Thames Classical Guitars

I’ve played Michael Thames’ guitars on and off now for over 10 years (like most guitarists, I’m too fickle to stick with one instrument for any length of time!) I’ve also had the pleasure on numerous occasions of hearing his instruments played by my fellow professionals in concert and by advanced students in master classes. Michael’s guitas have always had the kind of refined sound, balance and playability that performing guitarists demand. Over recent years, however, Michael’s building has added an extra dimension of projection and sustain that makes his guitars almost impossible to put down. He has found that elusive combination of qualities that makes a guitar irresistible: complex yet beautiful sound, strong projection, quick response, sustain, playability and balance. These are beautiful instruments to make beautiful music on — I can’t put my new one down! For more info, go to Stanley Yates

Michael,
The guitar and I are inseparable.  I haven’t touched my others since the day it was delivered.  I grow more pleased every week.  It has opened up into a bi-polar instrument (in a good way).  It can be warm and poetic, as well as a bit growly.  Perfect!  And it’s loud, too.  I checked the projection in a very large auditorium last month, and the vocal prof with whom I work said that it was excellent.  He could hear the pianissimos in the back row!  I could hear the reflections from the balcony. Niiiiice.  I play different when I have that kind of projection.  For more info, go to: Larry McDonald

Michael,
the guitar arrived.  i played a bit. immediate reaction is quite a nice guitar. great work.  of course the look is to die for.  the rosewood is… well, you know… you made it… but the sound is good. has a very new sound. not surprising.  i will play a little each day, let it rest and get acclimated here. won’t take it anywhere for a year or so. just work it in. i like guitars to have their own characteristics. i did note one thing. the feel and size and all reminds me of my torres.

take care… and many many thanks for the incredible instrument. it’s a treasure. and it’s in the right place.  lots of guitarist will see her over time.
for more info, go to Scott Purdin.

Dear Michael,
Last week I went to Goa for a competition called the National Classical Guitar Competition. There were three rounds.  I won the first prize in the final round. Here are some links from the news:

TEENAGER EMERGES COUNTRY’S BEST CLASSICAL GUITARIST AT GUITAR CONTEST IN GOA

PANJIM, Feb 19: With a spellbinding recital, teenager Madhavan Somanathan of New Delhi bagged the top berth in the finals of the GGC National Classical Guitar Competition Goa 2006 at the Kala Academy in Panjim this evening, winning a prize of Rs.20,000 and a beautiful guitar worth a similar amount.

The 14-year-old prodigy chose Prelude No.1, Asturias (Leyenda) and Evocacion and Joropo displaying the class of ingenuity needed to interpret the melodic magic in the music. In all 34 contestants joined the competition, from whom 7 made it to the preliminaries that left leaving behind the country’s four best classical guitarists – Madhavan Somanathan; Prasad Ruparel of Navi Mumbai (Cancion O Tocata, Fantasia, El Elegante, Julia Florida and Tango No.2), Biplay Singh of Calcutta (Capricho Arabe, Asturias and Usher Vales) while Christian Katherein, a German residing in Aldona rendered Fuga from BWV 998, La Cathedral – Allegro Solemne and Lettre a Julia Florida. Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane, the chief guest on the occasion, congratulated Guitar Guild Goa and assured them of his government’s support to hold at least one performance at the Kala Academy every month, hosting the best musicians in the country and even those from other countries. The GGG programme continues till February 23 with the recitals of world renowned musicians Piero Bonaguri (Italy), Roger Zimmermann (Germany) and Goa’s own Schubert Cotta, who figured on the panel of judges for today’s competition, plus a concert on the last day. (GoaNewsClips)

I built Madhavan’s guitar in July 2005. Italian Spruce with Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. Click here for a sound clip of Madavan playing Asturius.

Rafael Andia, Composer, Performer and has been teaching baroque and classical guitar in the famous Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris since 1971(Trad. Mike Dezavelle). I have had many years of experience with guitars.  I have owned and played numerous guitars by Ramirez, Bernabe, Romanillos, Friedrich and Fleta.  My guitar by Michael Thames compares with them all.  It has a very refined and varied sound, warmth and beautiful vibrato.  But it has another quality few guitars offer:  maneuverability.  It has an agreeable touch and the hand loves it immediately.  Thanks Michael!” For more info, go to: Rafael Andia.
To hear some Rafael Andia, click here

