What Kind of Classical Guitar Do You Need? There are many factors to consider when shopping for a classical guitar.

By Ron Forbes-Roberts

Finding the right classical guitar can be a daunting task, whatever your skill level as a guitarist. In outward appearance, most classical guitars conform closely to a basic design developed in the 19th century, yet they can range in price from less than a hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. The features that account for this discrepancy are often a mystery to beginners, who may see them as mere window dressing and decide to either purchase the cheapest instrument they can find or ante up as much as they can afford.

Advanced players in a conservatory guitar program who are gearing up for a performance career have their own special considerations. They need answers to questions like: What sort of instrument is best suited to the concert stage? Are there advantages and disadvantages to buying an instrument directly from a luthier? What is the protocol for arranging this?

On the other hand, you may be an accomplished steel-string player who needs a nylon-string guitar for a couple of bossa nova tunes in your set. Or perhaps you’re a Willie Nelson admirer who just wants to strum tunes at get-togethers with friends. No matter what your situation, all it takes is a little knowledge and an awareness of the guitars available in your price range to find an instrument that suits your needs. For this article, we’ve divided prospective classical guitar buyers into four categories— Beginner, Getting Serious, the Performing Student, and Part-Time Nylon-Stringer—so if you wish, you can go directly to your category to see what we recommend.

Beginner Beginners often feel at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to judging the quality and playing comfort of their first guitars, for which they might realistically expect to pay between $150 and $500. But with some help, even a novice can determine what does and doesn’t work for them, says Alan Hume, manager of Old Town Strings, an acoustic specialty store in Victoria, British Columbia. “Initially, we have the customer just sit and hold the guitar to see if the size and shape are comfortable,” says Hume. “For a child or a petite woman, a full-size instrument might feel awkward and inhibiting. If so, they might need a half- or ¾-size guitar, which has a smaller body and usually a narrower neck width for smaller hands.”

Hume encourages novice players to purchase slightly more expensive solid-top instruments whenever their budget allows. The guitar’s top (soundboard) is the primary site of the instrument’s tone production. Many lower-end instruments have laminated or plywood tops that are tonally inferior to those with solid tops. But this begs a question: could a novice hear the difference between solid- and laminated-top guitars? “Absolutely,” says Hume, who also teaches classical guitar. “I explain the difference in construction and then play a solid top and plywood top back-to-back. I would say that 99 percent of all beginners can hear the difference in tone. It’s that noticeable.”

Hume stresses the importance of choosing a guitar with comfortable action (the distance between the strings and the fretboard). If you’re struggling to fret notes clearly, particularly on the higher frets, you should probably pass on the instrument. Reputable guitar stores will check the action and construction details of every guitar they sell to make sure they are in top playing order before putting them on the floor. Don’t be shy about asking if this has been done.

Instruments to Check Out: Alvarez AC-60S ($399 list, www.alvarezgtr.com). A solid cedar top makes this instrument an excellent value. Laminated mahogany back and sides and a rosewood fretboard round out the package.

La Patrie Etude ($355 list, www.godinguitars.com). This full-size solid-cedar-top guitar with laminated rosewood sides, back, and fretboard is one of several excellent values in Godin Guitar’s La Patrie series. It’s also available with a cutaway and electronics.

Takamine G124S ($499.99 list, www.takamine.com). Featuring a solid spruce top, this guitar also has laminated nato back and sides and a rosewood fretboard. Widely distributed and easy to find, Takamine has long been a trusted name in student guitars.

Yamaha CGS103 ($249.99 list, www.yamaha.com). This ¾-size instrument with a laminated spruce top and nato back and sides is recommended for players between the ages of seven and 12 but would also suit petite adults. Yamaha’s CG series includes various full-size instruments, starting at similar prices. Getting Serious After a few years of lessons and diligent practice, you’ll probably start to outgrow your first instrument and want to move on to a guitar that does justice to your evolving skills. Intermediate instruments run between $500 and $2,000 and should have tonal qualities, construction details, and materials several steps beyond beginner instruments. But, according to Bill Clements, owner and manager of Rosewood Guitars in Seattle, Washington, intermediate players, like beginners, should remember that “playability is the most significant factor in choosing a guitar. You want to find an instrument that feels comfortable to hold and has a neck shape that feels right for your hand.” While neck widths are more or less standard on classical guitars, neck shape differs widely between instruments—what suits one hand may feel like a railroad tie to another. Scale length—the distance between the nut and the saddle—is also an important factor. The longer the scale length, the farther apart the frets are placed, requiring more of a fretting-hand stretch to reach notes. Most players should stick with guitars that do not exceed the standard scale length of 650 mm.

