Luthier Marcello Quinteros (Buenos Aires)?

pdg

Some classicals have 660mm scales, but not much more. Except one discontinued Martin model -- which kind if plays like a GJ guitar.

Not to mention, 12-fret necks. So 670-mm GJ guitar necks go more to the "left" than even long-scale classicals.

murrayatuptowngaller

I found a back view on the luthier's FB page as an 'outsider'.

murrayatuptowngaller

OK, thanks for the correction/clarification on scale lengths

murrayatuptowngaller

Arrived safely and quickly.

I think the Australian Walnut back & sides are possibly Queensland based on internet opinion of how it's commonly used for guitars. The back isn't highly figured & I think there it may be a two-piece back. I'm not sure I found a line down the center. No idea if laminated or solid for the walnut. I asked the seller because the more accurate info I have, the more intelligent answers I can offer about a slightly mysterious guitar.

Tuners seem to stay where I put them but there is something I don't like about them. I may just be unfamiliar with how open-gear acoustic guitar tuners are supposed to feel. If I compare them to relubed NOS Kluson DeLuxe tuners replaced on my Gibson, then have no complaints about the Quinteros Guitar's tuners. The Klusons are a pain. I guess it's all relative. I can't imagine violin peg style tuners on a guitar.

I'm pleased with it but realize I have never been closer than 50 feet away from a manouche guitar (twice, an Eimers and a Favino), so I am a total beginner with this kind of guitar. While I expect some differences from a petite bouche instrument, I did not expect this to sound kind of neutral when strummed with fingers and a lack of GJ technique. It sounds like a small acoustic guitar. I expected something more alien.

So I am going to do some Zoom lessons with someone remote whose life in music I respect. I asked him if he would work with a theory idiot savant with a disconnect between hands & brain. He didn't acknowledge my 'credentials' but said he was still teaching. I haven't taken any lessons in 30 years. Just WWW. Time flies. Retiring so no more excuses.

I ordered a variety of picks, a ToneRite & a few old theory e-books (I can never resist) from our host Michael H.

I doubt I would find very many people teaching locally. I know some local musicians with music degrees who are enthusiastic fans of the genre, but they only knew Django. I dropped some names of modern players and there was no recognition of any of them. (Stochelo, Bireli, Tchavolo, Dorado, Wawau. Et cetera)

Interesting that they were half my age and at the 'roots' level. Maybe a prof steered them directly. I bought one Django LP in the early(?) 80's only because my mother showed me Stephane Grappelli on TV and mentioned Django. I also bought tern-aged Bireli's Routes to Django LP at the same time because it had the name Django on it ;@).

Kind of funny to be the 'old guy' now and acknowledge what younger people are playing in music stores to their surprise. Makes their day.

Today I heard a kid playing Jaco solos...maybe Teen Town. I said where's Jaco? Oh, you know Jaco? Sure, not personally. I took black & white photos of him with Weather Report. Jaw drops.

Another time I walked past a kid playing scales. Only half listening on my way out of the store. I stopped, opened the door again & asked Diminished? The kid says AWESOME! & high-fives me.

Age doesn't matter. Passion for music & willingness to learn do. & if there's no Auto-Tune I will be happy.

billyshakes

Happy New Guitar Day!

strombolimusik

Hey Murray, you're absolutely right about age ... doesn't matter!

I've come back to this style after a 13 year absence and am relearning the things I "half-learned" ages ago. It's much easier and much more enjoyable 2nd time around, maybe because of the abundance of learning resources, mostly online.

Yaakov Hoter is a recognized guitarist in the genre who's played with some the greats and he offers some of the most thorough, easily absorbed courses that are very beginner-friendly. He's got a very warm, approachable teaching style. He also does one-on-one zoom lessons.

These guitars do feel weird at first strum, but don't worry, you'll grow into it. Can't wait to hear a sound sample!

murrayatuptowngaller

I have listen to several Yaakov Hoter videos. One I found extra entertaining because there was a dog barking in the distance (upstairs? neighbors?).