Stephen Aron, Professor of Music @ Akron University & Professor of Guitar @ Oberlin Conservatory: “I have used a Thames guitar in concerts for most of the decade and have found it to be a remarkably responsive and expressive instrument. I especially appreciate the way its warm, rich bass is complemented by a surprisingly punchy and singing treble. I am consistently complimented on my sound and projection and people always ask for the builder’s address. I have had the good fortune to make two recordings using this first-class guitar. As a side note, Thames guitars are the first-choice instrument of my students at the University of Akron and the Oberlin Conservatory. Not only are they competitive in sound with other ‘major-name’ guitars, they are surprisingly more affordable, a major concern of most of my students.” For more information, go to:  Stephen Aron
To hear some of Stephen, click here:

Erich Avinger, Soloist: “I play Michael’s spruce/cedar guitars for recording, playing, mic up or acoustic performance, for Jazz, World Music, or Classical, I think Michael must build these instruments just to amaze me and my audience. The ringing bell tones and the pearly sparkle of a fine steel string instrument. The warmth, the nuance and medley of expression of the best classical guitars. And they are loud. Check out Erich’s recent performance:Any Michael Thames guitar is the best thing I ever heard.” The latest LIVE recording from Erich’s new musical odyssey, click here:  For more info, go to: Erich Avinger

Jamey Bellizzi, Performing Artist, Composer and Instructor:  “This wonderful instrument was made for me by the great luthier and friend, Michael Thames.  The guitar is very loud and even in response in all registers. This guitar has the greatest treble and was constructed with graphite-laminated bracing. The guitar took a while to break in  (6 months) because of the graphite, but the end result was astonishing.  I have never had a more responsive guitar.  I own other concert guitars, Freiderich & Bernabe, but every time I pick up the Thames to play, I am seduced and amazed at the power of this instrument.”  You can hear the Thames 2001 Concert Guitar – 650mm Cedar & Indian Rosewood on my Recording: EL DELIRIO. For more info, go to: Empire Music”
To hear some of Jamey Belizzi, click here:

Gilbert Biberian, Composer, Guitarist and Teacher: “It was great talking to you over the phone. I have been insanely busy and I couldn’t get round to writing this letter until today! So here are the measurements I have felt happiest and most comfortable with: …….Andy’s was a lovely guitar (Thames) with the best action I’ve ever had the pleasure to play on….I look forward to hearing from you about the progress of work on the new guitar. Warmest good wishes!” For more info, go to: Gilbert Biberian

Michael Chapdelaine, Solo Performer, Professor of Music and Head of Guitar Studies at University of New Mexico and 1st place winner of the 1981 GFA:  Michael Thames is one of the most talented guitar builders in the world.  His instruments are at once warm and expressive, powerful and clear. And in our era of the guitar volume cold-war, he has maintained his signature quality which allows the player to easily reveal his/her entire emotional and intellectual range”. For more info, go to: Michael Chapdelaine
To hear some of Michael Chapdelaine, click here:

Brian DeLay, Classical Guitarist/Lutenist, Santa Fe Opera, Chamber Music Festival, Faculty Member at College of Santa Fe:   “I have four wonderful instruments made by Michael Thames: a cedar top classical guitar, a 13-course bass rider Baroque lute, a swan neck Baroque lute, and a theorbo.  All of them have a rich, sustained sound of the highest professional quality.  They are a joy to play!  I’ve performed with the guitar throughout the U.S. in halls as large as 2,500 seats, and it projects clearly and cleanly.  It compares favorably to my high-end guitars in the $10-20K price range.  Michael is great to work with, too.  He takes great care to recreate period lutes with historical accuracy, and the craftsmanship and detail are outstanding.  Michael is a true artist.  I enthusiastically recommend Thames guitars for professional guitarists and serious students.”  For more info, go to: Brian Delay

Mike Dezavelle, was Assist. Professor to Alberto Ponce at the Ecole Normale in France in 1979, presently a Solo Artist and owner of Santa Fe Guitar Works:  “While living in Europe in the 1970s, I had the opportunity to play many fine guitars, and was fortunate enough to own a great sounding Ramirez and a very powerful Fleta.  My search for the perfect instrument was rewarded when I found out about Michael Thames guitars. The ease of playability, the power and warmth of sound, and the beautiful workmanship are a thrill to experience rolled into one fine guitar.”

Che,
Virtuoso extraordinare and apparent international man of mystery shares this story

A little story about your guitar:

A lady slipped a little silk cloth with her fragrance in the soundhole of your guitar without my notice.  The next day I had a long flight to Pago Pago with a layover in Hawaii so I didn’t play for a few days.  I had a hotel room some 30 feet from the water…( at the old Rainmaker Hotel )  it was humid and warm.  Even a/c rooms in the tropics are humid when you go back and forth through sliding glass doors.

