My Handmade flamenco weighs just 1kg 200grms in total...i was wondering how this compares to other hand made flamenco guitars ? my own thoughts are that certainly when it comes to flamenco guitars in particular very little weight makes a better sounding guitar.
I have a production line hand finished flamenco also (Antonio Lauriente-Carmen) which weights half again on top at least, i think the wood quality is not as good and cut thicker...saying that the lauriente still has a good flamenco sound just not as good as the harrison Handmade guitar.

it would be intresting to know how much other hand made flamenco guitars weight ?

my thoughts are that lighter thinner guitars will have vertualy no sustain...which is obviously desirable in a flamenco guitar.
saying all that im sure that a very good flamenco guitarist(which im not) could make a £200 guitar sound flamenco.but a quality guitar helps the cause greatly.

Hi;
Interesting question. My hand-made Hippner weighs 1390 grams. There are so many factors involved it would be hard to narrow down the effects of weight, but I'll be interested to hear more from luthiers.

Byron

Hi Byron

thanks for your reply...i thought it would make an intresting discussion point.
iv never heard of a Hippner...is that he name of the luthier or the company name.?.it dosnt sound spanish in origin.
my guitar was made in south Africa..by a luthier called DJ Harrison whom i know absolutely nothing about apart from he makes lovely flamenco guitars.

Indeed, an interesting topic. Hippner is a maker in Washington state. He is developing a pretty solid reputation as a builder.

Just got one of his flamecos. Early days of evaluating for me.

Byron

In a flamenco the weight factor is mainly a concern with those that hold the guitar in the traditional fashion. Thinning the top, back, and sides for response, etc., does lighten the guitar and how much depends on the woods used. Luthiers usually if concerned with weight use a cedar neck instead of a mahogany for example. Using pegs instead of machines to lower weight is not what one might think. The weight of ebony pegs and the wood removed to install machines about equals the weight of the machines in my experiences. Type of woods used is the main factor. A maple flamenco will weight more than a cypress at the same thickness. For weight and strength, the Port Orford cedar (a species of cypress) is very impressive. Stansell makes his flamenco's using this wood for top, B&S, neck, and braces.

As far as quality, the thinner the wood the more fragile. The less expensive flamencos are generally heavier (both wood and finish) because they are more durable this way, which is a selling point for beginners

Hippner is making some nice quality flamencos for a more than reasonable price. Too bad his site has been highjacked. I hope someone that has his phone number will inform him of this, so he can get his site safe again. We have a lot of talented flamenco guitar makers in the Northwest USA.

Manos Lentas wrote:Using pegs instead of machines to lower weight is not what one might think. The weight of ebony pegs and the wood removed to install machines about equals the weight of the machines in my experiences.

Sam probably is right about that. I hadn't considered the weight of the wood removed when machine tuners are used. Peg-head guitars I have played over the years generally have been lighter. I suppose I have just assumed some of the weight difference was due to machine tuners without considering all the issues.

I have a strong personal preference for light-weight guitars for two primary reasons:

• In my experience light-weight guitars generally have sound qualities that I associate with the sound of traditional flamenco.


• I find them easier to hold and play.

Of course, those characteristics are merely personal judgments. Many, probably even most, modern players would disagree.

I have a very light-weight Ramírez peg-head flamenco, a heavy Contreras machine-head flamenco, and a heavy Ramírez machine-head classical guitar. I love everything about the peg-head compared to the other two guitars. I rarely play either of the heaver guitars even though all three are high-quality instruments.

I probably should sell the two that I rarely play to someone who would appreciate them more than I do and invest part of the proceeds in another light-weight flamenco.

-Bob

Bob, I agree on the pegs being more traditional and I also prefer the lightweight flamencos and would sell off my rosewood except I made it so it will stay with me and later will pass it on to my granddaughter. I play on it a few hours once a month or so. With my shoulder pain, etc., I can no longer hold the guitar in the traditional way, so weight isn't an issue, just a personal preference. Also weight depends on what kind of machines are used. I find the Fustero a high quality, but light weight tuner.

In my opinion, light weight is very important for a Flamenco guitar. A heavier guitar has more sustain, which you don't want for Flamenco. Also in a Flamenco guitar that is lightly built, all parts of the guitar including the back vibrate more and play a part in the sound. This gives it a lot of volume that subsides quickly..."PUNCH"
When you pick up a really good Flamenco guitar, it should feel alive in your hands before you even play a note ,like if you run your hand over a taut drum head.

deteresa wrote:In my opinion, light weight is very important for a Flamenco guitar.

I agree. I have never played a heavy flamenco guitar that I liked the sound of. The sustain has always been too long for flamenco, causing rapidly played notes to run together into a blurred mess.

Most of the really great sounding flamenco guitars I've played (being blancas in this case), were very, very light and yet still solid and well built -- usually around 2.5 pounds, or a tiny bit more or less. The Santos Hernandez design, if built right, is light as a feather and yet loud and precise and a joy to play if set up right. I have thought that the traditional pegged guitars were lighter than geared tuners. That was my impression from holding and playing both kinds. Maybe my mind was playing tricks but the traditional pegged felt lighter, especially in holding guitar in traditional way. A lot of the factory built beginner or intermediate guitars are okay but they do seem heavier. I think some of that is the heavier, thicker lacquer, and certainly the wood is heavier or thicker all the way around. In my view, the lighter the guitar, the better.