Lumanog Guitars: Behind The Strings

By Gerry Diwa Saturday, 05 May 2007

The Lumanog name is synonymous with Philippine made acoustic guitars. As far as I can remember, when someone in the family wanted an acoustic guitar the reply is always to "get a Lumanog" 'cause "it's the best". And since the family hails from Pampanga, everyone knows where the best of the best Lumanog guitars can be found - at the hub of guitar and music instrument shops all bearing the name Lumanog in San Anton, Guagua, Pampanga. Thus, when it was my turn to get my first acoustic guitar - as soon as we changed Apo Ando's $100 gift into pesos - we rushed straight to San Anton in Guagua, me and my cousin haggled the hell out of the C.B. Lumanog music shop. My first acoustic guitar was a classical guitar with nylon strings - it had a spruce top and rosewood fingerboard. This guitar served me well, and I player her a lot, she ushered me into the world of music.

Three months into playing the guitar, I was in the school Banduria - and my Apo was actually able to watch the banduria's recital with me proudly plucking his gift guitar. Ah, the good old days. Anyhow, back to the Lumanog guitar thing. Since I was quite determined to get a local guitar that I can have lying around the house - a guitar I can pickup anytime to just strum out melodies and ideas buzzing in my head - I decided to trek to Sta Mesa Manila and get one.

But heck, I checked out five shops and the quality of the "Lumanog" acoustic guitars there were simply horrendous. These are the plywood type guitars painted blue and red no different to those hawked on the streets. Their best guitars with the nice wood tops were not as bad but were not good either - really messy worksmanship on the outside and inside. No Sta. Mesa "Lumanog" acoustic guitars for me. The perfect opportunity to score an authentic Lumanog guitar presented itself when we headed to Lubao, Pampanga for the annual family reunion. On the way back to Manila, since it was a Sunday and the traffic was heavy I thought why not pass by San Anton see if the shops are open - and what guitars they have.

CB Lumanog shop was closed (I always bought my acoustic guitars from CB Lumanog - 3 of them), but ROMY Lumanog's shop was open - and Romy Lumanog himself is in the house.!

I immediately asked for their best guitar available. He handed me a cutaway guitar with Langka wood and rosewood fingerboard - the action felt right, the sound was OK, the workmanship was ok (not close to perfect but was ok - clean enough, good enough). He showed me a couple more guitars but I went back to the first one he showed me, so I decided to take it for P3,000 only ($60-$70)! And by the way, this Romy Lumanog acoustic guitar had a GIBSON mark on the headstock! As much as non-Lumanog guys are ripping off the Lumanog name, this real Lumanog is ripping off the Gibson mark, too. Oh, well.

The day after I immediately took the guitar to the recording studio in Makati (Sound Weavers) to find out what it sounds like as captured by quality microphones. Hmmm, not bad. Not bad at all. The sound is not big, the resonance leaves a ot ot be desired, but it is not boomy and twangy either - the tone is quite balanced across the strings. Hmmm, seems like this guitar wont just be lying around the house. So there, something about Lumanog acoustic guitars - hand made in San Anton, Guagua, Pampanga, Philippines. Ref.: http://philmusic.com/main/content/view/116/23/

Interesting info on Lumanog guitars...

I found this abowe article on the internet http://philmusic.com/main/content/view/116/23/ and read the comment by Vergel Bansil, son of Ruben Bansil AKA Ruben Lumanog. He commented on the article written by Gerry Diwa. GERRY, I'VE READ AND REVIEWED SO MANY "STORIES, MYTHS AND BLOGS" ABOUT OUR LEGACY AND FAMILY BUSINESS. I HOPE THAT YOUR COMMENT SITE IS BIG ENOUGH FOR MY PIECE. LUMANOG GUITARS WAS STARTED BY MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, HE SOLD GUITARS THAT CAME FROM CEBU IN EARLY 40'S, AFTER SEVERAL YEARS, OUR GUITAR SHOP OPENED DUE TO RISING PRICES OF SHIPPING COSTS FROM CEBU AND POOR QUALITY.BY DOING THIS, GREAT GRANDFATHER MADE SURE THAT OUR GUITARS WERE SUPERIOR THAN WHAT WE WERE GETTING FROM OUR SUPPLIERS.SINCE THEN, LUMANOG GUITARS WERE THE BEST AND WITH UNMATCHED QUALITY.THESE CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF SEVERAL AMERICAN GUITAR FACTORIES AND I'LL GET BACK TO THAT IN A MINUTE. THEIR CHILDREN RAN THE BUSINESS ONE BY ONE IN THE 60'S WHEN MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS GOT OLD . HOWEVER, DUE TO GREED AND SIBLING RIVALRIES, THE BUSINESS STARTED FALLING APART.MY GRANDMOTHER AND HER NAME WAS "PUALINA LUMANOG BANSIL" THE YOUNGEST OF ALL THE CHILDREN , AND HER HUSBAND WAS "RUFINO BANSIL" TOOK OVER. I REMEMBER MY GRANDMOTHER'S STORIES AND ONE OF THEM WAS, THAT WHEN SHE GOT TO OUR STORE, IT HAD 10 GUITARS AND SOME DISPLAY STANDS. THRU HARD WORK AND UNLIMITED SACRIFICES OUR BUSINESS GOT BACK IN TRACK AND WITHOUT A DOUBT WE WERE ON TOP OF THE CHAIN. THESE WERE NOT OBTAINABLE IF MY FATHER" RUBEN BANSIL", THE ELDEST OF THE 8 CHILDREN, HE STARTED BUILDING GUITARS SINCE HE WAS 12 YEARS OF AGE. YES, MY FATHER IS CONSIDERED AS "MASTER LUTHIER", WITH 57 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND HE IS STIL HAS HIS STORE IN STA. MESA, AND HE GOES BY "RUBEN LUMANOG". NOW, THE REASON YOU AND THE REST OF 90 MILLION FILIPINOS ARE SEEING A LOT OF "LUMANOG" NAMES AND STORE, IS DUE TO THE "STUPID" AND "BRAINLESS' LAW THAT OUR COUNTRY HAS. WHEN MY GRANDPARENTS DIED (RUFINO AND PAULINA) THE PHIL. GOV. WOULD NOT ALLOW THE CHILDREN'S REQUEST TO STOP THE IMMITATORS FROM USING OUR NAME AND LOGOS. THEY SAID THAT, SINCE THE ORIGINAL OWNERS ARE DEAD, THE NAME WAS "FREE FOR ALL". HOW STUPID WAS THAT? THEY KILLED OUR NAME, INTEGRITY AND LEGACY. BY ALLOWING OUR FORMER "TRABAHADORS, TINDERAS,SUPPLIERS AND THE WHOLE COUNTRY" TO ABUSE OUR NAME AND HARD WORK. ALMOST, 70 YEARS OF HISTORY WENT DOWN THE DRAIN.