I arrived in the middle of the night..it was after midnight when I cleared customs and got the rental.  I  went to sleep after bringing the strings up to  A 442. I like a sharp edge. I did a little tech. the next morning, quite stuff while sitting in bed.  I did a little more work after lunch which was what I call waking the hands up…. quite tech.  I didn’t review pieces, just things I know are best for finesesing my hands up to subtlety.  I knew the pieces.

At any rate,  I was pretty casual about everything.  I started warming up about 20 minutes before I was to play that night ( keep in mind that was a long trip.  I had been in Erie, PA. and the trip started with driving to Hopkins in Cleveland  )  About 20 minutes into the show I begin to smell Tresor coming from my guitar…. peaches do not grown in the South Pacific. It was particularly nostalgic and heavy with memory for me.  I played something she loved, the “Mazurka Apasionata” of Barrios and they would’t let me leave.  I had to come back on stage with your guitar in it’s case ….wearing my hat so they understood I was not coming back again…. They got a big laugh out of that.

After playing that night I found her little silk inside your guitar.  I left it there, thereafter when she warmed up on a warm tropical night I caught

the scent of Tresor and she would throb and bled for me.  She likes sea-level, my body heat, and balmy nights.  I sent my lady friend a letter concerning her little gift which she said she loved.  That little “Fleta” is always peaking when you catch a waff of Tresor.

Che’

Michael Katz, former teacher and performer at Univ. of Southern Maine for over twenty years. Now I am part owner of a financial services company www.wintergreenfinancialgroup.com. I began studying the Carlevaro technique with Jad Azkoul in 1993 and never looked back.  Having owned guitars by Fleta, Ramirez, Contreras,Kohno, Byers,Cone, Zalapa Luna, and Lowden. The Lowden  was my favorite until I bought my Michael Thames Cedar Kevlar top guitar.

“My guitar sang so beautifully this morning…so fast and responsive and focused and warm and sweet. The most friendly fingerboard I’ve ever played!  All the endorsements on your website speak the truth!!!  Your website visitors should know that I never played one of your guitars before I ordered it and I find in just 3 weeks the instrument has more than fulfilled my expectations which in part were built from the endorsements on your website. My days begin and end with playing my Thames kevlar cedar top guitar! My best to you and family!”

Gregory Leupp, Solo Artist:  “I owned and played a Romanillos for many years until Yoni Riley came by to practice some duets we were going to perform.  He was playing one of Michael’s guitars at the time.   I was so blown away at how much better it sounded than my guitar that I sold the Romanillos.  Within a week, I went to France for a vacation and came back and bought a Thames.  I have had other guitars made by Michael since then and all have been works of Art.    A classical guitar must have a beautiful quality to its sound; one that captures the listener’s attention.  It so happens that Michael’s guitars, in addition to having as much volume as any guitar I have played,  also are balanced and have a beautiful sound and they play with ease.” For more info, go to: Gregory Leupp Studio sampling of Greg’s 640, .

Richard M. Long, Editor-In-Chief of GFA Soundboard Magazine (photo forthcoming): “The Guitar (Thames) is a Cedar/Indian dated 1995 and numbered 247. I bought it after playing dozens (at a guitar store)… It’s one of those guitars that everyone who sees and plays it wants to buy it, and it’s not for sale!

I have attached here an audio clip of La Negra which I think the BEST sounding Michael Thames I have ever recorded.  Please feel free to put this in your site, if possible. I have also attached the CD picture of “Precious Companions” where your guitar is easily recognized. Thank you!

Richard Alcoy, is excited to report that his new Naxos International release “Popular Guitar Music Of The Philippines” (also marketed as “Spanish Guitar Music Of The Philippines”) has just hit the market.  This release is available at all Tower Records, Borders Books & Music and other stores around the world.  For more info, click here.

Robert Luse, Esteemed Teacher and Composer in Singapore: “Like many guitarists, I suffer a dilemma of irreconcilable desires. Although historically, guitars were constructed to serve contemporary musical taste, guitarists now perceive the instrument as a locus of five hundred years of music history. Whereas early music requires tonal homogeneity, Latin music gravitates towards distinctly orchestrated registers. The dark, sugary tonalities so suitable in Villa Lobos do little to illuminate the subtly interwoven voices in a Fantasia by Luis de Milan. This places unprecedented demands upon guitar constructors, to whom guitarists such as me look for salvation. My Michael Thames guitar comes as close as any to straddling the demands of disparate tonal worlds. Proceeding from bedrock uniformity, Thames still manages to instill considerable registrar vitality and contrast. You can play Thames sweet; you can play it hard and dark – Michael has installed possibilities. Also interesting is the evolution of Thames the artist. For example, I am about to get my instrument refitted with a bridge and saddle of fossilized Mastodon tusk, further demonstrating that for Thames, no corner of either the spiritual or material world is too remote for consideration.” For more info, click here.

