Manea Guitars?
Jefferson Holston
http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/catalog.htm
Direct link to photos
http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AM6186.jpg
The curious thing is the Gruhn website calls this a new guitar; but it's priced at about $3k less than the pricing on www.maneaguitars.com . I've looked at this thing for probably six months now... just sent a note to Gruhn's to ask about it.
Since this is such an unknown, I doubt that I'd buy it without a test drive or (at least) a strong recommendation from someone here who's real discerning and knowlegeable. But it looks *really-really* cool!
Jeff
Misifus
Is that an inlay of clapping hands on the back?
-Raf
--
Misifus-
Rafael Seibert
mailto:rafse...@suddenlink.net
blog: http://rafsrincon.blogspot.com/
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiii
home: http://www.rafandsioux.com
Jefferson Holston
"Misifus" <rafse...@suddenlink.net> wrote in message news:5vfak4F...@mid.individual.net...
> Jefferson Holston wrote:
>> It's the GAS thing again dammit!! Does anybody have experience with guitars built by Dumitru Manea. I'm kind of curious about a 12er at Gruhn's. It's #AM6186 on the catalog page.
>>
>> http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/catalog.htm
>>
>> Direct link to photos
>>
>> http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AM6186.jpg
>>
>> The curious thing is the Gruhn website calls this a new guitar; but it's priced at about $3k less than the pricing on www.maneaguitars.com . I've looked at this thing for probably six months now... just sent a note to Gruhn's to ask about it.
>>
>> Since this is such an unknown, I doubt that I'd buy it without a test drive or (at least) a strong recommendation from someone here who's real discerning and knowlegeable. But it looks *really-really* cool!
>>
>> Jeff
>
>
> Is that an inlay of clapping hands on the back?
>
> -Raf
>
> --
Jeff
Larry Pattis
> > It's the GAS thing again dammit!! Does anybody have experience with
> > guitars built by Dumitru Manea. I'm kind of curious about a 12er at
> > Gruhn's. It's #AM6186 on the catalog page.
> >
> > http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/catalog.htm
> >
> > Direct link to photos
> >
> > http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AM6186.jpg
> >
> > The curious thing is the Gruhn website calls this a new guitar; but it's
> > priced at about $3k less than the pricing on www.maneaguitars.com . I've
> > looked at this thing for probably six months now... just sent a note to
> > Gruhn's to ask about it.
> >
> > Since this is such an unknown, I doubt that I'd buy it without a test drive
> > or (at least) a strong recommendation from someone here who's real
> > discerning and knowlegeable. But it looks *really-really* cool!
> >
The one thing that jumps out at me with this guitar is the very
small/short right-hand "sweet-spot" due to *so* many frets.
Not a lot of range for the right hand, based on the builder's choice in
this regard.
Just MHO.
--
Larry Pattis
email: LP "at" LarryPattis "dot" com
http://www.LarryPattis.com
Jefferson Holston
"Larry Pattis" <Neve...@spam.invalid> wrote in message news:190120081418364910%Neve...@spam.invalid...
That's a good observation, and something I didn't even know to look for! Not only would I have had to play the thing to figure that out, it's one more of those examples of how my 40 years of noodling ought to have made me smarter than I am.
Thanks,
Jeff
Sacramento Dave
"Jefferson Holston" <captai...@KEEPYERSPAM.verizon.net> wrote in message
news:iltkj.11221$LN4.3218@trnddc07...
http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/catalog.htm
Direct link to photos
http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AM6186.jpg
Jeff
I would not buy one just because of the hands( even if they do come off ,
with acetone hum )
Jefferson Holston
"Sacramento Dave" <dia...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:h4wkj.844$so6...@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
The hands thing puts me off a bit too.
Jeff
David L. Martel
When you say sweet spot do you mean the cut away? To me the sweet spot is
the place where the guitar sounds really good, often between the 5th and
10th fret. The cut away does seem small. I don't play a 12 string much but I
never need to go too high up the neck I do think that extending the fret
board into the sound hole is silly.
Dave M.
Larry Pattis
<mart...@earthlink.net> wrote:
No, Dave...I'm talking about the sweet spot(s) under the right hand,
which is usually somewhere directly over the soundhole, or inching
towards the closer-to-the-bridge-edge of the soundhole.
