Product: Jose Ramirez FL2
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
11/14/2007
at
05:34pm
by
ramon
Features
:
9
All solid wood flamenca blanca - cypress b/s and spruce top. This is a student level guitar. Tuners are very cheap. This guitar normally retails for $2800 retail($3700 list). I can't believe how bad the tuners are. Better tuners came on my Lucida Picado.
I have a 2002 Ramirez FL2 that I purchased "used". It was like new, no marks or dings, and no fret/fretboard wear. The golpeador has no marks either. It sat around GC for a year before I found it on clearance for $599.
Sound
:
8
Good flamenco sound, though not a Granada flamenco sound. I played an incredible Bellido flamenco in Granada for 1400 Euro - that's less than the new cost for the Ramirez FL2. The Bellido had great flamenco sound, volume, and "growl".
I have had this guitar for about 2 weeks, and I think it is sounding better than when I bought it. I have yet to change the strings. I think the Picado has more volume, but probably due to the slightly larger body.
I've played beat-up flamenco guitars with the tops dug out, that had better sound and volume.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
The setup is good, nothing to change. The body is more "standard" classical size, and more comfortable than my Lucida Picado. Scale length is 650mm exactly, with 52mm nut. The neck has a flat back and is not as thick as the Lucida Picado making it very comfortable.
This guitar feels a little more heavily built than the Lucida Picado. I expected the opposite. I think the lacquer is thinner (which is good) than the Lucida Picado.
The worst thing about this guitar is tuners. They are the worst I have seen. Lubrication helped, but there is a lot of variance between the keys.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
This guitar is built to last, though I have only had it a couple of weeks.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
No experience with warranty work.
I have been to the Ramirez shop in Madrid. They are very helpful, though I had a difficult time finding C/de la Paz.
Overall Rating
:
8
I have been playing flamenco for 2+ years. This is a very good student guitar. If I had to pay $2800, I would not have bought it. I paid $600 , so I had to do "rescue" it from GC. If I were spending $2800 for a new guitar, I would go to Spain, and buy one in Granada or Cordoba.
