Monday, April 5, 2010

Maple Guitar Currently Available

This beautiful guitar is now available.  Please see my website for details.  Professional and student discounts available.

Comments on this very guitar: (See related post about Newton and Grimes)

"This guitar is really good, man!  Listen to those bases!"

-Dr. Greg Newton, President of the American Guitar Society

"I recently had the pleasure of playing a guitar by Tomas Borobia.  It was a spruce-top/maple-body instrument that was fresh from the workshop, and it already had a distinctive and satisfying quality.  I was struck by how the registers and the individual notes were so even and well matched.  The workmanship was excellent, and this is a very fine instrument.  I will be happy to recommend Borobia's guitars, and I look forward to hearing them in the hands of many high-level players."

-David Grimes, Internationally renowned performer and Cal State Fullerton Professor of Guitar 

Greg Newton and David Grimes


I recently attended a concert performed by internationally renowned performers Dr.Gregory Newton (President of the American Guitar Society) and Professor David Grimes (Veteran Professor at Cal State Fullerton).  The pair played a variety of duets and solos, including a duet by contemporary Mexican Composer Julio Cesar Oliva.  They also played one of my recently finished guitars.  (See their comments)

Oliva's piece called "Caballo de Troya" was AMAZING!  The story behind the piece is a bit bizarre - an alien spacecraft/time machine takes people back to the time of Christ's Passion in the Holy Land...or that's what I remember Dr. Newton telling us.

The tone of the piece (in three parts) was appropriately lenten in its themes and overall character - perfect for a somber Lent afternoon.  Lots of dusty sounding sul ponticello in minor keys.  I heard Spanish and Middle Eastern themes throughout the piece, but they were woven together in a way that never became cliche.  The composition and its expertly executed performance kept us interested and excited the entire piece.

One of the most notable parts of the performance was something I had never heard before.  At various times during the piece, one of the players would shift to a sul ponticello position, while the other would shift to dolce.  At the same time, one would play forte and the other piano (I'm not sure which did what).  The effect this dynamic timbre shift had on me was incredible!  The music became three-dimensional for a brief moment, almost like a solid object moving slowly around my head.

Oliva's music is something fresh and unique.  I had never heard it.  According to Dr. Newman, his work has not yet been recorded.  Dr. Newton and Professor Grimes know the composer personally, and have traveled all over the world introducing his music to an ever increasing audience.  If you have a chance to see them in concert please don't miss the opportunity!

After the concert, both performers had a chance to play my recently finished Maple/Spruce guitar.  They were both shocked and pleased with the volume, tone, playability and evenness across the strings and registers.  Please visit my website to see their comments in more detail.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Discounts Available for Spring 2010!

Too many great classical guitar players can't afford a good guitar.  I am always finding ways to lower my costs so that I can keep my guitars in the hands of people who can really use them!  I am currently offering discounts for professional players and serious classical guitar students.  Please email me to find out more.

Tomas Borobia
tomas@latticeguitar.com
www.latticeguitar.com

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Adjustable Soundport



What is the "Adjustable Sound Port"?
 
A sound port is simply extra sound hole placed somewhere other than on the top.  Many modern guitar designs benefit from the extra breathing room provided by these extra holes.  My sound port's placement is discrete, and allows the player to hear more subtle nuances when opened.  But the sound port can also affect the sound the audience hears.
 
A fully opened port opens and deepens the lower and middle range, in effect deepening and darkening the overall tone.  It also increases overall volume.  Closing it restrains the bases slightly, making the guitar more balanced across the strings.  In all cases the trebles remain crisp and powerful.  The adjustable port feature allows you to fine-tune the voicing to fit your style and the type of music, further increasing the tonal palette of your instrument.
 
My adjustable sound port design is simple, discrete, and elegant.  It does not rattle or buzz, nor will it wear out.  It is the only design I know of in the world that: a) can be adjusted to any degree you wish, b) can be easily adjusted with one finger, even while playing, and c) does not require that you add or remove anything from the guitar - ever.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
I would love to make you a HIGH PERFORMANCE guitar!
-Tomas
www.latticeguitar.com
760-213-5424

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Cedar/Indian Rosewood Model Available Soon!

I will have a Western Red Cedar top with Indian Rosewood back/sides and Cocobolo bindings available for direct sale in May 2010.  Please let me know if you are interested in pre-ordering.  See my website for more details:  http://www.latticeguitar.com.

Thanks for your interest in my guitars!

Friday, January 22, 2010

String Tension

I prefer and recommend light tension strings on all my guitars.  Light tension strings yield more volume, tone variation, dynamic range, and sustain. My soundboards aren't any more fragile that other fine guitars, so you can go with harder tension if you prefer.   "Very hard" tension on any fine guitar is a bad idea, in my opinion. It puts a lot of extra pull on the bridge. The more tension, the more likely that a guitar could someday warp (usually by dipping slightly in front of the bridge on the saddle side), even if slightly. I have gone to great lengths to avoid that problem (which is a real problem for most lattice braced guitars, as I have witnessed many times) by careful bridge and bracing design, and have never had a problem, but extra hard is still a lot of tension.  Keep in mind that tone and musicality can suffer from unnecessary tension.


