2012 Lester DeVoe "Negra" w/pegs SP/CSAR

This 2012 Lester DeVoe “Negra” is a spruce and CSA rosewood flamenco guitar with machined pegs.

Machined Pegs, CSA Rosewood

A lovely set of CSA rosewood and machined pegs – an old-school look with modern ease of tuning – distinguish this negra, which carries his printed label – “Lester DeVoe, Constructor, Nipomo, California, U.S.A.” – signed “Lester J. DeVoe”, dated 2012.

Sound and Condition

Balanced string tension, instant picado, perfect intonation and low action, with a bright, snappy “flamenco puro” voice. The guitar was in excellent condition with minor finish wear. Edward Frank Martínez plays El Viejín 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.