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| Last summer I was walking toward the back of
the store on a busy day ... phones ringing like crazy, wall to wall
customers ... trying to do three things at once ... a typical day at the
Twelfth Fret. I'm working away, but slowly permeating my consciousness
I realize I'm listening to some very beautiful classical music being played
by a very gifted player. We're used to some pretty hot players in
the store, but this gentleman was GOOD good. After a
period of time he comes over, introduces himself as Alejandro Cervantes
and indicates that Serge de Jonge recommended he talk to me about a line
of guitars he was building. I think my response was something along
the lines of "You've got to be kidding ... you play guitar at that level
AND you build as well!" Well as it turns out, Mr. Cervantes
does not just build guitars, he is a second generation professional
luthier who has been building classical guitars from a very young age! |
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The first model that I would like
to feature on our site from Alejandro Cervantes is this Master M Model
from his Signature Series. This particular instrument features a
richly coloured set of Cocobolo back & sides, premium Engelmann
spruce top, Spanish cedar neck, ebony fingerboard, 650
mm scale length, precision Sloane tuners, Shellac finished
top, raised fingerboard extension ... and a price around half of what I
expected.
One of the first things that impressed about
this guitar is it's enhanced access to the upper registers as a result
of the raised fingerboard extension. Before actually getting my hands
on an instrument with this feature, I couldn't really understand
why raising the extension would help with playing in the 12 - 14 fret area.
Sometimes you really have to try something to "get it" I suppose.
This instrument really does play like a dream!
The fact that Alejandro Cervantes has an
excellent ear as a player has really given him an advantage as a luthier
. He has designed this particular instrument to project that wonderful
silvery overall tonality that he loves in a spruce topped classical.
Don't get me wrong. This guitar is not strident and sterile sounding.
It has a solid depth to the note core, superb character in the partials,
but also a wonderful snap to the initial attack and a slight "glitter"
at the trailing edge of the notes! This is truly a concert grade
classical guitar in every sense! |
