|
Manuel Rodriguez Caballero 10 classical guitar Price Paid / Price New: ~$130/$270 Year Manufactured: ? Specs: - Nylon string classical - Spruce top - Rosewood fingerboard - Ebony neck - Walnut back and sides - Traditional Spanish-style construction (no truss rod) - Made in China according to the exacting specifications that Mr. Rodriguez shouted into a speakerphone from Spain. Sound: 5/5 Absolutely beautiful sounding, loud, clear, and warm. Not muddy, well balanced between bass and treble. No intonation problems, no fret buzz. Instrument Quality: 2/5 This is where the Caballero 10 falls short - I went through two of these guitars and have ended up returning both. The first one came from the factory with a cracked fretboard. The second one had an improperly glued bridge that was starting to lift. The finish is nothing special (thick polyurethane), the tuners are acceptable. It has a bone nut and saddle, which is nice; the nut was completely loose, which is not unusual in classical guitars, but it was actually so loose that it almost fell off when I was changing strings. Classical nuts don't have to be glued in, but they should be fitted tightly enough that they don't come out on their own (lol). Playability: 2/5, 5/5 The one with the cracked fretboard had extremely high action but was basically still playable. The one with the lifting bridge had sublimely perfect medium-low action. Overall Value: 2/5 I got this guitar on sale for about $130, and I think that's about all I would pay for it. It retails for close to $300, which is probably too much. It's a nice sounding, playable guitar, but if I buy a new guitar I want something with few or no problems. Manuel Rodriguez has many guitars in the student/entry level price range, and from what I've read they almost all sound great, but they seem to have serious quality issues.
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2014 04:22
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 16:31 |
|
|
La Patrie Etude Classical Guitar Price Paid / Price New: $400/$400 Year Manufactured: ? Specs: - Nylon string classical - Cedar top - Rosewood fingerboard - Mahogany neck - Cherry (!) back and sides - Truss rod - Kind of a very slight crossover - the neck is a little thinner and narrower at the nut than most classical guitars - Light finish that probably isn't French polish but is neither thick nor glossy - Made in Canada  Sound: 3.5/5 This is a nice-sounding guitar. It has the sweetness and softness of cedar without being muddy, the intonation is good, and it generally sounds very mellow and classical. It is, unfortunately, very quiet. Instrument Quality: 4.5 or 5/5 The Etude is a beautifully made guitar - the finish feels good under the hand and showcases the beauty of the wood, everything is smooth and well turned out, there are no manufacturing flaws that I could find. The rosette is absolutely beautiful and features little butterflies. Everything is understated and elegant. La Patrie claims that the cedar in the top comes from 700 year old relic trees, which is cool if it's true. The tuning machine are nice looking but nothing special, and mine have gotten a little tight in just a few months of ownership. The nut and saddle are Tusq synthetic and are well-fitted to the instrument. Frets are nicely finished, everything is nice and straight. The Etude is not exactly a traditional classical guitar - it has a truss rod, and compared to a Spanish-style classical or Flamenco guitar it feels very heavy. You can tell that the instrument is thickly braced, which probably explains the low volume. It gains, I'm sure, in durability, but it loses in lightness and resonance. Playability: 5/5 Very easy to play; nice action right out of the box with no changes. The neck is extremely comfortable and the silky finish offers the right balance of smoothness and grip. The truss rod helps slim down the neck from the usual large dimensions of traditional classical guitars. Overall Value: 4/5 $400 isn't much for a North American made instrument, and this is obviously a very beautifully made guitar. I wish they had used a more traditional method to build this - its heaviness makes it compare unfavorably to true Spanish style guitars. But judged on its own merits this is a terrific nylon-string guitar, and would be absolutely ideal for someone who wants to switch over from steel-string to classical. DR Nylon Guitar Strings  Overall: 2/5 These were pretty bad. The bass strings, like most nylon bass strings, were fine, but the trebles had a nasty, glassy, shrill, ringing sound to them. They kept their weird metallic tone through more than a month of daily playing. They stayed in tune and intonated beautifully but they never stopped sounding terrible. Maybe a very aggressive Flamenco player could find a cool use for these; they were a terrible mismatch for a cedar top classical guitar.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2014 05:04
|
|
|
