Buying a classical guitar

[dommcg]

Hi all

 

I am thinking of buying a Classical Guitar and am unsure what level of guitar to go for.

 

I have had a look at some and my instinct tells me to go for the best one i can afford, i'm looking at a ramirez R1 or a Manuel Rodriguez model e at the top of my price range, about

[riffmeister]

dont focus so much on price but rather get one which plays well

I'd recommend 650 mm scale length and 52 mm at the nut

[Grueller]

i bought a lotus amigo for 90 bux brand new:D

[nylon rock]

Make sure you try out different nut widths.

For example, a lot of classicals are 57-mm. This is ridiculously wide if you are used to an electric.

I currently use around 48-mm and am very comfortable with this.

If you have always played electric, you will probably not play classical music with the guitar, but more likely some sort of rock, blues, jazz hybrid. A lot of fun, IMHO.

The careful discipline of learning classical technique and note reading is underestimated in terms of applying oneself. It is almost as if that has to be where you started from when you first began playing. You'll know what I mean if you ever see any Spanish types in guitar stores looking at the classicals. When they play you realize right away how into it they are. They're usually very good, and not old, agewise speaking.

I remember a highschool friend who tried to learn classical and was left in the dust by the rest of us as we made rapid advances in our guitar playing abilities. He was struggling to get the high arching in his fretting hand while we were flat fingering all the time. Over the years, the high arching came to me gradually and now I do it instinctively, as a matter of course. But for him way back then, he was too careful with technique and his playing in the long run suffered for it. Just a little comment on what someone with experience has seen. God luck.

[long finger]

I remember a highschool friend who tried to learn classical and was left in the dust by the rest of us as we made rapid advances in our guitar playing abilities. he was too careful with technique and his playing in the long run suffered for it.

 

 

I'm not sure quite how you meant this, so sorry if i appear critical of your point of view. I think it is best to think of a classical guitar as a different instrument in this respect. The correct technique is near essential in order to play classical pieces to a reasonable level. In contrast, with electric guitar, anything goes really, and one can play some easily recognisable tunes without a great deal of 'correct' technique. I think perhaps this is what you have experienced.

 

To the original poster, i say try and consider what you intend to play, and when you try out classical guitars, expect them to be vastly different, probably awkward, compared to an electric.

[riffmeister]

Originally posted by nylon rock (1) Make sure you try out different nut widths. (2) For example, a lot of classicals are 57-mm.

 

 

(1) Yes.

 

(2) No........54 mm is about as wide as they come. But yes, classical guitars are alot wider at the nut than steel string acoustics, for example. Most classical guitars are in the 51-53 mm range, with 52 mm being the more or less "standard" width. The difference of a mm or two doesn't sound like much, but believe me, your hand will think differently.