All guitars in this price range should have solid tops made of either spruce—a responsive, bright sounding tonewood—or cedar, which has a warmer quality and more sustain. When trying out a spruce and a cedar guitar, choose a couple of pieces of music that use the entire range of the guitar, and play them on both instruments to see which you prefer. (This is a good approach to take when comparing any instruments.)

Toward the upper end of this price range, many instruments have solid sides and back—usually of rosewood or mahogany. However, Clements points out, an all-solid-wood guitar is not necessarily superior to a solid-top instrument with plywood sides and back. “Some all-solid-wood guitars cost less than ones that aren’t, because they don’t sound as good,” he explains. “Materials don’t guarantee a great-sounding guitar. Choose what sounds

good to you.”

Other features also improve in this price range. Tuning machines, for example, are generally of better quality but, again, Clements warns that higher-quality accessories do not necessarily make a superior guitar. “It’s better to have a good guitar with bad tuners than a poor guitar with great tuners,” he says. “Low grade tuners can always be replaced.”

Instruments to Check Out Burguet AC-2A ($1,495 list, www.sagamusic.com). Made in Spain, this all-solid-wood guitar (cedar top and rosewood sides and back with an ebony fretboard) is one of a series of exceptional student instruments manufactured by Burguet and imported by Saga.

Cervantes Hauser PE($1,190 list, www.cervantesguitars.com).Taking its body shape from the famous German guitar made famous by Andrés Segovia, this instrument has a cedar top, Mexican rosewood sides and back, and an ebony fingerboard.

Antonio Loriente Clarita ($1,800 list, www.tornavozmusic.com). The basic model in the Spanish-made Loriente line boasts all solid-wood construction with a cedar or spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides, and an ebony fretboard.

Manuel Rodriguez Model D Rio($1,659 list, www.fender.com/rodriguez). This solid-cedar-top instrument’s back and sides are made from Brazilian rosewood, a highly coveted tonewood generally used on far more expensive instruments.The Performing Student If your second guitar has managed to get you into the conservatory of your choice, it’s time to think about what sort of instrument you’ll need for the years of recitals and concerts ahead. According to David Tanenbaum—one of the world’s top performing and recording classical guitarists and chair of the guitar department at the San Francisco Conservatory—you’ll be looking at guitars in the $2,000–$6,000 range and should expect to put every instrument you try through a rigorous, thorough examination. “First of all, the instrument has to feel good in your hand,” Tanenbaum explains. “If it’s the greatest sound you’ve ever heard and it doesn’t feel right, it should be rejected. Also, make sure you play in the high ranges and that access to notes above the 12th fret is reasonably easy.” Tanenbaum plays every note on the fretboard when trying out guitars, listening to the quality of sustain and for occasional dead notes. “Every guitar has them,” he says, “I want to know where they are and if I can live with them.”

Tanenbaum cautions students not to place too much importance on an instrument’s volume or capacity to project. “Most guitar recitals are not in gigantic halls,” he says. “Even if your career really starts to pop, you’re talking 100–400 seats. Don’t give up other important qualities just for projection. There are guitars out there that are incredibly loud but not so subtle.” Tanenbaum also suggests that students consider less tangible qualities when choosing a guitar. “Every guitar changes the player and every player changes the guitar,” he says. “Find a guitar that really excites your imagination—that you suddenly start hearing new things on and that will lead you places. There are guitars I try for half an hour and then I walk away and can’t stop thinking about them. If I do stop thinking about it, that’s that. But if that guitar stays in my head, I know I’m going to go back and check it out.”

Students seeking guitars in this price range should consider purchasing an instrument from a reputable luthier, either directly or through an outlet like Rosewood Guitars or Guitars International (see “Classical Specialty Shops”). While the best-known luthiers may have long waiting lists and prices beyond a student’s means, there are many lesser-known makers building excellent, affordable instruments without decade-long waits.

Instruments to Check Out:

Alhambra 11P ($2,510 list, www.alhambrausa.com). At the upper end of Alhambra’s line, the 11P has solid woods (cedar or spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides) and classic Spanish character at a relatively affordable price.

Paulino Bernabe Model 30 ($4,200 list, www.bernabe-guitars.com) One of the most revered modern Spanish luthiers, Paulino Bernabe has built instruments for the likes of Spanish virtuoso Narcisso Ypes. His Model 30 has a red cedar top, Indian rosewood sides and back, and an ebony fingerboard.

Hill Guitar Co. Fleta ($4,000 list, www.hillguitar.com). Built with a cedar top, rosewood sides and back, and an ebony fretboard, this is an affordable reproduction of a guitar built by Ignacio Fleta, one of the most venerated luthiers in classical-guitar history.