For players that try to use the different tonalities available under
the right hand (crisper towards the bridge, warmer towards the
fingerboard), the simple distance from the bridge to the end of the
fingerboard is important...and this guitar has a bunch of extra frets
(hah!).
This is the builders choice, of course, but in doing so, the end of the
fingerboard (and thus the soundhole) is pretty darned close to the
bridge. The "playable distance" (under the right hand) from bridge to
end-of-fingerboard is extremely short on this guitar, and will reduce
the variety of tonal differences available.
What the hell, it's a 12-string, and most people just use 'em like
musical baseball bats...not much nuance or subtlety...
8-)
All kidding aside, and without ever having touched this particular
guitar, the possibility of a limited range of tonalities under the
right hand would be the *first* thing I would be exploring if I did
have this guitar in my hands...be it 6 or 12 string.
David Kilpatrick
>
> All kidding aside, and without ever having touched this particular
> guitar, the possibility of a limited range of tonalities under the
> right hand would be the *first* thing I would be exploring if I did
> have this guitar in my hands...be it 6 or 12 string.
>
It's not that unusual with jumbo bodies. 12-fret parlours can be great -
about a foot to play along from bridge to over the top frets.
However, this guitar seems to have been made with something useful in
mind, and that is a full octave of mandolin pitch on the top courses,
enabling it to double for mandolin style high solos because it has two
octaves on the top two strings, and unison double courses.
David
Jefferson Holston
"Larry Pattis" <Neve...@spam.invalid> wrote in message news:190120081724030643%Neve...@spam.invalid...
> In article <13p573l...@corp.supernews.com>, David L. Martel
> <mart...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> What the hell, it's a 12-string, and most people just use 'em like
> musical baseball bats...not much nuance or subtlety...
>
I prefer Weapon of Musical Destruction (WMD), or just plain musical nuke.
Jeff
Misifus
> Jefferson Holston wrote:
>> It's the GAS thing again dammit!! Does anybody have experience with
>> guitars built by Dumitru Manea. I'm kind of curious about a 12er at
>> Gruhn's. It's #AM6186 on the catalog page.
>>
>> http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/catalog.htm
>> Direct link to photos
>>
>> http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AM6186.jpg
>>
>> The curious thing is the Gruhn website calls this a new guitar; but
>> it's priced at about $3k less than the pricing on www.maneaguitars.com
>> . I've looked at this thing for probably six months now... just sent
>> a note to Gruhn's to ask about it.
>> Since this is such an unknown, I doubt that I'd buy it without a test
>> drive or (at least) a strong recommendation from someone here who's
>> real discerning and knowlegeable. But it looks *really-really* cool!
>>
>> Jeff
>
>
> Is that an inlay of clapping hands on the back?
>
> -Raf
>
As an aside, I was driving home from my daughter's house this evening,
and Mr. Dumitru Manea called me to answer my question about his guitar,
and to explain that he wasn't happy with George Gruhn selling his
instruments at that price. He explained that Gruhn couldn't give a
maker's warranty, such as would come with a guitar bought from him directly.
Mr. Manea further explained that he had invested over $400,000 in
production machinery for his new operation. I had to explain that I
wasn't really in the market for another new guitar right now. He was,
however, very eager to be of whatever help he could.
Larry Pattis
<rafse...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
> As an aside, I was driving home from my daughter's house this evening,
> and Mr. Dumitru Manea called me to answer my question about his guitar,
> and to explain that he wasn't happy with George Gruhn selling his
> instruments at that price. He explained that Gruhn couldn't give a
> maker's warranty, such as would come with a guitar bought from him directly.
>
> Mr. Manea further explained that he had invested over $400,000 in
> production machinery for his new operation. I had to explain that I
> wasn't really in the market for another new guitar right now. He was,
> however, very eager to be of whatever help he could.
>
> -Raf
He also called my home when I was out at the grocery store this
afternoon.
His website has some interesting details about his life history.
Derek
Mike Brown
The guitars would have to be VERY good for me to consider one at that price.
I would also prefer a much less ornate instrument (which might cost less
too.
MJRB
Larry Pattis
> > The one thing that jumps out at me with this guitar is the very
> > small/short right-hand "sweet-spot" due to *so* many frets.