I think that extra high tension strings are an unfortunate product in general. There is a popular belief that more tension equals more volume, but that is simply not the case with my guitars. I tried them out for a few years as a player, too, but ultimately adjusted my playing and found that light tension means more musical flexibility, and much easier left and right hand technique.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  I'm always happy to help.
Tomas Borobia - Luthier

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Flamed Maple/Spruce Guitar Coming Soon

Maple TRIPLE CORE TM Guitar
European Spruce/Flamed Maple
TRIPLE CORE TM
Adjustable Soundport
640mm
Maple Bindings w/Rosewood Trim
Price: $4750 (No extra charge for the expensive Maple)
Under Construction Available March 2010!
Hurry if you want to pre-order!

This stunning guitar has flamed or "fiddleback" maple back and sides.  Although maple guitars are traditionally "bright" sounding, this guitar will have all the power and depth of all my TRIPLE CORE TM guitars.

Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in pre-ordering this guitar.  Available March 2010.

Borobia Guitars in the Philippines


Two Borobia Guitars recently made their way to The University of Santo Tomas, in Manila, Philippines.  One of the guitars will be played at the Internatioanl Guitar Festival in Manila.  Shown is Ruben Reyes, the  guitar program coordinator at UST.  It's my pleasure to have one of my guitars in the hands of a master like Mr. Reyes.
I hope you enjoy.

TO find out more about Borobia High Performance Guitars,
including my TRIPLE CORE TM design,
Please click here.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Modern Technique for a Modern Guitar

People are often amazed at the variations of sound they hear from my guitars. After hearing several sound samples, and even a live demo, a prospective client once told me that, although he liked all the guitars he had heard, he wanted me to assure him that I could faithfully replicate the sound of the “sweeter sounding” guitar.

He didn’t know yet that all the samples he had heard were played on the same guitar.

His concern was understandable, but it brings up an interesting point about how we judge the sound of a guitar. Modern guitar designs are challenging players and audiences alike to think about “what a guitar sounds like” a little differently.

Because you have two hands to work with, each doing something totally different to any given string, the classical guitar has one of the most bendable, variable sounds of any instrument. You can vary the sound with the right hand by choosing different flesh to nail ratios, the angle at which you strike the string, the shape and length of your nails, and playing closer to or further from the bridge. Your left hand has the option of adding vibrato, staccato, glissando, legato, etc.

The net effect of all these variables is that the player can change the way the string vibrates. The player chooses (consciously or not) whether the string will bounce more up and down, side to side, or horizontally, and to what degree the main frequency will be supplemented by the strings natural harmonics (playing over the sound hole vs. near the bridge). In other words, you can fret and pluck the string in a million different ways, each causing the string to vibrate in a unique way.

Modern designs that incorporate lightweight composites for bracing and/or soundboard material tend to have wider tonal and dynamic palates. For example, my TRIPLE CORE TM design has a very light weight soundboard braced in a way that allows the various types of sounds the guitar is capable of producing to each sing in its own way. The soundboard acts almost like a set of speaker cones, faithfully reproducing each variation of the vibrating string. Each tiny nuance that travels from your brain, to your fingers, to the strings is picked up by the soundboard.

This is true of other designs to a lesser degree. Besides the obvious loss of power, necessarily heavier built fan braced designs, and even many lattice designs and double tops with excessively heavy bracing, tend to filter out a lot of the anomalies from the vibrating sting, reducing the amount of nuance that you can impart to the sound. A guitar like this can sound sweet and beautiful, but it can’t do a whole lot more than that.

The unfortunate side effect of these otherwise lovely guitars is that their players can develop uninspired technique:  why put the effort into nuancing your hand movements when it doesn’t change the sound? This is especially true of the right hand. Too often it tends to stay put, without moving up or down the strings much, and the angle of attack of each pluck seems to be determined by the player’s method books, and not the requirements of the piece at hand.

Many players are taught to use rest strokes whenever possible, and to rest free fingers on strings to build leverage. Others are taught to always pluck upwards, for much the same reason. These methods were developed by old masters for a reason – you need to get a lot of energy into a string to make a traditionally built guitar sing. These particular styles are fine – some of the time - but what if you want your guitar to sound different? Modern designs are capable of so much more that it’s a shame to limit your playing technique to such a small tonal and dynamic range.  Smooth glancing plucks (diagonal to string) with the edge of a well rounded fingernail is not only easier on your hands, it can impart a round tone that a harsh perpendicular pluck might lack.

Fingernail length might also be adjusted to suit a more modern guitar design.  Since you no longer need the leverage from excessively long nails, try trimming them fairly short and round with a well polished edge.  The tone colors you will be able to explore will expand your musical toolbox, and playing will likely become easier.

Playing style and fingernail length are, of course, personal preference.  The point is, explore!  With a highly sensitive guitar, it's worth trying new things.

If you are in the market for a professional level guitar, I hope that you will consider a TRIPLE CORE TM and free your hands from the shackles of outdated methods and techniques!

-Tomas
http://www.latticeguitars.com/
Please email me if I can answer any questions - I'll be glad to help!