2012 Lester DeVoe w/pegs SP/CY

This 2012 Lester DeVoe is a spruce and cypress flamenco blanca with Pegheds tuners – from the period many consider his best.

A Classic DeVoe Blanca

Spectacular spruce and cypress, his classic “roses” rosette after early José Ramírez, and “Pegheds” tuners – which look like traditional pegs but tune with mechanical precision – make this an absolutely classic blanca. It has his printed label – “Lester DeVoe, Constructor, Nipomo, California, U.S.A.” – signed “Lester J. DeVoe”, dated 2012.

Sound and Condition

It plays immaculately, with the setup and intonation Lester is famous for, plenty of volume and punch and a soulful flamenco voice. The guitar was in near-perfect condition.

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.