The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Classical

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 10-13-2017, 09:36 AM
flagstaffcharli flagstaffcharli is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,629
Default North American Guitar Makers

I have been researching GV Rubio guitars as I plan to add a good classical guitar at some point. It looks like he sells an "estudio" model under $3K that gets favorable reviews. That appears to be a good deal and maybe a step up from mass-produced guitars. (Nothing against factories. I love, love, love my Martins!)

Who are the other North American builders who are able to offer something similar?

Thanks!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-13-2017, 01:53 PM
Dylan Dylan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: State College PA
Posts: 85
Default

I'll be watching this too, since I am planning to enter the market for a new classical soon too!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-13-2017, 01:59 PM
Gitfiddlemann Gitfiddlemann is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,359
Default

Tom Presloe and Kenny Hill come to mind. Alejandro Cervantes is another.
Presloe oversees his more economical Pavan builds, and Hill does the same for his New World player series. Both in that price range or under, both offering good value for the buck in terms of the quality you get (imo).
I believe the street price for Cervantes classical models are in the 3K or under range, but I could be wrong about that.
It might be easier to find Hill and Cervantes at music stores if you wanted to try some out.
__________________
Best regards,
Andre

Golf is pretty simple. It's just not that easy.
- Paul Azinger

"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
– Mark Twain

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gitfiddlemann
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-13-2017, 02:12 PM
silverfox103 silverfox103 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 50
Default

Flagstaffcharlie is looking for a quality built North American guitar. That eliminates the Kenny Hill New World, made in China guitars. I don't know about the others.

Tom
__________________
Guild Mark VI, Hoboken 1968
Guild Mark V, Hoboken 1966
Guild Mark IV, Hoboken 1970

Herk Favilla Mahogany Classical, 1960's
Alvarez Yairi CYM 95, 2004
Dauphin DS65CE, 1992
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-13-2017, 03:26 PM
markrj markrj is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 759
Default

Larrivee will make you a classical guitar.

My 1977 Larrivee Classical is a keeper. Label is signed by Jean himself. Was told by Larrivee, that Linda Manzer took part in the creation of my guitar. You can get them used for somewhere between $1200 and $1800 seems to be the last range I saw them in. Mine is not for sale. Ever.

A new one has a list price of $4,200
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-13-2017, 03:37 PM
smwink smwink is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Hudson, MA
Posts: 199
Default

Johnny Walker in OK

If you're willing to go with something used, then you can get a lot of guitar for $3K.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-13-2017, 03:37 PM
Rodger Knox Rodger Knox is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Baltimore, Md.
Posts: 2,431
Default

I believe Al Carruth builds classical guitars, he posts on here regularly. He may be more than you're willing to spend.
__________________
Rodger Knox, PE
1917 Martin 0-28
1956 Gibson J-50
et al
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-13-2017, 03:53 PM
Truckjohn Truckjohn is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,307
Default

The difficulty here is that our hand made acoustic guitar market is fairly young. Most builders have less than 20 years in and few apprenticed with anyone. In Spain - "estudio" models are generally made by apprentices working under supervision in the master's shop. They are still good instruments - just perhaps less consistent or not as finely finished vs the Standard/Master models...

Hardly any American makers take apprentices... By far most are one man shops... Probably as time progresses - we will see a system develop similar to Europe... We are just less mature along that path.

Last edited by Truckjohn; 10-13-2017 at 04:00 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-13-2017, 04:10 PM
Gitfiddlemann Gitfiddlemann is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,359
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverfox103 View Post
Flagstaffcharlie is looking for a quality built North American guitar. That eliminates the Kenny Hill New World, made in China guitars. I don't know about the others.

