Is the Lucida Vihuela a good beginner guitar?

[Eiko Ishiwata]

I previously bought a vihuela online without seeing how well it played and I was very disappointed since the frets weren't set properly and it was extremely out of tune.

I've been trying to find an affordable vihuela and I came across a little info about the Lucida Viheula. I found a youtube video of someone playing this instrument and it sounds fairly good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKkOvTsx3Mw

Does anyone have experience with the Lucida Vihuela?

Thanks!

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

Hello Eiko, welcome to the site. The video shows a mariachi vihuela, but this website is really about historic vihuelas from the 16th century (and early guitars too). However, maybe someone here has experience with the Lucida instrument?

[Eiko Ishiwata]

Thanks Jelma for the reply.

I might be posting in the wrong type of website since it is Mariachi vihuelas that I'm interested in. I've been talking to a seller that carries these guitars and he mentioned that the tuning is still a bit off even with the metal frets so I might see if I can replace the nylon frets to metal frets on my current vihuela at a local guitar repair store.

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

Hi EIko

If the frets are nylon, and tied around the neck, like on historical instruments, you should be able to move them to the correct position (maybe using a tuner or something)... it is also relatively easy to tie new frets from thick gut strings. If you google tying gut frets you will find some useful links (http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/fretknot.htm for instance)

Jelma

[Eiko Ishiwata]

This is perfect! Thank you for the site. I'm having trouble with the gauge or thickness of each fret creating buzzing. I even tried using leather jewelry cord for the highest fret. Some of the frets are so thin that they do nothing! I'll take a look and see if I can fix the problem myself. Thanks again!

[Eiko Ishiwata]

I just finished fixing my vihuela, it plays perfectly in tune without any buzzing. I had to experiment with my extra set of nylon classical guitar strings quite a bit to eliminate the buzzing caused by the strings slightly touching the adjacent frets. The info from that site saved me a few hundred dollars:) Appreciate your help!