Manuel Rodriguez classical guitar
Written: Sep 02 '04 (Updated Oct 30 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful guitar to look at, beautiful sound
Cons: the wide neck can discourage playing
The Bottom Line: a good model model to consider for an entry level Spanish made classical guitar
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| cheetah1's Full Review: Manuel Rodriguez Rodriguez C-3 |
This is a review of the Manuel Rodriguez C-3 classical guitar made in Madrid Spain. A lot of people who collect guitars may have an interest in adding an authentic Spanish made classical guitar to their collection like myself or perhaps they have an interest in playing or performing with a classical guitar. It does seem the classical guitars from Spain get the most press.
Manuel Rodriguez guitars have been around since 1905 and they are a respected maker of guitars in Spain. The lower end models like the C-3 have the same dimensions as their high end models which run into the thousands of dollars.
The guitar itself is made of east indian rosewood laminate back and sides and a Canadian cedar top. The top is beautiful to look at, a very high quality with a tight grain. The neck is sapele with an east indian rosewood fingerboard. The nut and saddle are tusq graphite. The entire guitar is gloss coated. The lower priced C-1 has a satin finish but otherwise is identical and sells for 100 dollars less than the C-3.
The guitars quality is good. The only flaw is a very small knot in the neck that was filled with putty. It can't be felt while running a hand over it. The guitar also has putty to seal the very small wood pores all over the body. The overall finish of the guitar is VERY beautiful. The east indian rosewood along with the gloss coat make for one impressive guitar.
What is unusual about most Spanish made classical guitars is that there are no fret dots or markers to orient a person as to where they are on the fingerboard so it helps to have a good knowledge of the fretboard.
The guitar sounds very nice with standard classical strings. There are so many choices of strings to choose from with classical guitars just like a steel string guitar and they can affect the tone of guitar to a great degree. I would describe the tone of the guitar as dark sounding. The bass notes sound real nice and have very good volume. This makes the guitar sound really good for chords.
This is a full size guitar with a very wide neck as compared to a normal sized steel string acoustic. This wide neck makes it easier to pluck the strings. It's best to try the smaller 3/4 and 1/2 sized classicals before a purchase as the standard width of a neck for a full sized classical guitar may be to much for some people.
The smaller size of a classical guitars body makes them good for fingerstyle. However I'm not really into the classic style of playing and just strum it like a steel string guitar.
Most of the better classical guitars from Spain start out at just over a grand but some makers like Manuel Rodriguez and a few others make them for a lot less money and they are still quality guitars. While I don't think this guitar can compete with a classical costing thousands it is a good entry level model for a person interested in a classical guitar.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cheetah1
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Member: Bruce
Location: Morongo Valley,California
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
China's products may be taking over the world but their environment is paying the price
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