YES, THE REAL LUMANOGS ARE GONE!!! ALL THESE GUITARS THAT YOU GUYS ARE SEING ARE MADE VIA CONTRACT FROM NDEPENDENT SHOPS IN PAMPANGA. AND OF COURSE, OUR LOGO WILL BE SLAPPED ON IT. I DARE YOU TO ASK CB LUMANOG, ROMY LUMANOG ANGEL LUMANOG, ZENY BANDILLA, ETC. "WHO ARE RUFINO AND PAULINO BANSIL" IF THEY STILL HAVE HONORS AND RESPECT TO THE NAME, THEY WILL VERIFY MY POINTS. PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR BEING BLUNT AND CRUDE. I JUST GET SO EMOTIONAL WHEN IT COMES TO THIS ISSUE. I GREW UP IN ONE OF OUR STORE, I MANAGED AND WORK IN IT SINCE I WAS 10 YEARS OF AGE. I LEARNED HOW TO PLAY "ROMAZA DE AMOUR" WHEN I WAS 6 YERS OLD, INSIDE OUR STA. MESA STORE. WE WERE SO GOOD THAT WE STARTED EXPORTING GUITARS TO U.S. , CANADA AND ASIA. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE U.S. GUITARS SINCE THEY MIGHT GROW BRAIN AND FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST ME. NOW IT'S ALMOST ALL GONE!!! WITH A FEW RESIDUAL CHILDREN CLINGING ON. THE CHINESE AND TAIWAN MADE ARE MORE ACCEPTED NOW A DAYS SINCE THEY ARE "SHINY" AND "COLORFUL". YOU CAN NOT COMPARE "HAND MADE" AND "MACHINE MADE" FROM EACH OTHER. LUMANOG GUITARS ARE MOSTLY MADE OF PLYWOOD BECAUSE OF OUR DE-FORESTATION PROBLEMS. IT'S JUST NO MORE "WOOD" AVAILABLE IN LOCAL MARKET. EVERYTHING IS IMPORTED. PLEASE TRY TO USE YOUR COMMON SENSE, A KNOCK OFF LEVIS JEANS COST AROUND 3,000.00 PHP, A CD IS 500.00 PHP, MCDONALDS WILL COST YOU AROUND 1,000.00 PHP FOR LUNCH. RIGHT? LUMANOG GUITARS COST AROUND 2,000.00 PHP. AND YOU ARE EXPECTING A "CONCERT" LEVEL GUITAR? C'MMON. BY THE WAY, I SENT SOME GUITAR PLANS AND BUSINESS MODULE TO MY BROTHER AND WE ARE TESTING THE MARKET. TRY TO LOOK FOR "MAHARLIKA GUITAR". THIS COMPANY WILL RELEASE SOME GUITARS SOON AND YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY!!! I PURCHASED SOME GUITAR PLANS THAT WAS PROFESSIONALLY MADE HERE IN USA. THESE GUITARS COSTS AROUND $7,000.00 (ACOUSTICS) AND $35,000.00 (CLASSICALS) WE ARE COMING OUT WITH AN ORIGINAL DESIGN 1959 LES PAUL. YES WE WILL COME BACK AS "MAHARLIKA GUITARS". BLOODLINE OF LUMANOG, WE WILL INCORPORATE TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY TO OUR UP COMING LINES. BEST REGARDS, VERGEL BANSIL Ref.: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?2226-Interesting-info-on-Lumanogguitars...