I recently purchased a beautiful Otto Vowinkel flamenco guitar from Paul at the Grand Guitar Salon.
I am new to flamenco but have played guitar all my life in numerous styles – bluegrass, swing, gypsy jazz, and most recently classical. I got seriously turned on to flamenco during a vacation in Seville and signed up for lessons upon returning home.
I did not want to buy a “starter guitar,” one I would wind up becoming dissatisfied with and losing money on after a year. After searching through many Web sites in the US and Spain, I found Paul’s and inquired about a used Spanish guitar that looked like it would do the trick. When he asked the owner a question about it, the fellow decided that he wasn’t ready to sell it yet after all, sending us back to square one.
Paul offered to bring in a brand new guitar of the same model from Spain at a very attractive price, then after a bit offered me the Otto Vowinkel at only slightly more (and a nice discount), assuring me that it was a better built and sounding guitar.
I accepted, and the guitar arrived by mail a few days later. It is absolutely gorgeous and sounds fantastic, a great value for the price and something that I know I will get a great deal of enjoyment from.
I have bought a number of guitars by mail order over the years – this one was exceptionally carefully packed for shipment, far better than any I’ve received in the past. AND it came with a lovely grab bag of goodies – extra strings, a nice tuner, Oasis humidifier and hygrometer, and more. I’ve never seen anything like that, it’s above and beyond.
Many thanks to Paul and best wishes for continued success. Highly recommended!
