Portuguese Guitars For Sale (August 5, 2024) ron@fernandezmusic.com. Anacortes, WA 98221

I now have 6 Portuguese guitarras For Sale. I imported these this year (2024). There are 3 Coimbra (470mm scale) and 3 Lisboa (440mm scale) instruments.  

These were "production" instruments made in a good factory workshop. I visited the workshop in central Portugal in October 2023. I have been to this shop over several decades. When I received the instruments I personally, set-up the bridge height, the depth of the nut slots, and refined the levelness of the fretwork.

I am selling each instrument for $1200. This includes the instrument, a case, string winder, 2 extra sets of strings, 2 thumb picks, 2 index finger picks, and 2 personal lessons via Facetime or Skype. These lessons cover basic playing techniques and introduction to Fado Menor.  I cover shipping costs within the USA or the expense of Washington State tax if you come to see me and pickup everything in Anacortes, Washington.

Contact me by email (ron@fernandezmusic.com) or by phone (949-856-1537) so we can discuss  particulars.

I also call your attention to the Free Internet Lessons I have on my website. There are transcriptions of pieces from early Portuguese guitars methods.

I have a few more expensive handmade instruments for sale which are shown on  another page of my website. They are at: http://www.fernandezmusic.com/MasterPortugueseGuitars.html

I am always happy to hear from players of the Portuguese guitar. Ron Fernandez in Anacortes, Washington.

Here are a few photos of what I have.

A Note about Prices advertised on the internet

I should mention that prices advertised on the internet for guitarras located in Portugal do not suggest the complete price (and shipping risk). In addition, to the price for the guitarra, you will need a case ($100 to $150 plus freight), a string winder ($50 to $60), fingerpicks ($1 to 2 each), extra strings ($11 to 15 per set), learning materials and you must pay for shipping ($125 to $150), customs clearance charge ($25 to $100), US customs duty (6 to 10%), shipping/damage insurance (.5%) and probably employ an instrument maker in the US to refine the frets and adjust the bridge height and string depth ($100+). There are very few instrument repair people in the USA who have experience setting-up in Portuguese guitars. Most cannot change strings because they do not have a string winder to make the loop on the string ends. Shipping damage is also a very real problem. Years ago, the first guitarras I imported from Portugal arrived damaged; on the first Lisboa guitar the snail of the scroll head had broken off. On another shipment 2 of 14 guitarras had complete body damage.  Poor quality packing from Portugal has been a continuing problem. The last 8 guitarras came in fine but the exterior carton was damaged in shipping.

My experience

I have a long experience with Portuguese and Spanish instruments. I have imported Portuguese guitarras for over 30 years and Spanish guitars for 50 years; I have imported a few hundred Portuguese guitarras and over 10,000 guitars from Spain. I play them, I set them up, I have repaired them and I have build a few also.

My experience with Portuguese fado extends back to 1971 when I started to perform with Fado musicans in Montreal. At that time I was doing Ph.D research on Portuguese immigrants while in Anthropology Graduate School at McGill University. For years I have presented a free lesson on how to play the Lisboa Guitarra; it is still on my website along with several videos.

Lisboa and Coimbra guitarras

There are currently 2 different styles of Portuguese guitarras: the Lisboa and the Coimbra. A 3rd type of Portuguese guitarra from the 19th century, a model from Porto, is now obsolete; it usually had a carved animal or human head.

Lisboa head (above)

The Lisboa guitarra (Lisboa is the Portuguese word for Lisbon) has a scroll type head (which is much like a violin head). It has a string length of 440mm. The traditional fado tuning is: bb., aa, ee, Bb, Aa, Dd (1st to 12th string, treble to bass). This instrument is the typical guitarra used to accompany fado singing in Lisboa, and for playing Lisboa style variations.

Coimbra Head (above)

The Coimbra guitarra has a teardrop or shield type head design. It has a string length of 470mm which allows it to be tuned in the Coimbra style which is: aa, gg, dd, Aa, Gg, Cc (1st to 12th string). This tuning is one full step below, that is, two frets lower, than the Lisboa tuning. This tuning is associated with the music and song of the University of Coimbra, located in central Portugal. (My late wife, Jeanette, and I attended the University of Coimbra during the summer of 1974.)

