Lester DeVoe (born 1951) is an American elite

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

and

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

luthier who designs guitars for Latin music. He has been cited as "among the most in-demand flamenco guitar makers alive today".

Company

DeVoe originally had aspirations of becoming a professional player as he took up playing in the San Francisco Bay Area, but ventured into building guitars instead, influenced by his teacher's 1924 Santos Hernández guitar. His first guitar was made using an instruction book. Lester Devoe has been a luthier since 1975. His workshop is in Nipomo, California. DeVoe guitars have been owned and played by most of the greatest names in the Latin guitar world, including the late

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (;), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flame ...

and

Sabicas Sabicas (proper name: Agustín Castellón Campos) (16 March 1912 – 14 April 1990) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist of Romani origin. Biography Sabicas was born in Pamplona, Spain, and began playing guitar at the age of five and made his perfor ...

Vicente Amigo Vicente Amigo Girol (born 25 March 1967) is a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist, born in Guadalcanal near Seville. He has played as an accompanying guitarist on recordings by flamenco singers Camarón de la Isla, and Luis de Córdoba, an ...

El Viejín El Viejín, (born José Jiménez in 1963 in Madrid), is a Spanish flamenco guitarist. He is often billed as José Jiménez 'El Viejín'. "El viejín" means "a little old man". He acquired this nickname when very young because listeners were ama ...

Ottmar Liebert Ottmar Liebert (born 1 February 1959) is a German guitarist, songwriter and producer best known for his Spanish-influenced music. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Liebert has received 38 Gold and Platinum certifications in the United States, as ...

, Amir John Haddad and David Cordoba.

Pavel Steidl Pavel Steidl (born June 24, 1961) is a classical guitarist who was born in Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic), but has lived in the Netherlands for many years. Biography After winning first prize at the 1982 International Guita ...

and Pepe Romero have both played DeVoe classical guitars. Many of the guitars are made from Brazilian Rosewood which gives them a soulful tone.

References

External links

Official siteAmir John Haddad playing a Lester DeVoe guitar made for El Viejin
Living people Flamenco Classical guitar makers Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Musicians from California 1951 births {{guitar-stub