Where can I buy a good beginner FLAMENCO guitar for under $350?

Question

I know it might be inferior in sound quality, but if I can find many quality beginner classical guitars for under 350 why is it so hard to find a flamenco guitar for under 350?

I am fine with buying it on the net.

Thankyou.

Answer 1

Your prayers are answered.

Yamaha makes a great beginner/student quality flamenco guitar.  The price on the street?  $350.  Please see the links below.  The "electric guitar review" link is actually about the Yamaha flamenco.

I've played several.  Let me put it this way:  the Yamaha flamenco for $350 plays as good as guitars that might cost $800 or $1000.  In fact, I've played guitars in that price range that aren't as nice as the Yamaha.

The Yamaha doesn't have a bad sound at all.  I wouldn't call it "inferior."  But let me be straight with you -- this is not a professional instrument.  This is the guitar that you will use for a couple of years.  Then you'll want to upgrade.  That's nothing against the Yamaha, but as you study and improve you will outgrow it -- and that's a good thing.  

What you look for in a flamenco guitar is not just the tone - which should be a kind of dry, nasal tone, not "mellow" like a classical guitar, but also a guitar that projects volume and that has a fast action.  In that regard the Yamaha is perfectly adequate for a beginner.

I play a Shelton-Farretta flamenco blanca guitar.  John Shelton and Susan Farretta, friends of mine, are flamenco performers who went into the guitar building business years ago.  Currently they are making some fantastic instruments, really at the "height of their powers."  Anyway, John says that "your guitar should be louder, better, and faster than you are."  That's how you know when you've outgrown the Yamaha.  Eventually you'll be louder, better, and faster than the Yamaha.

But you ask why is it so hard to find a good flamenco guitar for  under $350.  First, flamenco guitars are not as much in demand so the price tends to be higher.  Second, they tend to be handmade, not factory made.  Third, flamenco guitars have to have a fast action, but without the strings buzzing on the fretboard all the time -- so that requires precise manufacturing.  Somehow the Yamaha company has been able to create a beginner flamenco guitar that is both respectable and affordable for the beginner.

On a separate note, if you're a beginning flamenco student, get yourself a good flamenco teacher.  Flamenco is very difficult, and it is important to learn the right technique from the start.

Finally, the last link I posted is of a very talented amateur guitarist playing a Shelton-Farretta guitar.  So dude, get the Yamaha, study hard, and blow us all away a few years from now.

My background?  Student of flamenco guitar for over ten years.  Best wishes.