posted 01-06-2004 01:50 PM               

It's a pretty thing with that carved back and shell pick guard, but I'd worry about the back warping. After reading what Perf said about the I.R. Lumanog guitar this one is more confusing. BTW, Perf knows his stuff.

posted 01-06-2004 02:00 PM            

guitar making in cebu started and may still be a home-based enterprise passed on from generation to generation. their guitars are a more cosmetically attractive than the lumanogs. better filipino guitar players than i am say the cebu made guitars also sound better than the lumanogs.

yes you are right. perf, being one of the more respected musicians in the philippines, will be in a better position to give us more info on the cebu made guitars.

posted 01-06-2004 09:58 PM               

I see that my post generated an interest in Philippine Guitars. I'll try to paint a clearer picture

There are two provinces that specialize in guitar making: one is Cebu in the Visayan Region and the other is Pampanga in the Luzon region, which is nearer the place where Bluepoet stayed in.

Lumanog, I think, comes from a family in Pampanga. These guys also make electric instruments as well. I remember taking apart a Fender Jazz bass copy and it actually had a small speaker magnet for its pickup! 8O
I haven't seen a great quality Pampanga guitar yet, most instruments are made of plywood.

Cebu on the other hand, particularly the Lapu-Lapu district is considered as the Guitar Making Capital of the Philippines. The Cebu guitar is known nation wide as the best guitars you can buy locally. The appointments and wood are all nice looking and for the most part, they use solid wood instead of plywood. Since Cebu is a sea port, they also have access to abalone and maother of pearl, thus explaining those great decorations. Cebu guitars sound better than than the Pampanga made guitars because of the wood and their style of construction, which is closer to the norm.

I haven't played these solid wood bowlbacks so I can't offer my opinion . I'll try to get ahold of one of these. But I still think that these fall into the category of "tourist" guitars, meaning nice to look at and play a little bit but not suitable for gigging.

However, there are some makers who have made their share of really good guitars. For Classicals, there's Dominguez Javier who experimented with lattice bracing way before the Smallman guitars came into fashion. Too bad he doesn't build guitars anymore. I also know of another factory, Alegre Guitars, who exports their guitars to Canada where they get slapped on a new label. I also have a friend who runs a 2 man shop making mostly steel strings and his work ethics are very much modern: he keeps a humidity controlled cabinet and researches on new building techniques. I saw one of his Grand Concert cutaways with abalone trimmings and it was just beautiful.

Their biggest hurdle is to convince people why their guitars should be worth so much more than the guitars you find at the airport. As I mentioned in my other post, a lot of people simply can't afford to pay so much and this restricts their market. So the current makers are forced to make more "tourist" guitars and very little quality guitars.

Anyway, if you guys have some more questions, I'll do my best to answer them

Warm regards,
PERF http://www.perfdecastro.com

posted 01-07-2004 09:51 AM            

keep playing that beautiful music.

posted 01-07-2004 01:33 PM            

meowwwww.................

posted 01-07-2004 08:37 PM            

I see that my post generated an interest in Philippine Guitars. I'll try to paint a clearer picture

There are two provinces that specialize in guitar making: one is Cebu in the Visayan Region and the other is Pampanga in the Luzon region, which is nearer the place where Bluepoet stayed in.

Perf,
Yeah, I remember Pampanga--I lived in Angeles for a year (Diamond sub division), while waiting for housing on base...I had my one bass guitar lesson from a local guy. He taught me the basic three chord riff for rock, imparted to me the opinion that picks sounded horrible, and I should use my thumb to pluck strings...his thumbnail must've been four inches long!!!

As for the Cebu luthiers--I understand that they are in dire straits financially, as there is no market to support the family businesses--it could die out in the next generation!! That would be a truly sad situation, IMHO...I hope they can get more recognition in the world market...Mabuhay!!

posted 01-08-2004 03:02 AM               

Ah, PC police strikes again!

"Philippine Guitar" has a better ring to it than "Filipino Guitar".

Anyway, sub-species of the..ahem..Philippine Guitar would be the Pampanga Guitar and the Cebu Guitar.

Cat, I forgot where Alegre Guitars export to but I do remember the new label when they reach Canada, it's called "Benikritis". I don't know if it's a well-known brand. I remember playing a Kasha-braced flamenca blanca before it shipped out.

There's an interesting story behind Alegre Guitars, as told to me by my Cebuano friends. The owner, Bebbot Alegre, is actually from Pampanga and he married one of the daughters of the owner another Cebu guitar factory, Lilang's. So in effect, the son-in-law became a competitor

Aside from selling tourist and good quality guitars, bandurrias, lauds and ukeleles, Bebbot also hosts tours of the isalnd of Cebu, going through the usual tourist spots and eventually ending up at his factory where he shows the tourists how guitars are made while being serenaded by a small ensemble playing the instruments available for sale.

>Hmm, Perf called it Philippine, too, but he's so polite

Just tryin' to nice, P, just tryin' to be nice