2005 Lester DeVoe SP/IN

This 2005 Lester DeVoe is a spruce and Indian rosewood flamenco negra with his “roses” rosette.

Balance and Playability

The main reason so many professionals play DeVoe guitars is their playability and balance: even string tension across the strings and up the fingerboard, a picado that releases instantly even when crossing strings, perfect intonation and low action. It carries his printed label – “Lester DeVoe, Constructor, Nipomo, California, U.S.A.” – signed “Lester J. DeVoe”, dated 2005.

Materials

Superb materials and his usual appointments, including the “roses” rosette after early José Ramírez guitars, make it wonderful to look at as well.

Lester DeVoe: An American Flamenco Master

Lester DeVoe (born 1951) is among the most celebrated flamenco guitar makers of the last fifty years. Self-taught, he began building in 1975 and worked in San José, California, in Paris, Maine, and from the early 2000s in Nipomo, California. He was “discovered” in the 1980s by Sabicas, who played DeVoe guitars for the rest of his career, and his guitars were then embraced by Paco de Lucía, Vicente Amigo, El Viejín and Antonio Rey. He has now retired from guitar making.

The DeVoe Flamenco

DeVoe builds in the style of the old masters, with guitars as light as a feather – comparable in weight to a great Marcelo Barbero or Santos Hernández – and a “flamenco puro” sound: bright, vibrant basses and snappy trebles. Players prize them above all for their playability and balance – even string tension across the strings and up the fingerboard, a fast-releasing picado, precise intonation and low action. His classic rosette is a “roses” design after early José Ramírez guitars, and many players feel his finest guitars date from after 2010.