La Bella Light Tension Flamenco Strings Price Paid: $7.50 Year Manufactured: ? Specs: - Nylon strings, tie end - Wrapped bass, black nylon trebles Sound: 4.5/5 These strings played in very quickly and sounded great - very loud and punchy, on the cold end of the spectrum but not shrill. Not the most resonant - I guess this is what makes them flamenco instead of classical, but frankly there really isn't much difference. I know some nylon-string guitar players like a very smooth blend between the wrapped bass and the plain nylon trebles - this set has a small but noticeable difference between the sound of the two different kinds of strings. Quality: 3/5 The bass strings on this set did not last - about a month of moderate playing (like two hours a day) and they were kind of rubbery and dull. The treble strings still sounded just fine. Playability: 5/5 The black treble strings are smooth but not slippery and seem to be a little smaller diameter than standard nylon strings - very nice. The bass strings are fine, nothing unusual about them. Overall Value: 4/5 These are nice strings, especially if you want black trebles to zazz up your flamenco guitar. Not spectacular, but a good value.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2014 01:56
|
|
|
Francisco Navarro Flamenco negra guitar (student model) Price Paid / Price New: $1000/$1000 Year Manufactured: recent Specs: - Nylon string flamenco - Spruce top - Cocobolo fingerboard - Rosewood back and sides (hence the "negra") - Ebony peg tuners (not shown in the picture above) - Luthier made in Mexico Sound: 5/5 There is some debate about whether the flamenco negra (which trades traditional flamenco cypress construction for traditional classical rosewood) really has a purpose. The idea with flamenco negra is that you get extra bass and sustain from the rosewood back and sides, yielding an instrument with the punch and playability of the flamenco guitar and the tonal richness of the classical. I personally chose a flamenco negra because I already have a cypress flamenco guitar (the Yamaha CGSF171, which is really superb for the price) and because the rosewood looks beautiful. The sound is indeed superb, though it's definitely more flamenco than classical. Instrument Quality: 5/5 Beautifully made, with a few finish flaws (little chips in the lacquer, and a ripple in one of the golpeadores). Neck is nice and straight; the guitar also smells really good. Rosewood back and sides are beautiful and rich looking, the cocobolo fretboard has a subtle marbling which is really gorgeous up close, and all the frets are nice and level and well-finished. A tiny bit heavier than a cypress-body flamenco guitar, it's still very light. My particular guitar comes with ebony pegs instead of tuning machines. The pegs work pretty much like they do in a violin - they hold just by friction. They make tuning a little more difficult and changing strings a little easier. Pegs are super traditional for flamenco guitars (because traditional flamenco guitars were cheap - that's also why they used cypress instead of rosewood). In theory the pegs should make the guitar more resonant because there's more wood-on-wood contact, but even internet flamenco obsessives don't really believe this. Playability: 5/5 Beautifully playable right out of the box. Overall Value: 4.5/5 Definitely worth it; I don't know if it's three times better than an inexpensive Yamaha flamenco guitar, but I absolutely love it. Galli Genius light tension classical nylon strings  Overall: 3/5 Delightfully soft under the left hand, sounded great, though very quiet. Bass strings wore badly after about three weeks of frequent playing.
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2014 23:50
|
|
|
Continuing my extremely important and fascinating series of string reviews, two sets of strings that I tried on my Rodriguez "Senorita" 7/8 scale classical guitar: La Bella Fractional strings (7/8)  Overall: 0/5 Sounded and felt awful. Wound third string; also sounded and felt awful. These do seem to be engineered to keep normal tension on short-scale instruments, but are terrible in every other way. They also wore astoundingly quickly. I've enjoyed other La Bella strings, but these were just rotten. Aquila Perla  Overall: 5/5 Now these are really cool - opaque ivory colored trebles in "bionylon," which is supposed to mimic the sonic characteristics of gut. They do so, pretty successfully; the sound is rich and very mellow. The bass strings are also top notch, plenty of power and sustain. I don't know how durable they are.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2014 19:22
|
|
|
