Mexican Guitars
Marc Frucht
On Sun, 14 Feb 1999, Sherry Katz wrote:
>
> Does anyone have any experience with Mexican guitars. I'm not talking about
> the cheapo stuff you see in the markets, I'm talking about guitars like I'm
> describing which are obviously made by some real craftsmen.
The only classical guitar I own was made in Mexico in the 50's. Like the
ones you describe, this was handmade in its entirety. It's the loudest
prettiest sounding acoustic guitar I've ever played in my life.
David Schramm
instruments that you are describing is that they are built with little or no
humidity control. I have observed many of such instruments and have noticed
that the fingerboards soon start to become concave that is curved inwards. Most
of the time the woods are not well seasoned so they are working with wet wood.
Buyer Beware!
DS
Sherry Katz wrote:
> I was in Mexico this weekend (Rosarito) and asked at the hotel about guitar
> shops in Tijuana. (I already know one dedicated music store there, the Casa
> de Music (?) on Revolution). He told me about the Sevillano guitar shop on
> the free road coming from Rosarito to Ensenada. It was incredible. They
> make guitars, each one entirely hand made. They will make you a custom
> guitar to your specification, you can buy a pre-made guitar, or you can buy
> a partially made guitar that they will finish for you within a couple of
> hours. They also make Basso Sexto, Requinto, Viheula and Mandolins. I
> played a number of the guitars - many of them were quite beautiful with
> elaborate inlay. The sound of some was very full and rich, others,
> depending upon the material were thinner sounding. They make just about
> every combination of cedar, spruce, maple, rosewood (indian and mexican)
> that one might want. Many of the guitars have cutouts.
>
> On the negative side, the necks were quite wide - I'd say even on the edge
> of about as wide as it gets for Classical guitars. The metal tuning
> mechanisms were not of the highest quality - but higher quality mechanisms
> were an option. The wood quality was not the same as a US guitar that would
> be hand made - I think they pretty much use all the wood they have. And, if
> you examine the guitars carefully there are flaws in the workmanship that
> you would probably not find on a handmade guitar in the US.
>
> Still, the guitars were pretty amazing, and I understand there is a region
> of Mexico where there are many luthiers making similar guitars. I went into
> Tijuana and found several very nice, handmade guitars at the music store
> there, and in fact bought a requinto there.
>
> The really amazing thing about these mexican hand made guitars is that the
> prices started at about $200 for a basic guitar made entirely of cedar and
> ran to about $650 for a custom basso sexto with elaborate inlay, Indian
> Rosewood Back and sides, and a spruce top. I am very impressed with the
> requinto that I bought and I brought it up to McCabes guitar shop to check a
> couple of things out, and was confirmed that everything is working perfectly
> and it sounds great.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with Mexican guitars. I'm not talking about
> the cheapo stuff you see in the markets, I'm talking about guitars like I'm
> describing which are obviously made by some real craftsmen.
>
> Sherry Katz
Spencer Doidge
I have liked every Mexican guitar I have ever seen--even the bad ones.
There is something irresistible to me about the look, sound, and feel
of a Mexican CG. Of course, if I were spending significant money or
expecting this to be my only or main guitar, I would still want to
know a lot about the maker and how the maker's guitars hold up. That
applies to any maker, not just Mexican.
Spencer Doidge
---------------------------------------------------
offering downloadable arrangements and compositions
for classical and fingerpicking guitar at
http://www.teleport.com/~spencerd
---------------------------------------------------
William Jennings
The best place to find guitars in Mexico is the town of Paracho. There are
several very good luthiers including Fructuoso Zalapa. He has studied in Spain
and other places learning his craft.
Paracho is about 21/2 hours drive time from Guadalajara and very inexpensive to
visit.
Zalapa's address is Benito Juarez 297, Paracho, Michoacan, 60250, Mexico
I will be going myself in April. A requinto is excellent for use as a small
guitar. Requires very precise left hand fingerings and is just plain fun.
I fly into Guadalajara and take the bus, less hassle. Take good strings with
you! And warm clothes, it's in the mountains and rather cool. A lot of
guitarist come and go through here from all over. Interesting cheap guitar place
to visit.
wdj
JamieWG
In article <7a7ok5$q...@dfw-ixnews4.ix.netcom.com>, "Sherry Katz"
<slk...@ix.netcom.com> writes:
>
>Does anyone have any experience with Mexican guitars. I'm not talking about
>the cheapo stuff you see in the markets, I'm talking about guitars like I'm
>describing which are obviously made by some real craftsmen.
I have two lovely guitars made by Paracho luthier Benjamin Garcia. One is
spruce/palo escrito and the other is cedar/palo escrito. The cedar is superior
to the spruce and offers more in both volume and tone. They are a wonderful
value for the money, though neither could replace my concert instrument.
Jamie
Jamie W. Grossman
Intermediate Classical Guitar Repertoire Favorites Homepage:
http://www.maui.net/~rtadaki/intcgrep.html
Jim
the 70s, with a lable showing it was made by Enos Hernandez Q. It has
wonderful tone and great volume; plays with a warm sound that fills the
room. I love it.
JamieWG wrote in message <19990215202612...@ngol08.aol.com>...
GuitarsWeB
flamencos and four classicals. They are very nice. Navarro was a student of
Jose Romanillos, the English luthier. They are very Spanish looking.
Louis Sevellano, in Tijuana is making some really nice instrument now. He just
made a clone of a world class builder here in California( I'll let you figure
out who) and it came out very nice. The buyer bought his own Shaller
heads,ebony fret board and cocobolo from Luthiers Mercantile. Sevillano didn't
have any cocobolo. The guitar was less than $1000 after all was done. Well
worth the money. But as Dave Sshramm, a Fresno luthier, pointed out, these
people don't use any humidity control. So, what happens...happens. As I tell
people you must pay a lot of money to get the extra 10% in anything. In others
words" it aint no COLT".
Some of you will understnd what I'm saying there some will be in the dark. All
in all, they are still worth the money.
Paul
Pedro Salcedo
My father is a Clasic Gitar player and now I have four excellent guitars in my
house to sell so, if you're interested please, send me an E-Mail
The Gitars was made by Paulino Bernabe and you can only find them in Madrid, the
cost is $800.00, this is an excelent value cost. It is one of the best valued
constructors of the world
Best Regards
Pedro Salcedo
sal...@bigfoot.com
W J Vlymen, MD, PhD
Surely this is a misprint?!
Larry Deack
>Surely this is a misprint?!
Well I should think so. Maybe he already sold it at that price :-).
Shouldn't there be another zero on the price? GSI lists all Paulino
Bernabe's at $5,000 and up range.
RRACHID
($800.00) or less.
They are not sold in the US.
dvdgr...@gmail.com
One has to really make sure that the intonation is dead on ....mine is the most stable guitar I've ever encountered ...It is real sensitive to temp.& elevation ...It seems to change with the seasons...I hope I get to go there and play with him again ...He , his kids & friends fly on those wide fingerboads....they totally transformed my playing ...