Iglesias Guitars

Today I got to meet Ramon Iglesias. In his younger hippy days he traveled to Barcelona, Spain and Italy to study guitar making. Then he went to the US to work for Martin guitar company in 1977. He returned to Guatemala to continue making electric guitars and bases because of the quality of hardwoods found in areas of Guatemala like Peten, Coban and Escuincle. The more interesting part about his shop was the machines. He built a circular saw for making the frets out of an old photocopier.

In addition, he took a microscope used for checking eyes and now uses it to make sure his fretboard is lined up correctly. At this interview I realized that I was asking less “how do you do that” type questions and instead asked more specific question about what materials he uses to accomplish such and such. This was a confirmation that hey, I actually learned something on this trip!

Winter in Summer

Last weekend I went to the Pacific Ocean, this time from the Guatemalan coordinates. The beach was volcanic black sand and the water was way warm. The downside was the rain. No one told me that June was winter in Guatemala, it rains all the darn time.
We went to Puli's dad's casa del puerto to celebrate Ixmuy and Yu Tzu's bdays. Of course there was a piñata! And we sure did surprise Ixmuy. Good times.

Interview with Joaquín Orellana

Wednesday a group of us from INDIS went to meet with Orellana. He had been sick the last few weeks so this was the first time I got to meet him. We clicked, something that I was hoping for especially since we are both violinists and studying in Buenos Aires at some point. Besides the interview, some highlights are...
I told him that I had built a guitar in BsAs and then he mentioned the vihuela at which point we both begain to recite Martin Fierro, "Aquí me pongo a cantar, al compas de la vihuela...."

We went to lunch afterwards where he told mexican joke. Half of them I didn't get because of the vocab, but man does he do a great accent.

I'll be working on a grant proposal involving his instruments. The Canadian Langlois foundation gives supports science art projects in developing countries. The entry date isnt until next january, but it doesn't hurt to start now. Plus, this has been a great way to end my Watson year...after studying traditional regional instruments, to study innovations.