José Ramírez 2E ($2,989 list, www.guitarrasramirez.com). The top model in this renowned maker’s midlevel E series, this guitar has a solid red cedar top, laminated back and sides, and classic Ramírez vibe and tone.Part-Time Nylon-Stringer Not everyone in the market for a classical guitar is into Carcassi etudes and Bach suites. Seasoned steel- string guitarists who want a nylon-string as an occasional second guitar usually have different needs. “Because they’re more familiar with the tone of a steel-string, they often have their own notion of what a classical guitar should sound like,” says Bill Clements. “Also, steel-string players are used to a narrower fretboard and a longer neck [usually 14 frets to the body instead of the classical standard of 12]. If they’re not into learning classical technique, we direct them to instruments built this way.”

While classical guitar necks are more or less standard, an instrument with a cutaway, which allows easier access to the upper frets, is a good option for steel-string players, Clements says. He also points out that many steel-string guitarists, especially those who play with a pick, don’t use the right-hand technique needed to pull a large sound out of a classical guitar. A steel-string player who gigs frequently with a PA or amp can overcome this lack of projection and volume by purchasing a classical guitar with built-in electronics. This has an added advantage for steel-string players: if they aren’t familiar with tone-production techniques on the classical guitar, they can electronically enhance the sound of the instrument.

Instruments to Check Out: Fender GN45SCE ($999 list, www.fender.com). Constructed with laminated rosewood sides, a solid rosewood back, and solid cedar top, this cutaway instrument includes Fishman electronics.

Ibanez GA5TCE ($399 list, www.ibanez.com). This affordable guitar has a thinline body for feedback-free performance on loud stages. Ibanez chose all-laminate construction (spruce top, mahogany back and sides) and combines its own preamp with a Fishman pickup.

Martin 000C-16SGTNE ($2,049 list, www.martinguitar.com). With mahogany back and sides, a cedar top, custom Fishman electronics, and a cutaway, this guitar is designed to feel comfortable to players used to Martin’s 12-fret 000 steel-string, on which its body shape is modeled.

Taylor NS32CE ($1,798 list, www.taylorguitars.com). This slightly smaller bodied nylon-string has a spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and a cutaway for easy access to higher frets. Fishman electronics allow easy amplification.

Classical Specialty Stores Buying a classical guitar should be a hands-on experience, and it’s to your advantage to try out a number of instruments in stores that specialize in them. Specialty stores such as Rosewood Guitars in Seattle, Washington; Guitar Solo in San Francisco, California; Luthier Music in New York City; and Guitar Salon International in Santa Monica, California, stock a broad cross section of instruments you can play and compare and are staffed with knowledgeable players. One of the best known of these specialty outlets is Cleveland, Ohio’s Guitars

International (www.guitarsint.com), which has been run for the past 13 years by its founder and owner Armin Kelly. Kelly mainly handles instruments in the $2,000–$20,000 range, built by such venerable luthiers as Robert Ruck and Paul Fischer, as well as lesser-known builders like Eric Monrad and Enos Hernandez.

Kelly sees customers by appointment only. “There are no distractions with other people playing instruments, and we try to make the experience enjoyable, stress free, and educative,” he says. “We talk to customers before they come to try guitars, discussing the merits of different guitars and trying to define the customer’s playing style, playing needs, and musical aesthetics. We also send guitars out on approval. The customer has the guitar for three days and then either purchases or returns it.”

Kelly sees Guitars International as an important intermediary between customers and builders that goes beyond simply arranging a business transaction. “We have a very close relationship with the makers and give them a lot of feedback from players and customers,” says Kelly. “These builders are constantly striving for a higher level of art.”

How to Buy from a Local Luthier The first step in purchasing from a luthier is to play as many of his or her guitars as possible. Consistency of construction quality and tone is not only an important indicator of a luthier’s skills, it also increases the possibility that you’ll end up with the guitar you had in mind when you ordered it. Most reputable builders’ guitars range from excellent to extraordinary but there’s always the chance that your finished instrument may not be precisely the guitar you had in mind. “I’ve seen cases where the student doesn’t like what he got,” says David Tanenbaum. “I encourage students to talk arrangements through before the guitar is started. Just ask the luthier, ‘What are my options if I don’t like it?’ The luthier may agree to send it to someone else and build you another or adjust it to your satisfaction, if that’s possible.” Before beginning work on a guitar, luthiers typically require a ten-percent down payment and a signed contract listing the specs of the instrument in detail, its price on completion, and when it will be ready.

One advantage of commissioning a guitar from a local luthier is that you can usually give construction input. “If the maker is local—and I encourage students to work with local makers—you can talk to them about what you want,” says Tanenbaum. “Each builder’s guitars will have certain identifiable qualities, but there’s always some margin for maneuverability. You can talk to them about playability and sound, choose woods together, and show them necks that are comfortable for you. I had a student who bought a guitar from a local maker and he was going over to the workshop and tapping on the wood—basically keeping in touch with the instrument as it was being made. There’s something really healthy about that.”