Korean Made "Conservarte-Etude" Anyone heard of this?

[ChuckAcoustic]

I'm brand new to this forum, but have enjoyed acoustic guitars for years.
I bought this guitar 33 years ago when I was 18, but had traded this guitar to my older brother for another Korean made dreadnought acoustic steel string.
Well as the years went by I've thought about me having a Classical guitar when I was younger but for the life of me I could not remember what I had done with it. I was thinking I had sold it, but couldn't remember to whom or where.

A few weeks ago I went to my brothers to watch the Arkansas game against Texas A&M, and he brought it out of one of his storage rooms and gave it back to me. Virtually un-touched for all those years!
I took it home and took off the five strings that were still attached, masked the fingerboard and cleaned up the frets. Then I used lemon oil on the (Rosewood?) fingerboard, and put new strings on it. Looks Brand New!
Now granted, it's no crown jewel but still I had been wanting to find a classical just to have around the house to play. Plus I like the looks and definitely like that distinguish nylon string sound from time to time.

Anyway, here are a few pics, and if anyone can help me with what type of wood this is on the body or any info of any kind I would be thrilled.

By the way, I'm new here. This is my first post, and hope to make a few friends here. I will rarely post in the classical as my taste is more in the Dreadnought steel stringed acoustic, BUT I enjoy acoustics of all kinds.

The brand is Conservarte, the model of this one is the Etude:

[Special B]

I have never heard of that brand, I just wanted to say that is a cool story. Your brother basically aged it for you. Does it sound better with the age on it, or did it not make a difference?

[ChuckAcoustic]

Originally Posted by Special B

I have never heard of that brand, I just wanted to say that is a cool story. Your brother basically aged it for you. Does it sound better with the age on it, or did it not make a difference?

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="3"]I can only guess that the aged wood MUST sound better than it did when I was 18 years old. After 33 years worth of water under the bridge I don't remember how it sounded back then, but for a "cheap" Korean made guitar it really sounds good.
I hadn't visited my brother like that in years. He is divorced, living alone though he has a very close relationship with his two step-sons he's not a loner. But he has always enjoy outstanding health, but a few months ago he found that he has prostate cancer. He has a great prognosis, but still it was a blow to him.
I thought I'd go over and cheer him up a little bit, and give him some emotional support.
Well I had recently bought this Samick Greg Bennett 12 guitar for a crazy low price and told him I was going to bring it to show him. That is what sparked his mind to thinking about that old classical we had traded. He wasn't even certain he still had it, but searched and found it under a bed in one of his spare bedrooms. He had made the decision to give it back to me before I had come over.
The guitar really does have a "decent" sound to it. I had been considering looking for a cheap one just to have around the house for about 6 months or so before that. But to find the one I originally bought 33 years before in the same shape it was in the day I bought it was really cool.

[Special B]

I hope all goes well with his cancer treatment. I am glad the prognosis is good.

Nice-looking 12er for the price.

[ccozic]

I sold a Korean Conservarte Etude earlier this year.

Not sure if it had a model number.

It was average quality/tone and missing the bottom string, and I sold it for $45.

So, at least a few are out there....

[harpon]

Hello Acoustic chuck and welcome welcome to the forum.

I can only relate my own experience- a little similar-

This year marked 20 years since I purchased my first "real" classical guitar- I say "real" because I'd had some strange $20 Hollywood boulevard guitars before that, one smaller in size-

anyway- it too is Korean , and basically a "student" level guitar I think-
labled a "Bentley"- I paid $135 for it new in a music store in Oxnard CA.
Yours marked "Conservarte" seems to indicare a student level I think, but I could be wrong- the lable "conservative" or "conservatory" is traditionally referencing a scholastic institution I believe. and the term "etude" generally defines short musical phrases or pieces used frequently as student exercises.


I still have it, and it has only the slightest of dings procured when some slimebag threw a brick though my window in Hollywood a few years after, and shattered glass all over my apartment..

It served me well, and I was always amazed by the workmanship of it- very happy for years with it, and before the internet temptations and information.

I got started in some classical guitar courses very cheaply at Los Angeles City Community College during the mid-90's, and it's been a great little student guitar I felt fortunate to own. I carried it to class on Saturday morning for several years in a chipboard case like yours- (they don't do well in a flood, and now this "drama queen" prefers a padded nylon gig bag)

I started lowering the action somewhere along the way, and have done so several times by grinding down the bridge- it's about at it's limit now and can't be taken much further without further filing the saddle itself-

so it's an education on the basic nature of the beast- the neck bows under pressure eventually which gives the guitar a 'length of life" without further modifications-

some classicals now come with truss rods for that reason I guess.

Anyway I "replaced" the Korean guitar about ten years when I walked into a Guitar Center, that had a used Takamine for sale at about half normal retail, and that had vitrtually no evidence of having been played at all, and for less than I had paid for the student guitar-

the Takamine was then much noticibly lighter and with a better resounding sound- I couldn't resist, and it's still my main full sized classical guitar.
And I could never part with the other either- but probably soon will now- too many instruments, and the old will have tio give way.

So, yes, my expeience with that Korean student guitar is that it was very well made and a thing of beauty, but perhaps being a student guitar, a little on the heavy side and not as nice sounding as a more expensive Takamine.

i now feel about the same toward the Takimine- with spuce top and Nato back and sides- when I play a Cordoba- which is noticibly lighter weight still- almost fragile, and I see many cracked on the net- a risk for better sound I think, and which has more resonance still.

so cAIn hope that helps give a realistic picture- I would suggest getting the sound and the weight in mind, and then trying some others at a local store- if it matters to you- Also evaluate the height of the action as it now is and determine how much you can possibly still compensate for any neck bow it may have. If you are lucky, perhaps it was stored with little or no tension on the strings and hasn't much neck bow. More likely than mine, which saw much good use.

I'm a fan of student instruments otherwise- they serve their purpose, are generally built sturdy for it and at generally not a lot of cost. Your guitar looks solid and very playable.