D'Addario Pro-Arte Carbon Strings Overall: 5/5 These are excellent strings, a slight improvement on the standard Pro-Artes (EJ47). The treble is brighter and cleaner than the EJ47s. The bass is tremendous. Nice feel under the left hand, though nothing special. Relatively cheap, though not as cheap as the EJ47s. These would work well to brighten a dark or muddy sounding guitar. Yamaha CG172SF  Price Paid / Price New: $330/$330 Year Manufactured: recent Specs: - Nylon string flamenco - Spruce top - Cypress Body - Rosewood fingerboard - Nato neck - Satin finish - Golpeadores (tap plates) pre-installed Sound: 5/5 Superb. The cypress body is extremely light, much lighter than a rosewood classical, so you get incredible resonance and a bright, full, authoritative tone; but very little sustain. I play mostly classical music on mine but it's a real-deal Flamenco guitar and will deliver the raspy, percussive Flamenco sound. Very nice for austere renaissance pieces as well. Instrument Quality: 5/5 No finish flaws, tuners work perfectly, etc. No frills. This is quite a beautiful guitar, though understated. Black binding on the very pale cypress body is striking. The finish is a matte satin, which feels great on the neck. I would be a little worried about traveling or gigging with this guitar since it's so lightly finished and so thin and lightweight. Playability: 5/5 Nice low Flamenco action; the neck is especially comfortable and a little thinner than traditional classical necks. Overall Value: 5/5 For $330 this is a very good buy. Manuel Rodriguez Caballero 8s "Senorita" 7/8 scale classical guitar  Price Paid / Price New: $175/$220 Year Manufactured: recent Specs: - Nylon string - Solid Spruce top - Luxurious plywood body (with a mahogany veneer) - Rosewood fingerboard - bone nut and saddle - 7/8 size Sound: 3/5 This is a nice sounding guitar, though quiet and not all that balanced between bass and treble. For a small-scale instrument not bad at all; it has a distinctively Spanish classical sound, though again on a rather intimate scale. Instrument Quality: 3.5/5 This was surprising - I have played some truly lovely Manuel Rodriguez guitars, but this particular one arrived in fine shape. Quite beautifully and cleanly finished throughout. The composite back and sides are a serious negative, as is the spacing on the nut, which puts the high E string too close to the edge of the neck. Everything else is of fairly good quality. Playability: 4/5 Action is too high, though not unreasonable; on the other hand, the short scale makes stretches easier. The 7/8 size makes it sort of a parlor guitar, so it's not too small for a normal adult. Really fun to play, though not refined. Overall Value: 3/5 Probably priced quite a bit too high at $220. Bonus: Scottish guitarist Rob McKillop playing this model with gut strings: http://robmackillop.net/the-romantic-guitar/ Rob McKillop posted:The Romantic Guitar  OK Rob.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2014 21:40
|
|
|
More in my pathbreaking, universally acclaimed series of classical guitar strings reviews: Savarez New Cristal Corum 500CR  4/5 These strings sound and feel great, required almost no playing in, and were an incredible pain to put on. The treble strings don't seem to be unusually thin or slick or anything, but they needed five loops (instead of the usual three) to hold on to the tie block without popping out when tuned. Basses were fine. A clear, loud, sweet set of strings, without any metallic or shrill tones. Augustine Gold (Imperial/Red basses, medium tension)  4/5 These sounded like poo poo and felt rubbery and sticky for the first two days, then either I got used to them or they stretched/played in and now they sound fantastic and feel fine. Very loud, a deep, growling bass and a clear, cutting treble.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2014 18:31
|
|
|
I have been fortunate enough to play two excellent classical guitars over the past year. They are quite different, but both very good. Both cost about $2000 without any discounts. Both guitars would suit a serious student or performer who doesn't want a custom guitar and who prefers very traditional features - neither one has carbon fiber, arm rests, or tone ports. Nor do they have any electronic components. Francisco Navarro Garcia Concert  Price New: $2000 Year Manufactured: 2014 Specs: - Spruce top - Rosewood body - Ebony fingerboard - Luthier made in Mexico Sound: 5/5 Intense, very loud, but also quite beautiful when played quietly. Completely unforgiving, as each string rings out distinctly and clearly. Towards the harsh, cold, and metallic end of the classical guitar spectrum (though, again, capable of great sweetness and delicacy). Exquisite balance between bass and treble voices - whatever the player needs to stand out stands out. Very typical spruce sound: bright and a little nasal, though strings affect this much more than the wood. Instrument Quality: 5/5 Almost all classical guitars look plain and understated. This is no exception, though up close you can see that the luthier has really gone on a tour de force of subtle ornamentation. Everything is absolutely beautifully finished and decorated right up to the boundaries of CG good taste. The rosewood back and sides especially deserve mention: the grain was clearly selected for beauty, and in fact both the outside and inside show a really gorgeous, natural pattern. Tuners are very good though I have no idea what the brand they are (plastic keys, though). Frets are shiny and perfect. Nut and bridge are bone. The tie-block has twelve holes rather than the usual six, which allows you to get a slightly sharper