Looking for a guitar for Fingerstyle, Classical and Flamenco
 

Hi, I'm looking for a guitar in the < $600 range. I'd like the guitar to be suitable for playing out at coffee shops probably through a Fishman loudbox. I'll play some fingerstyle ballads (think James Taylor) and learn some classical / flamenco pieces. The Cordoba GK Studio Negra is currently on my radar and I see some minor blem models for < $600. I'm wondering what the best guitar will be to be a good compromise for these goals.

It seems the Negra won't have the sustained bass of a true classical but might be a good enough.

I'm unclear on the quality of Cordobas though. I read many reviews about poor setups, buzzing frets on them, sharp unfiled frets and bridges coming loose. I'm hoping this is not a common problem. Any advice is very appreciated and thanks for the great site ! The Ben Woods videos on youtube really impressed me.

Your going to get a plethora of responses and really it depends on the dynamics of your location in regards to hands on. That is the best test. If its a small box store look at Alvarez or Yamaha since that is probably what they will stock. You won't find any of the used big boys in those shops most likely.
A trip to GC if possible will yield the used higher end. Online.....shoot for the stars, lol. Seriously, Eastman, Recording King, Blueridge all get good press on here. A 200 series Taylor would be in that range as well and a good fit for your need to be plugged in. Hope you find it!

Thanks for the reply. Do those brands you mentioned have a presence in classical / flamenco guitars ? I checked their websites and they seem to be mainly folk acoustic.

Like you I would have to do some research within each brand. I was just giving a general response. You might want to rewrite your thread title and include that to get some specific feedback.

Does anyone make a guitar suitable for both classical and flamenco ?

Try posting your question on the DelCamp classical guitar forum. Multiple luthiers regularly contribute to this site and they will offer you tons of advice.

http://www.classicalguitardelcamp.com


Cincy

In that price range with acoustic electric capability, I wound up with Cordoba GK models. They are usually readily available at big box stores. I have both blanca and negra versions. Even though laminated back and sides, they do project the expected character of blanca versus negra. All of these seem to come with frets that benefit from polishing. I took some 800 grit and shined up the frets to an acceptable level with about an hour labor. My cypress had high/low frets and needed a fret dress by a tech to play clean. The rosewood fret work was better but still needed a polish. I'd say the rosewood is probably closer to classical voicing than the cypress but not quite classical. I prefer the cypress for gigging since it has less overtones and is more controllable at stage volume.

Not the best acoustic sound but decent and acceptable for stage work so the utility value and performance for price is good. I still gig mine but, for the last several months, my favorite gigging amplified nylon string is the Yamaha SLG200N. It is probable neither flamenco or classical but leans toward the classical side. No acoustic sound as you'd expect, but great function for playing live.

hunter

I'm strictly a fingerstyle player and have a wide range of music tastes. I play jazz, folk, rock, some classical romantic tunes, but no Flamenco on my Cordoba.

I liked my GK Studio Cypress model, but hated the Fishman electronics in them. The built-in tuner wavered all the time and I didn't like the sound out of the Fishman.

My Studio also needed some fret smoothing & I don't think it is the fault of Cordoba. The Big Box stores here humidify the Martin's, Taylors and Gibsons in the separate acoustic room.. All others are subjected to the varying environment of a larger acoustic room. I highly doubt that they maintain the environment / environment in their warehouses.

More than a year ago, I upgraded to the GK Pro Negra. I love the sound and the electronics.

Thanks for the great tips. I ordered a GK Studio last night. I really appreciate the help gents.

I'll be honest, I play classical music on my flamenco guitar (Cordoba Solista Flamenca) all the time and I think it sounds really good. I'm sure it wouldn't meet the requirements for an actual professional classical player or the casual "cork sniffers" but since you are looking for a single guitar that covers the bases, I suspect you are willing to make some compromises.

You do need to play with a bit lighter touch to avoid fret noise (given the lower action) and it will be brighter sounding (which I like) with less sustain. My guitar is a blanca as well, if you got a negra model it would be even closer to a classical in sound.

Basically, if you want to be playing flamenco, you will want the lower action and golpeador, which you get with a flamenco guitar.

I also play some fingerstyle on it as well, although I prefer my 12-fret Taylor for that usually, unless I really want the nylon string sound.

Later
Rob

I'll back that up... I've been using my SLG200n as my main go to guit since I got it. I have a good Alhambra as well, but I find the sound of the Yamaha is so much easier to control for obvious reasons. When I get tired of a certain way it sounds, I just make a few adjustements and I fall in love with it all over again. For live settings this comes in handy, because you can adjust for every different room you play with a few turns of the knobs. You don't have to worry about how the acoustics are going to affect your sound.

Besides all that, it looks really cool!