The Coimbra style of guitarra is linked to the instrumental music of Carlos Paredes and, his father, Artur Paredes, and to university student serenades. In recent years some Lisboa fado guitarists have been using this longer scale Coimbra instrument to accompany fado; that is, they have been using the Lisboa tuning on their Coimbra guitarra with the 470mm scale. To use the the Lisboa tuning on a 470mm scale guitarra, it is necessary to use lighter tension strings than those usually sold for Coimbra guitarra. In my free internet lesson on my website I give the typical strings gauges for Lisboa and Coimbra guitarras. While there are players who use the Lisboa tunings on Coimbra instrument, it is important to realize that the Lisboa tuning has much higher tension and put more stress on the instrument. It seems that most modern Coimbra instruments can accept the additional tension but I still warn player to carefully watch what the higher tension can do to their instrument--it might damage the soundboard, or make it uncomfortable to play because the strings are much tighter. So, you must watch your instrument to see if it can withstand the higher tuning.

In addition to the difference in head design and scale length, the Lisboa and Coimbra models differ in the proportions of the soundbox. The length of the Coimbra guitarra soundbox is longer than it is wide, while the width of the Lisboa soundbox is wider than it is long. The ornamentation of custom made Lisboa guitarras is often elaborate while the ornamentation of Coimbra guitarras is usually simpler. The elaborate ornamentation often included use of Mother of Pearl, fancy carved heads, and multi-colored purfling.

Occasionally people ask for a guitarra without a case. My experience has shown me that it is false economy to buy the guitarra without a case. This is because it is nearly impossible to find a case in the USA that fits these instruments and players who buy without a case typically damage their instrument when they carry it around. I have seen a number of old instruments owned by a grandparent which a grandchild inherits--if it has been in a case it may have survived the journey through time. If it is not stored in a case it is usually physically damaged, cracked, wooden parts have shrunk and fret ends are sharp because they are sticking out beyond the shrunken fingerboard. A case not only protects an instrument from physical damage from impact but also it protects the instrument from rapid loss or gain of humidity which can/will cause cracking.

The other important item needed by any Portuguese guitarra player is a string winder. In order to install strings on the guitarra it is necessary to have a string winder to make a loop at one end of the strings. Portuguese guitarra strings come with a loop on only one end because each instrument has a slightly different string length. The typical installation procedure is to attach the looped end onto the base of the guitarra and then pull the other string end up to the tuning mechanism where the exact length is noted and then to make a loop so the string custom fits the particular guitarra.

I should point out here that I personally prepare each guitarra before shipment. I spend several hours on each guitarra to insure that it is easy to play. You can see the fret work I typically do in my shop by going to Fret Dressing on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZOqW5S1NVM.

In addition to the refining of the frets I focus attention on the height of the bridge and the nut. Also, if necessary, I take apart the threaded rods of the tuning mechanism, file rough places smooth and lubricate the rods. If these matters are not attended to the mechanism will be difficult to use and there is a possibility that the hook which holds the string in the tuning mechanism may cut the string. This attention to detail is what I am known for in the guitar community.

We have specially made gig bags for Portuguese guitarras. These gig bags have a shoulder strap, and a pouch on the outside. The price is $70 plus shipping (and 9.0% sales tax if delivery is in Washington). Currently we have these bags black.

Contact me below by e-mail or call 949-856-1537 for further information on Portuguese guitarras for sale.

• The action on these instrument is set-up by Ron Fernandez who also works on the frets and the tuning mechanism. All of the guitarras I have seen from Portugal need additional work to make them play easily--the bridge and nut must be adjusted so the string height is appropriate and the frets must be leveled, recrowned, smoothed and polished. The tuning mechanism (chaves or leques) must be taken apart and the parts finely filed. Setting up a Portuguese guitarra so it is easy to play is very time consuming--the labor for this work is worth $150 to $200. You can see some of the work I do on all my instruments I sell on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZOqW5S1NVM
• Be sure to view the 4 videos I have posted on YouTube. Two videos show how to play the Fado Menor and Fado Maior which I have written out in notation and tablature in my lesson. The other 2 videos show how to make special fingerpicks for playing the guitarra. (see home page under Portuguese Guitars and Fado. As time permits I will post other videos which will show basic right hand technique, tuning, the fado arpeggios, scales, basic chords, etc.
• 7 Fado song books are no longer available  from me (see home page under Portuguese Guitars and Fado). They were 2 books of the songs of Amalia Rodrigues, 3 on famous Lisbon fados, and one on Coimbra fados ($29 each. You can find them on-line). I still have a few copies of the Fado Portugues book by Donald Cohen with a CD ($34.95). We no longer import any of ther Cebolo guitarra methods. For information press here.
• The Soares method book for learning Coimbra style which was about $90 is still out of print as of June 2019 (this is a pity) I visited Paolo Soares in Coimbra in October 2023. He is planning a new edition. 

If you wish to e-mail me, click on my address: mailto:ron@fernandezmusic.com

Playing the Portuguese Guitarra Lisbon Style (an Internet lesson)

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Ron with spruce face, solid rosewood "Severa" Model