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Luthier Marcello Quinteros (Buenos Aires)?
murrayatuptowngaller
Holland, MINew wooden guitars
Hello:
I'm new/old here...figured out my previous username was registered with an email address I no longer have...so a new similar username evolved.
I was watching on Reverb Paul McEvoy's repaired round bouche DiMauro that recently sold and realized my unintentional obsession with archtops & f-holes drew me to the DiMauro Chorus Deluxe style.
Hey, that solves the oval vs D dilemma, but they are not common and rarely economical.
I saw a seller with low sales numbers in San Isidro Argentina selling a couple of Marcelo Quinteros manouche guitars.
The luthier makes a lot of South American instruments, classical guitars and manouche guitars in oval, D, & f-hole styles. He had one described as 'gitanita' which I assume is smaller than short scale. His manouche guitars this year have s/n's in the 350 range. But this could include all of his builds, some of which have been customs.
There are a lot of unknowns and potentially risks with such a purchase, but I'm just looking & reading. The pricing with delivery is reasonable (appears to be about USD1500 with 'basic' woods, delivered to USA). This has crept up over a few or more years from about $1000.
But, at least to me, the luthier is seemingly unknown in N. America. The videos I find of his f-hole style manouche builds are few and far between. They appear 'competent' but cautious, and not particularly demonstrative of a wide range of technique, style or chops. I am not personally better, but naturally, wish for more 'impressive' demonstration.
So I'm just curious if anyone has any knowledge of the luthier Marcelo Quinteros. Some of his guitars bear a MQ mark.
I think I am quite unlikely to ever apply my interest in luthiery toward a BYO instrument. In other words, having an instrument built by someone else may be the only way I acquire one. That is what got me browsing the web out of curiosity again. I am nearing retirement & have a history of recurring trigger finger (tenosynovitis) on more fingers than not (several) due to work & work habits. I should spend my time playing carefully a properly made instrument instead of imagining myself undertaking a hand-intensive building hobby as an obstacle to the playing side. (Reality check, considering how many things I start & never finish).
Thanks for reading this far. I realize I could have simply asked if anyone knows of this luthier, but sharing what the heck I'm thinking might be useful to anyone contemplating that question less politely ;@).
Thank you
Murray Leshner
Holland, MI
Comments
I don’t know this luthier but I can recommend the JWC Sweet Chorus which sounds like it will suit your needs, a bit more expensive but not a lot more, worth it if you can stretch to it. I’ve played a few and all have been excellent.
Thank you, Lucky.
Nice guitar & website by JWC.
Murray
Hey Murry, I also saw these Marcelo Quinteros guitars both on ebay and Reverb but couldn't find any information , so I wrote to the guy, Jose, who I guess is the distributor. I didn't get much info from him either (such as specs, what kind of woods, etc.). So, it's all pretty vague, which is a shame because who knows? Maybe these are really great guitars, or at least a good value, but we just don't know because there seems to be no reviews, sound samples or even any info on the pedigree of the instruments. You could just end up with something that sounds like a block of wood!
They're "probably" good guitars. The f hole one that's on reverb right now sounds very nice. Good to know there's a reasonable option for a luthier made guitar. Risto Ivanovski who made my guitar is another reasonably priced luthier. He was at $2K for a long time, now I think his basic build (which you get a lot of options to customize) is $2.5K.
Yeah, well this is the thing, right? Seems wise to go with other options.
I'd stick with a luthier or distributor that you're able to communicate with and is responsive, at the very least. If you're sold on a Chorus style, I'd suggest you consider an Altamira in the sub-$1500 range.
I would. But I'd be more interested to find out what the build quality is rather than easily replaceable part. He's in Argentina after all, don't think he's in position to source a top of the line parts.
But, looking and zooming in at the photographs on the reverb listing, looks like some details could be on the rougher side. Which, at that price, still isn't that much of a problem if it sounds good and plays well.
Right off the bench
I don't know the first thing about Quinteros guitars, but some other things to consider: they have had a GJ scene in BA for a very long time and some pretty good players there going back to Oscar Aleman. Argentina is a big country with a long history of guitars of all kinds - they make a lot of guitars there. Sergio Repiso made pretty good Selmer type guitars in Argentina - he was like Dupont or the Gerome brothers. He made every kind of guitar. It doesn't seem to be especially difficult to make a basic Selmer-style guitar, either in an Asian industrial setting or in a small shop anywhere on earth, judging by the number of people and factories making them.
The D-hole Quinteros I looked at on reverb had a pretty nice looking top, the headstock lacked the grace of the classic Selmer peghead, as noted had a cheap tailpiece, it did not appear to be over finished, and the fit and finish looks a bit rough, not uncommon on base model Latin American guitars. On the video, it sounded OK to me and the action seemed low. The price is fair and DHL shipping is very reliable
I'd bet it's a good guitar for the price, at least as good as most factory guitars, though it's also probably also a bit more fragile and will need more care/work over time. I guess it's down to how much risk you want to take...
Why doesn't someone ask Gonzalo Bergara? He's from Argentina and may know something about them.