Requinto?

Ahnko Honu

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Not sure if this should be posted here or in Guitars section. Anyone here familiar with the Mexican Requinto? 6 string and about the size of a baritone 'ukulele but tuned A D G C E A so I would think easier for a person more familiar with a 'ukulele (like myself) than a guitar to pick up than a baritone 'ukulele which would be just the opposite. They seem to be pretty reasonable in price too with solid top Requintos starting at around $130.00. Anyone here own and play a Requinto? How do you like it? Mahalo for your thoughts. :shaka:
LG-RQ1-Big.jpg
 
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Never heard of it until now, but it's awesome! I wonder if this is what Paul from KoAloha had in mind for a six-string based on a baritone.

I dig the Paracho requintos with the cutaway and built-in electronics. Under $200, too!
 
Last year I went through a brief Requinto obsession. I eventually purchased a Guitalele, which is the same thing. It didn't really trip my trigger...but it might trip yours. During my quest, I played a very nice Requinto (1-2k range) that sounded great! But, the tenor ukulele has me by the heart and everything else. I sold the Guitalele within a couple of days of owning it.
 
Was that the Yamaha Guitalele? Isn't that more a tenor size?
It's a bit bigger than a tenor and the body is thicker. Even the other Requintos I played, the bodies were more guitar like, making it less comfortable to hold. I think the Koaloha DVI is Requinto-like.
 
Hmm, never heard of the Requinto. But I do own a Mele Guitarlele. Its riding in an old Kamaka-style baritone case. I can tell you that it blows away the Yamaha Guitarlele. I have mine tuned to EADGBE, but the strings are a bit pretty loose, and I might be able to crank it up 5 half-steps, but I have never tried it, and know that I'm too cheap and lazy to replace strings.

But my overall assessment of my Mele, which retails for something like 700 is that the guitarlele really is not that good of a compromise between guitar and uke. Granted, I prefer the sound of steel strings over nylon classical strings. But really, after playing a full size guitar, ones that retail for half of what the mele goes for, the Mele just cannot compete. Yes, this is an apples to oranges comparison, but still...the overall instrument just isn't a very enjoyable experience IMO.

The cool part is that you can play it with your right hand pretty much just like a uke, with you regular strum pattern and chunking and everything. And it's a cool way to learn guitar chords if you're making the transition. But really, the sound just doesn't do it for me. I just brought mine out and gave it a few strums, and I'd say the sound isn't as full as a guitar, and not as bright and precise as a uke. Yeah, I can't really describe it, but Ahnko, if you happen to have a good electric bass or a solid-wood Taylor/Martin acoustic cuitar lying around in your closet, I might be willing to trade.
 
Here's Kanile'a Guitarlele; http://ukulele.pua2.com/details/cool178.html
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I'm mainly comparing the Requinto as an option to the Baritone which it seems closer to in size. From what I gather the guitalele is closer to the tenor. I wish Yahama sold Guitaleles in the US just so I could try one out locally before I make a commitment.
 
Here's Kanile'a Guitarlele; http://ukulele.pua2.com/details/cool178.html
cool178_1.jpg


I'm mainly comparing the Requinto as an option to the Baritone which it seems closer to in size. From what I gather the guitalele is closer to the tenor. I wish Yahama sold Guitaleles in the US just so I could try one out locally before I make a commitment.

Ah, is that why people charge such ridiculous prices for Guitarleles here on the secondary market? I was shocked to see Yamaha Guitarleles, brand new go for $30 USD in Hong Kong. I was in Tom Lee music, which is pretty much a music store for the rich, since they charge MSRP+markup, which is pretty ridiculous, since you can buy two Gibsons at street price for the price of one at MSRP. But that aside, they had one guitarlele and one uke. The uke was a pretty cheap Aria soprano, that they were selling at $50 USD. I was not willing to pay. So I asked them (in fluent Chinese) how much the guitarlele was, totally prepared for sticker-shock. They told me $238. I remember turning to my dad and asking if that was in American dollars or HK dollars. (I was like...how did they know I was American?!) LOL. But it was HK dollars...so divide by the pegged rate of 7.8-ish.

What a deal, eh? And the only thing that stopped me from snapping one up was that I knew we didn't have room in the suitcases thanks to all the other stuff that we were bringing back, and my mother, for whatever reason didn't want me to hand carry it onto the plane. Oh well. I have my mele now. And as noted, the Mele is better than the Yamaha. Is it $670 worth of improvement? Ehrm....not a chance in hell...not even with the dolphin inlay.
 
