In the past I have emailed with The Master himself, Naudo; it's a bit tricky because English is his second language and I don't know any Spanish - but we managed to have a few emailed conversations. I've also emailed with possibly his greatest fan, Juan; who goes largely unrecognised but without him we wouldn't even know Naudo. Juan does all the videoing and uploading to youtube. Juan's English is pretty good, and in a recent message with him he mentioned that Naudo was keen to change to a new guitar, and they were thinking about selling his old one, signed, to the highest bidder.
Two things went through my mind: don't straight away sell it on e-bay, it needs to be out there for a long time so that enough people get a chance to notice it's up for sale and bid. Which means advertising that it's for sale, which I could try to help out with, for instance mentioning it here, and on my youtube channel. The other thing that went through my mind was: I should buy that :)
Similar to what my mate Roman mentioned in a comment on another thread, I pictured myself flying out to Tenerife, meeting The Man himself, listening to a set, shaking his hand and getting a photo of him handing the signed guitar to me. Daydreams...
Also as Roman mentioned, it would be quite a sound investment too. Imagine you had the oppurtunity to buy John Lennon's first guitar before the Beatles were formed, because he needed a bit of cash. Say you'd seen him in some underground club in The Quarrymen and you thought "hey, he's a genius, I should buy that guitar before the rest of the world realise it." I reckon Naudo is a similar situation; except that the world isn't quite like it was in John Lennon's heyday - easy distribution of music and wide variety of choice seems to mean no one person becomes famous over the whole world.
So perhaps more like Tommy Emmanuel; well known by people who know him, if you know what I mean :)
But anyway, it will be a wise buyer who hedges his bets and grabs it while he can. I know if I had it I'd probably play it a little bit every now and then, but for the rest of time keep it in a locked glass case. It's more of a historical artifact than an instrument of music! But, my missus would kill me if I bought another guitar...
The starting price was 700 Euros, bargain. I hope Juan will put up an auction spot on the internet, Naudo's blog sounds seems the right place, with the latest bid price. I suspect however he will just get it known that it is coming up for sale and then put it on ebay. In the meantime, here is where it was mentioned and for those of you who hadn't noticed, Juan has been posting a few new Naudo videos here Juan Ignaciomoreno.
Hi JAW:
ReplyDeleteWell, you made me late for work today. I was having a cup of coffee while the family slept, quietly looking to see what was new in the world of guitars and saw this post. Naturally, the subject of Naudo brought me to a full stop.
The man truly fascinates me: all that talent, no CD, apparently he owns one guitar. One guitar? I have four that I often contemplate burning after watching his videos.... Thank you for those links, I didn't realize he had new material posted. (which is why I was late!)
Regarding that Alhambra you came across: what kind of quality are they? Obviously the magic is in his hands, but how impressed were you? (material, action, etc.) I came across a "Cordoba" in Guitar Center last week. It wasn't much to look at, but it had a BEAUTIFUL neck, action and sound. As always, you can't tell a book by it's cover.
By the way, I took your advice from the previous post: I’m far from a professional, I do this for fun, and it makes sense to just relax and have fun, whether it's pop songs, flat-picking, fingers, rock, classical, etc. I must have needed to hear it said to me, as you did, because it instantly made perfect sense, and my "angst" is gone, and I have been having fun, and wanted to thank you for your thoughtful response.
One of the best parts of the week these days, is very early on Sat morning. I head downstairs and spend a couple of hours (or more) working on different material, styles, etc. Quite relaxing.
Best wishes to you,
Rich
I think the same as you, except that my idea of going to the Canary Islands would not even be to buy the guitar, just a trip, and meet Naudo at the same time, which in itself costs money but at least I could see a real purpose in that (as well as the "missus", as you like to name yours), more than buying a a guitar that I would not play any better than the one I use.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the commercial value of it, which I still think may rocket in coming years).
Hey Rich, glad to hear that some of my ramblings may have helped. This guitar thing that we all do, it's like wearing your heart out on your sleeve, it's easy to be crushed, or even crush yourself. All this feeling and emotion, exposed, leaves us open to self doubt. You can hide in your room and let nobody in, or you can forgive yourself for not being perfect, and continue to find the joy in it both for you, and your fellow man if you like. It's just life really, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHmm, that was a bit heavy. I think I had a point, but then it was gone ;)
Ah, Alhambras. The one I tried was very playable, as you know some guitars click with you while some don't, this one clicked. I was getting a good sound out of it amplified - it had a pickup and a soundboard transducer - a must have in my book. Unplugged it was a bit muddy; but I only say that since I've been playing on a good quality classical. The Alhambra is a "crossover" (Roman and I have discussed what a "crossover" guitar means, I don't think we agreed, but for the purpose of this conversation let's call it "A nylon string guitar designed to appeal to steel string players" and the features that come with that).
It was very similar to my Yamaha CGX171, another crossover. I will say, if you are buying a crossover and were going to choose between the two, go with the Alhambra because it has the 50mm classical shaped neck (not very crossovery). The reason is that after you've played a crossover for a while, you will either go back to steel, or go to "proper" nylon guitars. At least the Alhambra has a "proper" neck ;)
I suspect Naudo's guitar would have a fairly weak and slightly muddy unplugged sound. The magic is his hands when it's plugged it, and he's playing to it plugged in. I've been starting to understand the differences between playing plugged in and unplugged (with respect to nylon that is) - you'd think it would be fairly obvious if you've been playing guitars a long time, but I'm only just learning :)
Therefore, it comes down to the pickup(s). If you are playing to a mic, it's not the same thing...not that I've ever tried, it's just a hunch. A mic is for catching "playing unplugged" audio. A pickup - and I'm only just thinking this through just now/rambling - is a slightly different kettle of fish. It's not quite the difference between playing electric versus acoustic, or piano versus synth, but there is something different going on there. And in order to get something good to start with, you need to have at least two pickups.
Okay, definately rambling now.
JAW
I'm not going to rule out buying Naudo's guitar, although it is highly unlikely, but if it's only going to go out the door for a thousand bucks then it's worth the risk.
ReplyDeleteIf we are going to visit him, we'd better do it soon before the world really does discover him. You're not that far away, but I'm on the opposite side of the globe...and I have three small kids that make the logistics so close to impossible we'll call it impossible. Get me an autograph while you are there :)
JAW
great !!
ReplyDeleteI just saw this (old) thread...
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what the make/model is of Naudo's NEW guitar (looks to have maple back/sides)? Please reply if you have ANY idea. I have been searching hard to find out. Thank you!
rs-guitar at sbcglobal dot net
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