Archive for August, 2012
GSI’s Labor Day Sale
In celebration of Labor Day GSI is offering a 25% discount on all web orders up to $1000* placed now through midnight, Sept 7, 2012. That’s 25% off all strings, cases, furniture, electronics, books, DVDs, CDs – almost anything in the store. Simply enter coupon code LABORDAY25 at checkout to receive your discount.
*Can’t be combined with other offers, maximum discount is $250, discount does not apply to Guitar Specials.
Here are some more videos of great players playing their Condes. I focused a little more on the post-Paco generation here, so these guys are generally a little younger, but all of them have already secured their place in the flamenco world. I know I’ve left out tons of players, but that’s kind of the point – everyone plays Condes, so I chose the guys I’ve been listening to lately: Diego del Morao (Moraito’s son), Niño Josele, Niño de Pura, Chicuelo and Antonio Rey.
Continue Reading
We’ve already had two great Greg Smallman guitars this Summer (the more recent one having belonged to Ben Verdery, and neither one of which was here for more than a few days), and we’ve got a third one on the way. This latest one is from 2008 and is of the most current design, with the adjustable neck and the maple-lined back, and it should be here any day now.
We just got three new guitars in from Hermanos Camps in Spain. I had heard of them, but I don’t think had ever played one, and I was a little surprised by just how good they are, so I thought I’d write a little review.
There are three models – the Primera Blanca, the Primera Negra, and the Primera A (which has a slightly different soundboard, even nicer wood, a 20th fret and upgraded tuners) – but I think that what they have in common is actually more important than the differences between them.
Continue Reading
Here are some more of the countless great flamenco players who’ve played Condes. For the record, I’m not in any way trying to put these guys into some order of greatness – I’m just having fun watching some of my favorite players play, and it’s really easy to find videos of them all playing their Condes. So here we go with Paco Cepero, Enrique Melchor, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Rafael Riqueñi and Pedro Sierra.
Continue Reading
GSI has just launched its latest website! As the most substantial overhaul we’ve ever done, we’re thrilled to announce this and would like to invite everyone to come have a look around. In additional to its all-new appearance featuring an elegant and crisply modern sense of design, the new site packs a host of new features as well. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Tons of new content, displayed right on the homepage and updated regularly. No extra clicking or digging around necessary. From new guitar arrivals to new articles, from upcoming events to GSI’s latest tweets, the new homepage has just about everything you could need for your daily guitar fix. We’ll even keep our “video of the day” embedded right in the page and ready to play.
One of the questions we’re asked a lot is ‘what’s the big deal about Conde guitars?’. Certainly no other name in flamenco guitars is quite as well known as Conde, and the reason is actually pretty simple – no other guitars are played by as many of the top flamenco players in Spain. Paco de Lucia has played a Conde since the beginning of his career (and many players from the generation before Paco played them as well), and while Paco has surely had a huge influence on almost every flamenco guitarist since, it’s hard to imagine that he’s the only reason so many great players play Condes. So I’ve put together some videos of just a few of the great players who play these guitars, and I’ll put up more soon. For starters here are Melchor de Marchena, a very young Paco de Lucia, Tomatito with Camarón, Pepe Habichuela, Gerardo Nuñez and Moraito, all playing their Condes. I’ve left out plenty of great players, but this feels like a good start.
Also check out Felipe Conde’s bio here. Felipe is the heir to the Conde tradition and we’re very happy to represent him here in the US.
Current Inventory | Past Inventory
Although Luigi Locatto has been making guitars for over a quarter of a century, his involvement with the instrument goes much deeper than lutherie, as he is also a guitarist and teacher himself. He considers himself and his work to be completely traditional, basing his work on the work of the golden age of the greatest Spanish masters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His purpose is to recreate the beautiful palette of sound colors and the intense expression of these Spanish instruments without compromising the power required of a modern guitar.
Continue Reading
The Agnew McAllister Duo is Scottish guitarist Matthew McAllister and Irish flautist Aisling Agnew. They were in the US on tour and stopped by to play some guitars and shoot some videos at the showroom. Together they played a suite of pieces by French composer Sebastien Vachez that includes his Krynica, Un Ange and La Ballade d’Irina movements, with Matthew playing a great 1968 Fleta, then Matthew played Lauro’s Registro on a 1974 David Rubio ‘PF’ and Bach’s Sarabande on a 2007 Henner Hagenlocher.
Here’s the latest from Matt Hinsley, just back from Boston’s GuitarFest:
Boston GuitarFest’s Youth Guitar Workshop
Today I’d like to share a recent newsletter story from Boston, because I think it’s inspiring on a number of levels. I interviewed several remarkable individuals who just added a youth workshop component to a well known festival, and I thought their story would be of interest.
Before I share the interview, though, I’d like to provide a bit of context about the Austin Classical Guitar Society, its education program and its curriculum project, because the interview will make more sense that way!
Things are moving quickly these days at the Austin Classical Guitar Society’s Education program. We’ll be providing service in over 30 Austin schools this coming year, the most ever! Most of our local service is in AISD middle and high schools, but we also have thriving programs at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Gardner Betts of the Travis County Juvenile Justice System (a full lock-down juvenile correctional facility). In fact, there was an amazing radio story on the Gardner Betts program that I strongly encourage you to listen to if you haven’t heard it already, it will brighten your day!
The main part of the story to know is that back in 2004, about three years after we got involved in education, we realized a great need to develop a full-scale curriculum for classroom guitar teaching. By 2008 we had done it, and it was launched online at GuitarCurriculum.com! GuitarCurriculum.com has since flourished. It not only supports all of our efforts here, but also has its own newsletter, and users all around the world. We have a whole team of educators working every day right now to build it, and enhance it.
So!
It’s in that context that I wanted to share this past week’s GuitarCurriculum.com newsletter describing a recent youth festival in Boston. I hope you enjoy it!