Instead of a guitarlele I REALLY like the idea of a real authentic made in old Mexico ethnically correct Requinto. Hawaii and Mexico have very old ties the first Hawaiian cowboys or Paniolo coming from Mexico back in 1832 the Mexican Vaqueros being the best cattlemen in the world. In 1798 British explorer Capt. George Vancouver gifted King Kamehameha I with 5 heads of cattle. The King put a kapu on them no hunting on penalty of death. By the reign of King Kamehameha the III in 1832 the cattle had multiplied into the thousands and were overrunning the land so the King requested from the Mexican Government Vaqueros to help round up these wild cattle. The name Paniolo is a corruption of the word Espaniole or Spanish as the Vaqueros were first identified as. These Vaqueros introduced cattle culture to the native Hawaiians and taught them the skills needed to be A1 cowboys, but they also introduced the guitar to the Hawaiians who quickly adapted their own way of tuning Kiho'alu (slack key), and playing making it their own several years before the arrival of the first ancestor of the 'ukulele from the Azores Islands. I'd like to think a Hawaiian Paniolo was playing a Requinto 160 years ago sort of the big brother to the 'ukulele still to come.

No Requinto fans here?
 
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I do own a Guitalele and just love it. I'm now having a Koaloha D-VI which is the guitalele but Koaloha flavor!!!

I also own a lot of ukes, such as MP customs, Koaloha, Pahu Kani custom, etc....

And now I mostly play the Koaloha or guitalele since it gives me a few more bass strings.

Some might say why don't i plai guitar instead... Well, I just never like guitar because of it size. I always feel that it was just too big for me and just never get used to that.

So when I found the guitale or koaloha DV6, I just knew that it was what I was looking for!!

I'm also ver intrigued by th requinto, a local store here have one that is handmade in Spain and I'm just so tempted by it!! It plays exactly like a guitalele or the DV6 but fuller since the body is bigger..

but for sure I'll own a requinto one of these days if not today since I'll go tryit later during the day!!
 
Lori wote:
I found these luthiers in Los Angeles. They have all kinds of interesting Mexican guitars. If you are worried about shipping costs, you might consider one from Los Angeles, were the Mexican culture is pretty strong.
http://www.candelas.com/requintos.php

I heard that Candelas is making some nice ukes. I think it's what UkuleleBart is playing with. It seems to have that spanish touch to it!
 
This is an old topic but I thought I'd post some info in case anyone is interested. (fumanshu and I seem to have an interest in similar kinds of instruments)

Requintos are bigger than baritone ukuleles. Typical scale of a requinto is 530-540mm (short) or 575-580mm (long). A baritone ukulele is usually 480mm. The larger soundboard and deep body of the requinto (4" or slightly more) gives it a tone closer to a guitar that has been capoed at the 5th fret.

I tried the Lucida requinto once (a Chinese-made import, $150 for solid-top model). The nut is too narrow (1-7/8") and the body is a bit shallow for a Mexican requinto. The body is acceptable for for a Spanish requinto. The production quality is so-so. I don't recommend it.

I've put in an order for the Oscar Schmidt requinto (another Chinese-made import, solid cedar top, $225). It will arrive in about 2 weeks. If anyone is interested, I can report on its specs and quality. From what I gathered, it's probably closer to a proper Mexican requinto. If it doesn't turn out that great, then I'll probably just buy a Paracho-made requinto from one of my local shops.

Cordoba has a "requinto" (also Chinese-made, $250) but it's really a student's 1/2-sized classical guitar tuned to ADGCEA. You can get an amped cutaway version with a matte finish if you buy Cordoba's La Playa Travel Nylon String ($280).

If you're comfortable with the ukulele and prefer its tone and shorter sustain (percussiveness), then your best option is a guitarlele, guitalele or U-tar.

I talked with the folks at Kanilea regarding their guitarlele and my guess is that its tone will fall somewhere between an ukulele and a requinto. It would make a nice fingerstyle guitarlele because its string spacing is about the same as that for a classical guitar.
 
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This is an interesting and timely thread. Tomorrow I have an appointment to see some guitars and ukes and he specializes in all kinds of guitars. Even requintos. He's a wealth of knowledge and I'll make sure to ask to see some of his collection.
Yes. Ron's one of the "old hands". I already missed two opportunities to visit him though we've talked on the phone.

When you get there, play his "Professor" series guitars if he has one. They're rather good. The Esteve 8's and 9's should also be quite nice.
 
A Requinto I don't have.
I did pick up a custom cavaquinho.
I figured I needed to get in touch with my ukulele's ancestor.
Cavs are great.
The typical tuning is sweet and you can also (with a different set of strings for tension reasons) tune it up like a 4 string mando.
Heavenly!
 
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