flamenco guitar is a spruce top, cypress back and sides (the blanca). The other is the negra, rosewood back and sides. I prefer the crisp bark of the blanca but it's personal.

I liked a rosewood fingerboard to start out. Flamenco can use all 10 fingers in full-flight and ebony was too hard for me at first. That was after the electric guitar though.

_____________________________

Foro Flamenco founder and Admin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 4 2007 20:12:56

chinito

Posts: 104
Joined: Jun. 14 2004

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Welcome jyee,

Escribano's advice is dead on. Bernals and Yamahas are good instruments for the money. Quite a range of Bernals in either cypress or rosewood. Also among the better budget models are guitars made by Alhambra. Also do a search of past discussions on beginner instruments.
And yes, listen to as much flamenco as you can! Not just guitar, but cante as well. All this learning by osmosis pays off to be sure. You'll soon find yourself doing rasgueos on coffee mugs and palmas when your hands are idle. Tell your friends it's not "fidgeting", it's "practising".

Flamenco's gonna get you. Resistance is futile.

-Jake.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 0:18:19

Guest

[Deleted] (in reply to jyee)

[Deleted by Admins]

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 1:26:32

Guest

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

hello jeyee welcome to the right palace i will give you some ideas okay ,
1. if you have an old classical guitar you can begin on it first to take the first steps taping and this stuff.......
2. cordoba 3. alhambra 4. yamaha 5. admira
6.on ebay just type flamenco guitars and click musical instruments and just make search and sure you will find the best answer
regards and good luck

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 2:55:57

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Hi Jyee

I will take your budget serious, and from there on say.

You´ll get laminated back and sides and very few guitars in that range will be true flamenco guitars. Most factorys just build a guitar with pale looking wood and call it flamenco. I used to work in a shop selling guitars here in Granada, Spain, so I´ve touched a few. I have never never tried the Yamaha, but from what I´ve heard from people I trust, thats the one to buy. Later, in a couple of years, you can invest in something more fancy.

My advice is to buy that Yamaha, and play it. Dont waste your time looking around. Not much to see. Better to use the time to play

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

_____________________________

Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 8:07:02

JBASHORUN

Posts: 1839
Joined: Jan. 23 2005

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Jyee,

you won't get a top-of-the range guitar for your budget price. But Simon's (Escribano's) advice is sound. And the yamaha is probably your best bet- its got laminated cypress back and sides. I own one, and the sound doesn't compare to a high-end guitar, but easily beats a cheap classical.

One other brand that apparently delivers value for money is Amilio Burget.

welcome to the forum!

Jb

_____________________________

¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 17:37:13

Guest

[Deleted] (in reply to jyee)

[Deleted by Admins]

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 18:18:39

Jim Opfer

Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Hi Jyee, welcome to Foro.
The guys know what they're talking about.
Only thing I'd add is that a proper flamenco guitar has a lot of effort spent in making the set up right. By that I mean the string height off the soundboard and the action (string height) up the fret board.
Flamenco techniques are difficult to feel comfortable with at first and if someone sets to work playing on a factory guitar, it can sometimes feel TOO HARD unless you have a good teacher.
So I'd say, find as good teacher

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2007 21:47:21

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

I totally agree Jim.

The name of the guitar, materials etc are not the main thing. What counts is that you get something that suits you. (This counts on all levels)

So I add a little thing. Get a god teacher who can help you find a guitar with a good setup.

The Alhambra 3F is a good example. some can be very nice and some just a stiff box, with a rumble muddy sound and I still consider Alhambra amongst the best in that price level.

_____________________________

Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 6 2007 8:05:28

jyee

Posts: 2
Joined: Jan. 4 2007
From: Denver, Colorado, USA

RE: getting myself educated (in reply to jyee)

Thank you all for the great info!

Kevin, my wife is currently studying with Maria Velasques. i live a block away from the denver folklore center (on pearl), so that's where i do most of my guitar shopping/browsing, but they're primarily a steel string place and only have a couple classicals, no spanish or flamencos. same goes for Acoustic Music Revival on Broadway. The Guitar Center on Colorado Blvd. had a couple cordoba flamencos, but both seemed really over priced.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 7 2007 23:15:40

Guest

[Deleted] (in reply to jyee)