The only thing I'd call 'rough' would be the texture inside the f-hole openings...I can see the conspicuous growth lines where they end in those openings. I don't think red cedar is a very hard wood, but I do know some woods like figured maple and some burls defy power tools, leading to chips on the surface. The Quinteros f-opening don't have chips but texture.

The finish is matte nitrocellulose, very different from the glossy nitro and polyurethane on my other two.

The cheaper "The Loar" guitar I have has some shocking cosmetic issues much worse than the texture in the new guitar f-holes. It has gaps where the neck fits the body, filled with what looks like, dare I say filler material like 'Plastic Wood'.

But guitarists can be an intolerant & fickle lot. Zero tolerance for anything not as they expect/demand, especially among the electric crowd.

It will be a while before I offer sound samples. I don't want to downgrade the builder's reputation via my knuckle-dragging technique.

Happy New Guitar Day? Is that a specific day, or a 'floating one' to justify a day odd work?

One of the first things I want to do after I retire is make sure my favorite hand surgeon hasn't retired! I have had two right hand fingers triggering really badly (inflamed sheath around tendons in 'pulley' areas where they are supposed to glide over joints...tenosynovitis (like tendonitis, but the sheath around the tendon instead of the tendon) and a third that won't close further than perpendicular/orthogonal to the palm in the morning. It only takes 45 minutes of high-leverage manual labor to get fully inflamed, and months to go away (if at all) on it's own. I am close to a year with this last episode but there was no point in fixing it if I would go back to abusing my hands immediately afterward.

A former co-worker said it runs rampant in his family. I am the only lucky one in my family history. No need to play with my feet yet.

I can never stop myself from 'strange' research. I bought a Krivo Micro-Manouche pickup for this guitar to stifle my own ideas for removable pickups. The corded (with T-R plug) pickup lacking tone/volume pots seems peculiar, yet people seem to put up with it.

I ordered two thumbwheel potentiometers (typically used under an archtop pickguard for a hardwired internal harness).

There is no hiding anything on this guitar...no large openings, no pickguard, and the tailpiece doesn't offer much of a 'perch' for hanging things on like a trapeze style. I may try an outboard metal box with jacks, conventional 'knob pots' & a tone capacitor so it can be tried out or removed as desired. If I find it beneficial, I might try a 'stealth' installation using the thumbwheel pots inline with a cable to keep the whole thing removeable, while accessible to hands. A 10' cord going to an amp seems like a recipe for feedback if one has to have the amp within arms length when seated.

Or a tone/volume appendage on a guitar strap...but this guitar seems to be telling me to sit on a chair by a fire alongside the caravan. Neck straps seem to a non-entity with these guitars.

murrayatuptowngaller

Late Learning vs. Early Education

Sinti kids learn a genre I considered inaccessible some years ago...approachable (for myself) for entertainment only, never to imagine it being attemptable. I went from thinking it all sounded alike, to appreciating each artist's audibly different characteristics.

I have convinced myself one is capable of greater focus on study topics as an older adult than younger. The former seems more likely because an adult is more prone to self-motivation.

billyshakes

Yes, self-motivation is important but can also be seen in children. Kids have the benefit of a more plastic brain, making it easier to rewire and learn. That said, there are examples of late learners achieving high levels. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter became interested in missiles in the 80s after talking with a neighbor who worked in the defense industry. He later went on to become a well-respected defense consultant. One might say that it is his atypical background that allows him to synthesize information in different ways or come up with creative ideas that people "within" the industry don't think of because of groupthink?

I think give proper time and resources, most humans can rise to a professional level of technical ability. Late learners who no longer have a job or kids to raise might have fewer demands on their time and thus the ability to commit more of their time to the new skill acquisition. If they also don't need a job to earn money for monthly expenses, that is another added plus. Similarly, children have few demands outside of school and can spend a lot of their waking moments thinking of nothing but their new passion. So, there are similarities to both. I don't know of many late learners who become inspirational or transformational in their skill (i.e. playing). Maybe that's where the kids have us old guys beat.

Buco

Thing is we don't know how much "older adults" are capable of because we really don't have any examples of someone playing and practicing 10 hours a day for several years. Which is the primary reason our heroes are as good as they are.