Paracho lies about 1200 miles south and a little east of El Paso Many guitar makers, professional and amateur, and teachers of the classical guitar familiar with Paracho, consider that small city to be the guitar capital of Mexico.

In the past few years some of us amateur guitar makers, guitar teachers, and parents of guitar students often talked about traveling down there as a group just to spend a few days leisurely strolling around the plazas and parks, browsing around the guitar making shops and stores, meeting and talking with the guitar makers, trying out some guitars and maybe even buying an instrument. Over the past few years I have constructed 15 guitars. In the summer of 1993, my friend Gerry Smith, his son Martin and I decided it was time to put up or shut up. Gerry and I are members of the Seattle Classic Guitar Society.

Gerry has a time share condo in Mazatlan, and the plan was to spend two or three days in that area before continuing on to Paracho. After a few days in Mazatlan, we traveled southeast through the cities of Tepic and Tequila and skirted the southern edge of Guadalajara. Violent winds and rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning were waiting for us as we started driving the 80-mile stretch along the southern shore of Lake Chapala. Once beyond the lake, the weather improved. That night we stayed in the small colonial town of Ajijic. Paracho was less than 100 miles away!

The next day about mid-morning our large red van entered Paracho with aplomb. The feeder line off the highway took us some four blocks into the busiest section of the town. This center of activity contained the bus station, the public market, and numerous stalls carrying a variety of goods. The area was framed by two large churches opposing each other across a widened section of the street, and one edge of the Plaza Mayor(main plaza). Paracho's signature mountain could be viewed from this point. It looked like a small jagged trapezoid, mounted on the crest of a symmetrical peak. Just one block away from the Plaza Mayor, we found lodging at the small three story Hotel Merlinda, one of two hotels in town. The hotel courtyard provided off-street parking for the van.

Paracho, situated on a high plain, is some 7,000 feet above sea level. Mountain peaks, volcanoes, and buttes at random distances practically surround the city. Fields are cultivated to the edges of the rough terrain. The population in and around Paracho is about 17,000. About 70% of that number are involved in making guitars or other types of stringed Instruments. Although there is some specialization of labor, most guitars are made from the raw wood blanks or billets to the final product by the luthier and his apprentice.

In the four days we were there, we explored the length and breadth of Paracho and became acquainted with many of the luthiers in the city. Most of the shops were within a five-block area surrounding the city center. The typical shop had a master luthier and a helper who was usually a young relative. Power tools were rare: most tools were manual, many hand-crafted. The builders were quick, effective and very skilfull with their simple gear. Every move had a purpose. A popular home-made tool was the "cuchillo", the knife. The cuchillo had the shape of a small scimitar, and could be used for cutting binding strips from veneer, trimming the neck, shaping braces for the soundboard, cutting out the edge for the binding, among many. Two small factories were also producing guitars. We wanted to view the production line operations, but visitors were not allowed.

We looked at many guitars and tested a few. Quality varied from those constructed quickly and simply for fast merchandising at reasonable prices, to those built with deliberation using high grade tonal woods to achieve concert quality. For every guitar we saw under construction, we noticed the fan bracing for the sound board was a Torres type design.

Paracho has held a guitar festival every year since 1973, the festivities lasting a week. Every day is packed with events. There are folkloric dances and music by the Purepecha people, parades by tradespeople of many categories, guitar making seminars, concerts by many different bands, chess tournaments, burro races, soccer games, and much more, including speeches by many dignitaries. But the highlight of the festival comes when guitar performers and judges arrive from Mexico City. They come to play, evaluate, and prepare a critique on every guitar entered in the competition. Usually around 20 guitars are entered, and the judges select the top three instruments.

The XX Feria Nacional de la Guitarra in Paracho took place around the middle of August. By a happy coincidence and plain good fortune we were in Paracho during this time! A small exhibition hall next to the main plaza had all the guitars on display. We were invited to enter, ask questions of the monitors, read the critiques and browse around. On guitar stands lined in a row on a long table were the guitars that had been judged. The first, second and third prize winners were identified. On one corner of the hall on a large TV screen, Andres Segovia played some of his favorites. There were a couple of readerboards in the room that talked in eloquent language about the honor of labor and its relationship to the soul. The smaller readerboard had this to say:

A man who has the ability to construct a perfect product - a shoe, a hat, a guitar, a brick - is not just an indifferent worker who performs his tasks in old traditional ways, but is a true artist who puts his soul into every moment of his labor.

One guitar on special display had the backpiece removed so that viewers could look at the general workmanship, examine the fan bracing on the soundboard, and the kerfing on the sides that provides a gluing and support bed for the soundboard and backpiece.

In judging guitars it is not easy to define a homogeneous baseline, since every guitar is an individual. The judges employ certain parameters in assessing the physical character, appearance and operability of the instrument. They look for high quality solid woods, such as spruce or cedar for the soundboard, rosewood or mahogany for the sides, mahogany for the neck, and rosewood or ebony for the fretboard and bridge. The fretboard must be accurate and the bridge properly located. They expect clean and neat workmanship in the bracing, kerfing and binding, and machine heads that work easiy and smoothly.

They assess playability by comparing the thickness, width, and shape of the neck--particularly where the neck joins the body. They check the action - the height of the strings above the fretboard. They check the tension of the strings for a proper match to the instrument.

Judging quality of the sound involved projection, accuracy of intonation, sustain, and a balance between treble and base strings. Terms like soft, brooding, dark, light, vibrant and brilliant were used in determining clarity of sound. The judges looked for passion and fire in a guitar.

We enjoyed all aspects of the trip. Because of the elevation the days were cool, but the sun shone frequently and there was a warm tranquility about the area. Showers were frequent but they were over quickly. The people were courteous, gracious and helpful. The food was varied, inexpensive and tasty, particularly the pan dulce (coffee rolls). Lodging was comfortable and reasonable. There were nice heavy wool blankets for those cool nights.

Martin bought a guitar fina (concert quality) for $250. 1 bought two bass guitars, a bajo sexto and a guitarron, for $110 each.

Just before we left Seattle, I was beginning to have misgivings about the venture. I thought it could turn out to be the "Trip from Hell", but I want to say that it was a fantastic visit to an exhilaratingly different place and a superb learning experience.

Editor's note: Kenny Hill is a luthier and performer (his guitars have those little holes in them near the fingerboard to let the treble out); he performed at Bitters Cafe Concert a couple of years ago: here is his description of Paracho's guitars.