break angle at the saddle and also means that you don’t have to knot the strings. No cosmetic flaws. A rather shiny finish, not French polish. Playability: 5/5 The ebony fingerboard is superb - very slick without feeling unstable. The body is slightly thicker (from top to back) than usual for classical guitars, which I think is a Mexican thing. This doesn’t really change playability, and probably gives a little more volume and bass response. Otherwise the dimensions and playing experience are typical of classical guitars. Extremely responsive, with great range in volume and nuance. Overall Value: 5/5 For about $2000 you get the guitar and a good hard case shipped. This is expensive, but it combines excellent sound and superb workmanship. If you’re a serious classical guitarist looking to get an instrument that will carry you through as far as your skills can take you this would work. Cordoba Loriente Clarita, Cedar  Price New/Paid: $2000/$1600 Year Manufactured: ? Specs: - Cedar top - Indian rosewood body - Ebony fingerboard - Truss rod - (hand?) Made in Spain Sound: 5/5 This is a nice contrast to the Navarro. Where the Navarro is brash and cutting the Cordoba is suave, smooth, and mellow. Some of this comes from the cedar top, I’m sure, and some of it comes from the bracing and construction. The Cordoba is remarkably forgiving. Obviously the guitar can’t do much for bad technique, but its extreme mellowness might be able to mask a flew little slips here and there. Beautiful, warm sound; quite loud, too. Instrument Quality: 4/5 Surprisingly the Cordoba isn’t quite as well finished as the Navarro - I would think a big name like Cordoba would turn out flawless instruments, especially compared to Navarro’s small atelier, but this one has a few rough edges. Nothing that affects sound or playability, though. The inside of the guitar has a ton of cedar dust and some rough tool marks. The slots in the headstock look a little rough. The Indian rosewood back and sides are pleasant and sound superb but are not particularly beautiful or interestingly grained. The binding and purfling is all perfect but very, very low key. Tuners are great (Gotohs), neck is straight, frets are well done. Over the winter this guitar had significant fret sprout, which revealed some pretty sharp fret ends. Playability: 4/5 The Cordoba includes a truss rod, which makes it noticeably heavier and changes the balance towards the neck (this might bother some purists). My impression is that this also lets them make the neck slightly thinner. Not quite as responsive as the Navarro. Overall Value: 5/5 I got this guitar 20% off from Guitar Center by calling them with a coupon. It comes with a very good Humicase hard case with built in humidifier. I think this was quite a good deal. It may not have the aura and cachet of a luthier-made instrument, but it sounds and plays spectacularly well so who cares. Between these two I much prefer the Navarro. The Cordoba/Loriente is, for me, not as fun to play, nor as responsive. Then again it's quite a bit cheaper and much easier to find, and is not really a meaningfully inferior instrument. Gilgameshback fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jul 12, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2015 19:07
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 16:31 |
|
|
Gretsch Jim Dandy parlor Price New: $169 Year Manufactured: 2015 Specs: - "wood" top - Parlor size, twelve frets to body - Agathis body - Rosewood fingerboard (nicely radiused) - Nato neck - Luxurious paintjob reproduces the look of an elegant sunburst when seen from far away or in poor lighting. Sound: 3/5 Objectively this guitar sounds like you would expect: a little choked, not super loud, kind of tinny. It's not a luxurious sound and doesn't stand up to bell-like modern super acoustics. But subjectively it's a fabulous sound - a little dirty and gritty, perfect for fingerstyle blues. The small body cuts down on the bass, so you don't get the unpleasant booming of most cheap acoustics. Surprisingly nice articulation and separation. Again, this is perfect for fingerstyle and I wouldn't really recommend it for any other technique. Instrument Quality: 4/5 Everything is sound and in the right place; everything is also cheap. The paintjob especially is kind of endearingly low-rent. The back and sides are flat black, and the sunburst on the front looks like the sun only got about halfway through bursting before it gave up. Neck is smooth, frets are well finished, tuning machines are fine. The fretboard inlays look like plastic, and the nut and saddle are plastic too. Despite all this it's an attractive little guitar. Playability: 5/5 Pretty great. Small but not tiny, good action out of the box (though I mainly play classical so I may favor a higher than usual action). On an intangible level it's a lot of fun. It would be great for a beginner and a superb travel guitar. Overall Value: 5/5 Again, great. Cheap but plays well and sounds interesting. Worth a look.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2015 19:13
|
|