Tom
That's how you read it, and you might be right. But the OP specifically said "North American builders", and not North American builds.
Regardless, there is no harm in the OP getting info on these North Americans, even if they oversee production somewhere else for their more economical offerings. There's nothing hidden about that on their respective websites. The OP can choose to dismiss them on that basis if he prefers. Or not, in the event that he tries one and finds it to his liking!
__________________
Best regards,
Andre

Golf is pretty simple. It's just not that easy.
- Paul Azinger

"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
– Mark Twain

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gitfiddlemann
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-13-2017, 04:21 PM
CE Sobel CE Sobel is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Ridgefield, WA
Posts: 105
Default

Hello,

The GV Rubios you’re talking about are made in his shop by his newphew I believe. I hear they are a good value for $$.

The following newer classical NA makers who are priced under 5k all apprenticed or were closely mentored over several years by well known builders:

Andy Culpepper
Michael Cadiz
Greg Miller
Myself
Maxwell Sipe

And there are quite a few more, I’m just familiar with their work in particular. Greg has a background in fine furniture making and his workmanship is at a very very high level, even compared to experienced makers. Andy’s guitars are great and he is growing a big reputation; still at a very reasonable price. The same can be said about Max as well.

Cheers,

Chris
__________________
Christopher Sobel
Sobel Guitars
www.sobelguitars.com
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 10-13-2017, 04:41 PM
zhunter zhunter is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,346
Default

Francisco Navarro, Salvador Castillo.

hunter
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 10-13-2017, 07:43 PM
fitness1's Avatar
fitness1 fitness1 is offline
Musical minimalist
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Central Lower Michigan
Posts: 22,108
Default

Cervantes makes wonderful instruments in California.

http://www.cervantesguitars.com/

There was a builder on Delcamp a couple years ago named Chris Conery from Colorado that was building some very nice sounding instruments for 3-4k range.

http://coneryguitars.com/Gallery,_Te...samplings.html

This may be a very nice piece too at the new price!

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=485563
__________________
"One small heart, and a great big soul that's driving"


Last edited by fitness1; 10-13-2017 at 07:59 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-13-2017, 11:09 PM
flagstaffcharli flagstaffcharli is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,629
Default

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

To be clear - since maybe I wasn’t - I meant guitars built here in North America Rubio’s guitars are interesting to me, and I am looking for comparable builders.

I know there are wonderful guitars coming from every part of the world. The Kenny Hill and Cordoba guitars are pretty common topics in guitar circles, and I understand they are well regarded.

I think the GV Rubio Estudio in sp/pe with a 640 mm scale and 50mm nut is probably my current frontrunner. I’m a steel string guy, and it is going to be played in folksinger position sitting on my right leg. The shorter scale and slightly narrower nut seem like good options. But I’m still researching this.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 10-13-2017, 11:40 PM
Guitar Slim II Guitar Slim II is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 180
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverfox103 View Post
Flagstaffcharlie is looking for a quality built North American guitar. That eliminates the Kenny Hill New World, made in China guitars. I don't know about the others.

Tom
What about the other Hill guitars? New World has been controversial since he started it. But I'm pretty sure the high-end models are still hand-built in workshops in California and Mexico -- at least they used to be.

Fantastic guitars, too. The workshop-built ones, anyway.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 10-14-2017, 08:01 AM
Carey Carey is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Los Osos, CA
Posts: 838
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by flagstaffcharli View Post
Thanks for all the great suggestions!

To be clear - since maybe I wasn’t - I meant guitars built here in North America Rubio’s guitars are interesting to me, and I am looking for comparable builders.

I know there are wonderful guitars coming from every part of the world. The Kenny Hill and Cordoba guitars are pretty common topics in guitar circles, and I understand they are well regarded.

I think the GV Rubio Estudio in sp/pe with a 640 mm scale and 50mm nut is probably my current frontrunner. I’m a steel string guy, and it is going to be played in folksinger position sitting on my right leg. The shorter scale and slightly narrower nut seem like good options. But I’m still researching this.
German Vasquez is a good choice, and Francisco Navarro is worth checking out, too.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Classical

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:46 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=