Hi,

A few months ago I received my very first flamenco guitar, a blanca made by Jeff Sigurdson, a luthier in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. I ordered the guitar through my instructor, a $1000 "student" model. The original time projection was for 6 months, but Jeff does not give you your guitar until it meets his standards, which meant I had to wait 8 months, but it was well worth it. The specs: sitka spruce top, the neck is Spanish ceder, the B&S is Alaskan Cypress, ebony fretboard, gotoh tuners. It sounds and plays amazingly well and looks damn-hot too. The sounds is always improving the more I play, it is nice and loud, well-balanced, a real "bite" and great sustain. I will post a recording as soon as I make one. Jeff's website:
http://www.sigurdsonguitars.com/

A handmade guitar, even a "student" one, for $1000?? That's incredible. Looking forward to hearing it.

He must be making them as a hobby, rather than a vocation, if they truly are handmade guitars, because it would be impossible to hand-make high-quality $1000 guitars fast enough to pay anyone's monthly expenses.

-Bob

I'm not sure what Jeff's situation is, but I am very happy he sold me this guitar for the price. Unfortunately I won't be able to play it for a bit as I just cut most of the tip of my left hand index finger off at work tonight. Being a cook and guitarist is a little difficult at times. Anyone know how to make a fake finger tip? I am going to try and fashion one using a finger cot, adhesive silk and super-glue I'll see how that goes....

Dread, One of those rubber finger tips like postal employees use might help. You may have to learn to play with just three fingers for a while. Keep the other fingers strong and in shape anyway. My wife just purchased an awesome finger guard from Magic Chef and it works great. I cut with more confidence now.

Bob, Jeff makes all kind of guitars at all prices. he has been making for 13 years I think and by the number of guitars he has made, I would guess he devotes full time to it. How he hand makes a student model that looks and sounds good for $1000 is unbelievable. I think he uses a lot of power tools and jigs, but still handmade. Here is a video of one he custom made. Not flamenco, but interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNiAUzPn9pk

Bob wrote:He must be making them as a hobby, rather than a vocation, if they truly are handmade guitars, because it would be impossible to hand-make high-quality $1000 guitars fast enough to pay anyone's monthly expenses.

-Bob

Here is Jeff's response sent to me in an email. He has trouble doing computer stuff and little patience for it.

Sam, Every time I try to get on they don't believe my web addy or something else I lose patience, I wanted to say respond to Bob, I do this 60 plus hours a week and its a lot easier to make money @ 1000$ per guitar than $10,000. My inspiration is the Larrivee D-3, his company exploded , and now there is a recession so $1000 is an excellent price for both sides, the neck is Spanish ceder, the B&S is Alaskan Cypress
thanks
Jeff

Hello, i did it, i want to mention that because the price is 1000 does not mean the quality of craftsmanship is less than a 3-5000$, it is laquered as opposed to being french polished that is the biggest difference, for the 1000$ dollar level, i am also able to use wood that is grown in my own province of BC so there is no duty, currency exchange ,etc. I am lucky that i live near Bow River Tonewoods , i am able to select through thousands of Englemann & sitka tops, as soon as you add European spruce the price goes up alot, anouther big thing is buying direct compared to a music store,1000 turns into 1500 plus case , also using Larrivee as my influence, i worked there for 8 yrs, doing final neck fit, when he introduced the "D-03" model he grew rapidly because it works on both ends ,producing at a lower cost means a finished product at a lower cost, that was in 1998-99 there have been a couple ups & downs in the market, i could go on but i personally feel it is better to have a lower cost and a longer waiting list
thanks
Jeff Sigurdson

Welcome to the forum, Jeff. There is no doubt about $1000 being an attractive price for a good quality guitar. It is amazing that you are able to sell at that price and make a reasonable income.

-Bob

@Manos - yeah it looks like I'll be playing with three fingers for it a bit, I can only use my index to bar. I seem to be able to still play a lot of stuff, with the capo pretty high though What the hell, Django played with only two!

@ Jeff, man it's a fabulous guitar, the sound keeps getting better and better, I can't stop playing it! thanks again!

How is the action? Strings distance @ 12th? How is buzz with this height? This guitar sounds like the way to go for those with $1000 to invest, rather than the factory jobs with heavy lacquer, poor response, and high actions difficult to get down to even 3mm. Also might be a consideration for a professional player that played in places on occasion where they were afraid to take an expensive guitar.