Searching for the right classical guitar.

[CorpseTumor]

Ive been looking for a classical guitar. I have played so really highly reccommededguitars(yamaha cg171) in my range,wich is 600 bucks and lower.

 

Im trying to play them to find one that "sings to me" but idk what kinda tone to look for in an "awesome classical guitar" Can you guys describe the tones a good and bad classical would make?

[Samilyn]

A good classical will have a sort of old world sound without sounding plinky. There will be a good sustain and resonance in the wound strings and a pleasingly mellow sound to the nylon trebles. A cheapo classical usually doesn't have much sustain - just sounds kinda plinky and leaves you with a feeling of "meh."

 

Go play a bunch. Yammies are great and I've heard good things about LaPatrie, too.

 

Not much of an authority on all the available classicals in your price range, so all I can recommend is that you play a bunch. When one pleases you and you want to keep on playing it instead of putting it back on the rack, that'll be the keeper.

[zenbu]

used

[CorpseTumor]

used

 

 

im willing to,any reccomendations?

[LaurentB]

Alhambra (Spanish) make good guitars. I don't know if that's available in the US, however (I don't know where you live though)

[pinchegordo]

The last time i was at Guitar Center i was blown away by the lower end Manuel Rodriguez classicals.

Solid tops,Indian RW or Ebony boards,and they sounded ohhhh so lovely.

Relatively cheap too I played the B and the C1 .I think the c1 was around 350 and the B was around 450,can't remember for sure,i'm sure there's info at GC.com

[nylon rock]

I used to own a yammie cgx171cc. I posted a review in the user forum.

Since selling it, for $175 no less, I miss it but it wasn't getting played since spending a fortune on a custom Lowden J35. I still recommend the Yamahas over every other make out there. The whole feel of the design is incredible and even the cutaway, which you want in my opinion, doesn't take anything away from the sound. When my Yammie had gotten to 6 years old it was sounding so good. The overtones were breathtaking when I would put semi-open chords on, arpeggiating the high middle strings after a whole chord stroke to get all of the strings ringing.

Let's go back to Samilyn's plinky comment. You need to have the guitar in tune, and then play a few high e string, three fret range, simple leads, ideally mixolydian in concept. (This would involve hitting a V chord and then playing a few notes of the major scale associated with the I chord, the key. For example, the key of G, hit a D chord and then play a few high e string notes in the key of G.) The sweetness of the guitar should come out. You should be able to add a little vibrato to the final note and hear it linger, picking up a little resonance from the other open strings. The notes should have this resonance all the way up to the 15th fret. You should be picking below the soundhole and not right over it. The rich tones of the nylon strings should draw you in. But to have this happen, you need to have context, hence the mixolydian example.

When you go to the base strings, picking again below the sound hole, you should be able to get a growl of sorts, especially if you have very little runout on the tip of your pick (I use a pick, always.) by allowing your fingers holding the pick to pop the notes.

A classical guitar played with a pick can sound very loud and you really do not want a lot of "richness" of certain base overtones because they'll overwhelm the treble sweetness.

I think you may have to have someone who can play a classical guitar, some other shopper at the store who is sampling classical guitars, play one for you and demonstrate a good one from a bad one, or better, an outstanding one from a good one.

Happy Thanksgiving

[Hudman]

I was in the same situation several months ago.

 

I was looking in the $800 and under range.

 

Cordoba and Manuel Rodriguez had a couple different models in the $600 - $1000 (street price) that were very nice. I came very close to pulling the trigger on a $700 Cordoba until I played a $350 Yamaha CG171SF. It is actually a flamenco guitar with the body dimensions of a classic and the lower action associated with flamenco guitars. It has a very nice neck shape, plays smooth with excellent volume projection and a full tone associated with much more expensive guitars. (FYI: Yamaha makes the same model at the same $350 price point in a true classical model).

 

I honestly believe that the $350 Yamaha is as good, if not better than anything in the $1000 and lower range.

 

FWIW: Many classical guitar purist will tell you that you would have to spend more than $3000 for a quality classical guitar.

[bigald18]

I have a Yamaha CG201s classical. It has solid mahogany back and sides and a european spruce top. $599.00 at Musicians Friend. Great sound! Great workmanship.

bigald18