2015 Lester DeVoe "Negra" w/pegs SP/IN

This 2015 Lester DeVoe “Negra” is a spruce and Indian rosewood flamenco guitar with traditional wooden pegs – one of the last guitars of his career.

Wooden Pegs and “Roses”

Built with choice materials and his classic “roses” rosette after early José Ramírez, it has traditional wooden pegs that work very well – a lighter peghead for improved responsiveness – and a very thin lacquer finish. It carries his printed label – “Lester DeVoe, Constructor, Nipomo, California, U.S.A.” – signed “Lester J. DeVoe”, dated 2015.

Sound and Condition

Very lightly built, snappy and immediate, with plenty of volume and punch and a soulful flamenco voice – a top example from his post-2010 years. The guitar was in near-perfect condition. Payam Shahidi plays Vicente Amigo on it in the video above.

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.