NEW ITEMS...

American Sketches (Suite for Classical Guitar) by Peter Madlem. This is a beautiful suite of music that includes Blues, Sspiritual, Country Dance and Mojave. Peter is a long-time friend whose piece "Monte Carlo" can be heard on John Williams CD entitled "The Mantis and the Moon". "American Sketches" is written in standard notation and the book includes a CD for only $14.95 plus shipping and tax where applicable.

Oribe guitars You will notice if you look at the Oribe website (www.oribeguitars.com) that his prices have gone up. Brazilian rosewood is scarce and as a result prices have increased. One of the Oribe guitars we are offering has the back and sides of Brazilian rosewood and now its price is $9,000.00. The soundboard of this guitar is French polished.

A couple of notes concerning the Oribe guitars. All of these guitars have double sides. This allows the sound to project outwards better. Up until the early 1970's his guitars were numbered. Mine is number A-203 and has the date on the label April 1969. Sometime in the early 70's the guitars began to have only the date completed on the label. No two guitars have the same date. This is what distinguishes them. The labels are also signed by José Oribe and each instrument comes with a certificate that includes details about the construction of the guitar, its finish, its woods and its scale. On the certificate is a place for each owner to place his name, supposing of course that the instrument has changed hands.

Light cases We have found a source for some very light cases. They are covered in black nylon canvas, very durable. I have not tested them yet in extreme weather but they are made of a strong foam plastic and one would think that they would offer great protection under any weather circumstances. They have two exterior pockets that could hold some music or maybe a footstool and some extra strings. There is also a large interior pocket. The cases weigh about 5.5 pounds and we are offering them for $59.95 plus tax and shipping.

The late Manuel López Ramos and Argentine teacher Emilio Colombo recently published a teacher's book called "Introducción a una metodología para el estudio de la guitarra". At this time I am writing a English version of this book. If there is some interest, I might be able to obtain some copies of the book in Spanish.