> >
> > Not a lot of range for the right hand, based on the builder's choice in
> > this regard.
> >
> > Just MHO.
Jefferson Holston <captai...@KEEPYERSPAM.verizon.net> wrote:
>
> That's a good observation, and something I didn't even know to look for! Not
> only would I have had to play the thing to figure that out, it's one more of
> those examples of how my 40 years of noodling ought to have made me smarter
> than I am.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff
Jeff,
For a guitar with any given scale length, this distance (bridge to end
of fretboard) is pre-determined by the scale itself, and number of
frets the builder decides to use...and assuming that the soundhole is
then located snugged-up to the end of the fingerboard.
It doesn't matter if the guitar is a 6 string, 12 string, classical,
and it is also regardless of the body size/shape, parlor, 000, dread,
etc.
It's just a fixed distance, and when you get an unusual beast like this
guitar (24 frets) it just jumped out at me, visually.
I pay attention to stuff like this because I keep examining scale
lengths, and also other ergonomic issues. It's always easy to count
the number of frets...anything more than 20 full frets and this
distance under the right hand will get squeezed a bit.
For the 24" scale I am settling in on, I think 18 full frets and a
partial 19th gives me great range under the right hand.
I am also thinking of doing partial frets (not extending fully over to
the bass side of the fingerboard, and removing some thickness of
fingerboard there, as well) above the 16th fret, so my right hand
thumb/thumbnail doesn't get caught on the edges if I am playing up that
high on the strings with my right hand.
Jefferson Holston
"Larry Pattis" <Neve...@spam.invalid> wrote in message news:210120081320125426%Neve...@spam.invalid...
<snip>
>
> Jeff,
>
> For a guitar with any given scale length, this distance (bridge to end
> of fretboard) is pre-determined by the scale itself, and number of
> frets the builder decides to use...and assuming that the soundhole is
> then located snugged-up to the end of the fingerboard.
>
> It doesn't matter if the guitar is a 6 string, 12 string, classical,
> and it is also regardless of the body size/shape, parlor, 000, dread,
> etc.
>
> It's just a fixed distance, and when you get an unusual beast like this
> guitar (24 frets) it just jumped out at me, visually.
>
> I pay attention to stuff like this because I keep examining scale
> lengths, and also other ergonomic issues. It's always easy to count
> the number of frets...anything more than 20 full frets and this
> distance under the right hand will get squeezed a bit.
>
> For the 24" scale I am settling in on, I think 18 full frets and a
> partial 19th gives me great range under the right hand.
>
> I am also thinking of doing partial frets (not extending fully over to
> the bass side of the fingerboard, and removing some thickness of
> fingerboard there, as well) above the 16th fret, so my right hand
> thumb/thumbnail doesn't get caught on the edges if I am playing up that
> high on the strings with my right hand.
>
Of course! That's one of those bits of knowledge I'd long ago filed away for future reference, never to think about it ever again. This is another one of those guitars, about which I was more curious than serious. But you're observation makes it pretty clear that this isn't something that would work for me because it has frets precisely where my right hand tends to want to play.
Thanks again for the observation, it's these little lessons that keep me hanging around here.
Jeff
Larry Pattis
> >
> > Jeff,
> >
> > For a guitar with any given scale length, this distance (bridge to end
> > of fretboard) is pre-determined by the scale itself, and number of
> > frets the builder decides to use...and assuming that the soundhole is
> > then located snugged-up to the end of the fingerboard.
> >
> > It doesn't matter if the guitar is a 6 string, 12 string, classical,
> > and it is also regardless of the body size/shape, parlor, 000, dread,
> > etc.
> >
> > It's just a fixed distance, and when you get an unusual beast like this
> > guitar (24 frets) it just jumped out at me, visually.
> >
> > I pay attention to stuff like this because I keep examining scale
> > lengths, and also other ergonomic issues. It's always easy to count
> > the number of frets...anything more than 20 full frets and this
> > distance under the right hand will get squeezed a bit.
> >
> > For the 24" scale I am settling in on, I think 18 full frets and a
> > partial 19th gives me great range under the right hand.
> >
> > I am also thinking of doing partial frets (not extending fully over to
> > the bass side of the fingerboard, and removing some thickness of
> > fingerboard there, as well) above the 16th fret, so my right hand
> > thumb/thumbnail doesn't get caught on the edges if I am playing up that
> > high on the strings with my right hand.
