posted 09-21-2004 04:07 PM            

My friend is Mexican, so his language/culture familiarity would be 100%.

posted 09-21-2004 07:52 PM               

"Years ago I often bought guitars in Paracho when I was living hand to mouth. Usually two at a time and most often about $300.00 each. These were good all around guitars that I selected from a large array of
guitars. I would play these guitars because I didn't want to chance my good guitars with my often difficult lifestyle. I would allow these guitars to be purchased from me sometimes on the spot for a thousand.
There must be a few old ones still around Key West because I parted with a number of them in the Keys and Palm Beach.

A requinto that one can pick up for $250.00 sells here for $700-900.

The main street and concentrations of guitars are along eight blocks of this small town. Guitars are everywhere and i mean everywhere, beginning in the streets. The first thing to do is get off that main street and only three words are needed, "Guitarreros mas fino". There are about five very good makers in the town and they all live off the main street. Find a smart kid and hire him to take you to the five best guitar makers. Two names are Barajas and Jesus Zalapa.

The first thing I would suggest is checking in at the Mansion de Cupatitzio hotel on the north side of town next to the Parque National. This runs about 50 bucks a night. If you stay here they will bring their
best guitars to the hotel ( it rains a lot and can be very cold at 7,000 ft.) and you can usually keep a few guitars overnight to try. Last time I had 6 in my room ( which I didn't ask for ). In the past this was very
helpful. By having the room in advance they know where you are and will leave guitars with you for approval. Keep in mind there will be lots of guitar players looking for that special guitar plus assorted tourist bus
going through with all sorts of people. Spanish is not essential in finding a guitar or for the purchase but you may have to go through a lot of guitars. I would plan on three days and not buying until you are
ready to leave. I could buy a serviceable guitar for a grand but I know the place and they know me.

After checking in the hotel go to the Centro para la Investigacion y Desarollo de la Guitarra run by the Monroy family and check out whos playing and what's going on. That's a good place for you to hire a knowledgeable kid to locate the better makers. You will not see much in the way of advertisement or signs.

These days I will fly into Guadalajara and rent a car for the three hour drive to Paracho, rental cars are expensive in Mexico
and you can take a first class bus to Zamora, and a taxi to the hotel in Paracho.

I think I am very spoiled with guitars but you can always find something interesting or cute in Paracho. I brought back a half
size guitar for a friends daughter ( an octave higher ) and she loved that little guitar and still has it for her kids.

It's a fun place but not serious guitaring like one finds in Granada. An El Cheapo painted blue serves as a birdhouse on my place in the country. You might want to take some nice machine heads.

Good luck,
doc"

********

Beyond that, I'd highly recommend the guitars of Francisco Navarro, Benito or Arturo Huipe, Fructoso Zalapa, or the Casa Cervantes operation.

DN

posted 09-22-2004 11:53 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by bassface:
I have a Mexican friend who has volunteered to buy a guitar for me in Paracho. He's not a guitarist, and I won't be able to test the guitar myself, so what's the best way to ensure that I get the best guitar/value?
Specific makers you can recommend? Dealers? Other advice?
Thanks!

---

You did not say how much you wanted to spend. From what I've seen/bought, an instrument that would cost ~2000 here sells for about 1000 over there. The luthiers D Norton mentioned may start around 6 or 700 but that's a guess, all the way up to several thousand.

posted 09-22-2004 12:27 PM            

Any other luthier recommendations?

posted 09-22-2004 01:30 PM               

You're talking serious money. You could get a Domingo Ortega.

I will sell you a superb 2001 Casimiro Lozano 1A cedar/rosewood classical, fully french polished for something in that price range.

Dan

posted 09-22-2004 03:10 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by nexialist2.0:
You could get a Domingo Ortega.

---

That needs some translation. It refers to being sold an average or below guitar supposedly made by some excellent luthier whose name is Domingo Ortega, but who in fact, does not exist. You can find quite a few threads on this if you search under that name but remember they are being written as sarcastic humor.

posted 09-22-2004 06:11 PM            

I've also got a handmade guitar made in California by a guy named Bruce McGuire whom I've been unable to get any information on. The guy at the shop said that because it has some problems it's worth $800-1200. It plays fine, but doesn't have a ton of bass.

I use nylon string for bossa nova exclusively. Within that style I want a guitar with big, full bass, and clarity and warmth to support the 4 note chord voicings usually involved.

Something w/a pickup would be great, or I could add it, and I'd like something that feels well made and that I'd be happy to own for a long time.

The paracho angle is just the part of me that loves a good deal.

Thanks,
David

posted 09-22-2004 06:27 PM            

It's cheap to fly to Mexico.. go there yourself....

Paracho deals can be had in this country

Buy one of the Huipes from Zavaletas for $1200.. Dr Greenberg will be back soon and that takes the crapshoot out of the deal as he went to Paracho and bought these personally

Go to Montalvo in Berkeley calif some fine Paracho guitars there

If its a deal you want buy Dan's Lozano

$2000-3000 for a Paracho guitar.. no way Jose
Non guitar player gonna get you a good deal..
This is a formula for failure..

Best of luck...

posted 09-22-2004 06:28 PM            

I just figured that if you find a top maker in Paracho who you can trust will give you one of his own guitars, then you can get a very serious guitar for 1/3 the price.

I'm open to it being a silly prospect. My friend made the suggestion and I thought I'd do a little research.

posted 09-22-2004 06:31 PM            

I live in berkeley calif.

I'll check out montalvo.

posted 09-23-2004 08:35 AM               

***The mp3 samples do NOT correspond to the
track you select on Trio-Nova's site . Their
first CD was like that, and the 2nd CD seems
to follow that tradition. Also, you're NOT
hearing studio sound in these recordings.
They sound even better live. Pete only uses
a little compression for their live sound,
and the rest is Pete and his Takamine .
The trio's percussionist, Bill Marconi is
excellent BTW. All those cool little sounds
in the background are made by Bill and his
bag of wooden flutes, whistles, drums, shaky
things, etc .

[This message has been edited by FrankB2 (edited 09-23-2004).]

posted 09-23-2004 08:52 AM            

I'm going to pass on Paracho (maybe sometime when I'm down there myself I'll pick something up).

All the suggestions are good ones. I live in Berkeley so I'm going to get over and check out the Montalvos; he's got a couple blems over their for great prices.

I'll check back in if I get something.