2011 Lester DeVoe SP/IN

This 2011 Lester DeVoe is a spruce and Indian rosewood flamenco negra with one of his rarer Santos rosettes and herringbone purfling.

A Santos Rosette and Herringbone

Instead of his usual “roses” design, this negra has one of DeVoe’s rarer rosettes after Santos Hernández, and – rarer still – an added herringbone purfling around the body. It carries his printed label – “Lester DeVoe, Constructor, Nipomo, California, U.S.A.” – signed “Lester J. DeVoe”, dated 2011.

Sound and Playability

One of the more flamenco-sounding DeVoe negras we have experienced, with his trademark balance, instant picado, perfect intonation and low action.

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.