Click here to listen to from the Luse Method.

Jeremy S. Mayne, Recording Artist and Faculty Member at University of New Mexico and Academy High School:  “Michael Thames is one of the premier guitar builders in the U.S. today. His excellent workmanship and restless spirit of innovation enable him to consistantly produce guitars with excellent projection, clarity and balance.” For more info, click here.

“Well the faculty recital went very well thanks to your awesome guitar!”
Warm Regards,
Matthew Miller
ph. (414).801.2458
http://www.myspace.com/matthewsmiller

Sterling Price, Virtuoso Baroque Lutenist: “I hesitate to tell you what I really think of this lute since you might raise your prices! I’m having great fun playing it and I find that I communicate with it well. When my wife heard it ,she said she finally knew why I was unhappy with my other lute. I hope you will consider making more lutes since yours are really quite good instruments. Thanks for everything”.

Check out Sterling’s 13-string Weiss guitar at: weissguitar.com

Richard Tadaki: “I decided to reread your message to try and get more insight into my friend’s cedar Thames, which I have committed to buying. What impressed me most about it was the incredible bell-like trebles and the strong harmonics, both of which are second to no other guitar I’ve ever played (and at this point I’ve played a lot of concert guitars including Smallman, Humphrey’s Millennium, Ruck, Miguel Rodrigues, and others). The sustain of the Thames was also very impressive, certainly as good as anything else I’ve ever played.”

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Michael Thames and play his cedar top guitars that were built in the year ‘07. As a concert artist traveling the world with the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet for the last 18 years and having met many guitar makers, I can assure you that Michael’s guitars are at the same level or better as those guitars made by the most well-known luthiers. The Thames guitars I tried were not only easy to play but were loud, warm, round, and clear. These guitars also had a most excellent first string. I highly recommend any nylon string player to come and check them out. You won’t regret it! I myself am on the list and hope to obtain one of these masterpieces in the near future. Eric Slavin/Member/Santa Fe Guitar Quartet. Check out Eric and the Santa Fe Guitar Quarter at www.sfg4.net

As I had told you, I’m really not a “Cedar player”. But I’ve been using this guitar even more often than I first thought I would. In many “special” situations like this concert, where I needed a guitar tuned very differently (from the bass up: D,G,D,F#,B,E)…Aliéksey Vianna

(Check out this performance on UTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLXcMFcfiRI

So, in any case, I just hope this message will find you well, and that we can talk again. For as I said, you were indeed VERY generous with me, and I’ll be always sincerely grateful.    http://www.aliekseyvianna.com

Dan Ward, Solo Artist and accompaniment to Ottmar Liebert and Maria Benitez on both recordings and tours, and who has been playing Thames guitars for 15 years: “Michael Thames makes some of the best guitars in the world. To know it, all you have to do is play one.” Daniel’s newly released CD, “After the Storm” is now available, go to: Daniel Ward
List to Daniel by clicking

Eugene Wong: “You asked me how my Thames is coming along. I have to say that the instrument is just wonderful. I can push it and it responds. I hear people talk about spruce guitars having a greater spectrum of tonal color than cedar. If that’s true, my Thames has to be magnificent. I can get liquid warmth (heated sensual oils) to cutting sharp (samurai sword quality) tones at will. If there are limitations with this guitar, they lie only with the player. This instrument begs me to make every practice session a literal performance for myself. And I just love it!”

Michael Thames, Luthier, Lutinist, Classical Guitarist, and shameless and humble self-promoter: “I have known Michael Thames most of my life (I think?) and become speechless when I think of his guitars! Having played exclusively his guitars and lutes for my entire life, I highly recommend them, plus he’s a great guy (at least that’s what my wife says!). For more info, stay right where you are!

Past and Present Clients:

Rafael Andia

Stephen Aron

Erich Avinger

James Bellizzi

Gilbert Biberian

Paul Binkley

Michael Chapdelaine

Ricardo Cobo

Brian DeLay

Cristof Delor

Mike Dezavelle

Larry Ferrera

Doug James

William David Jennings

Micky Jones

Daniel Katz

Aldo La Grutta

Gregory Leupp

Robert Luse

Jeremy Mayne

Terry Mills

Francesca Stedman

David Tananbaum

Daniel Ward

Eugene Wong

and many, many, more……

Contact Info:
Thames Classical Guitars
Michael Thames, Luthier
(505) 474-6628
MichaelThames1@mac.com