Jefferson Holston <captai...@KEEPYERSPAM.verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Of course! That's one of those bits of knowledge I'd long ago filed away for
> future reference, never to think about it ever again. This is another one of
> those guitars, about which I was more curious than serious. But you're
> observation makes it pretty clear that this isn't something that would work
> for me because it has frets precisely where my right hand tends to want to
> play.
>
> Thanks again for the observation, it's these little lessons that keep me hanging around here.
>
> Jeff
Sometimes I throw off a good one.
Actually, this appears to be a pretty nice guitar in most respects, and
priced to sell...it just needs the right buyer...maybe someone that
wants to take a flatpick to it, and have some fun!
wendym...@gmail.com
> It's the GAS thing again dammit!! Does anybody have experience with guitars built by Dumitru Manea. I'm kind of curious about a 12er at Gruhn's. It's #AM6186 on the catalog page.
I am his secretary Wendy. I know this post is old however Dumitru Manea is one of the finest guitar craftsmen in the world. His guitars and other various products are sold to some of the finest musicians and companies in the world. They are all hand made only by Dumitru and made only with the finest and highest quality there is. If you ever wanted to have a show case piece, Dumitru's guitars are the way to go! These are guitars you can not find any where else in the world, by any one else, and certainly not something you get at a guitar shop or at Sam ash. For example, just to go to his soon to be open shop you must be a member.. His website is a2z4u.biz andmaneaguitars.com
manea1...@gmail.com
Steve Daniels
compelled manea1...@gmail.com, to say:
>Have you checked out my website lately?
don hindenach
> Have you checked out my website lately? www.maneaguitars.com There is a lot of great informantion that could come in handy.
that is one of the more annoying sites I have visited lately
what were you *thinking?*
--
-donh-
donh at audiosys dot com
hank alrich
> On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:18:40 -0800 (PST)
> manea1...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > Have you checked out my website lately? www.maneaguitars.com There is
> >a lot of great informantion that could come in handy.
> >
> damn.
>
> that is one of the more annoying sites I have visited lately
> what were you *thinking?*
I was thinking I wouldn't go there, but then apparently you did, which
has piqued my curiosity, but I still don't want to.
--
shut up and play your guitar * HankAlrich.Com
HankandShaidriMusic.Com
YouTube.Com/WalkinayMusic
don hindenach
walk...@nv.net (hank alrich) wrote:
> don hindenach <do...@audiosys.com> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:18:40 -0800 (PST)
> > manea1...@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > > Have you checked out my website lately? www.maneaguitars.com There is
> > >a lot of great informantion that could come in handy.
> > >
> > damn.
> >
> > that is one of the more annoying sites I have visited lately
>
> Would you characterize the annoyance as viral, or bacterial?
>
> > what were you *thinking?*
>
> I was thinking I wouldn't go there, but then apparently you did, which
> has piqued my curiosity, but I still don't want to.
>
> --
> shut up and play your guitar * HankAlrich.Com
> HankandShaidriMusic.Com
> YouTube.Com/WalkinayMusic
Steve Daniels
compelled don hindenach <do...@audiosys.com>, to say:
>> I was thinking I wouldn't go there, but then apparently you did, which
>> has piqued my curiosity, but I still don't want to.
>
>good move. silly ever-hopeful me. save it for when you need something extra to scream about.
sparseness.
don hindenach
gtr
> Master Luthier Dumitru Manea makes some of the best products in the
> world for those who understand and appreciate fine art. Not a fancy
> website, but the message is good. For anyone that spends their entire
> lives on a project we all need to respect that (them)... We all need to
> find our calling on this planet and do that. Cheers every one!!!
When when pimping your website it's wise to actually provide the name
of the website.
Tony Done
> On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 12:48:48 PM UTC-5,
>> Master Luthier Dumitru Manea makes some of the best products in the
>> world for those who understand and appreciate fine art. Not a fancy
>> website, but the message is good. For anyone that spends their
>> entire lives on a project we all need to respect that (them)... We
>> all need to find our calling on this planet and do that. Cheers
>> every one!!!
>
>
A few more pics would be good. Are all the pedals BYOC?
--
Tony Done
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456
http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/