Thoughts on these two Guitars please?

[sorefinger]

Hi Guys,
Looking to buy my Third Guitar. I've researched lots obviously and have settled on either one of these two, love some thoughts/ input as I cant decide.
1. Kremona artist series romida rd-s
2. Alhambra 7P [Spruce top]

Usually, and wisely, I would obviously ''try before I buy'', but for various reasons I'm not in the position to do so, I believe they are both mid-range quality instruments so have no real worries, besides that, I usually take them to my local and incredibly talented Luthier for a ''once over.''
Has anyone owned one or both? Love to know your thoughts, Thank you.

[dosland]

I have an Alhambra 7p and also a 7c, made in different years and with pretty different characteristics, both in terms of construction and playing experience. My general experience follows the stereotypical description - the 7p is brighter and a bit tighter sounding/feeling than the 7c, which I attribute to both the different construction styles (the 7p is noticeably heavier than the 7c, and details like the headstock decoration, tuning machines, etc. are all different) and the different woods employed. I bought the 7c new in Spain about 10 years ago and the 7p used in NZ about 2 years ago (made in 2003). Both are great to play, pretty standard classical setup though the 7p is a tiny bit higher action than I would consider ideal. Probably the setup specs out of the factory at this level will differ noticeably from one individual to the next, so having your luthier do a once-over and a setup for you is a great idea. If you want to know anything specific about the 7p, I'd say the overall characteristics on mine are bright, tight, and lively. I think someone who knew what they were doing as a flamenco stylist could really enjoy this one, but I'm barely competent at "regular" guitar....

[sorefinger]

Hi,
Thank you for the reply, that's very interesting. I first traded my Mid-rand Almira after playing a Godin La Patrie 'Cross over', the action and sound just blew me away! However, being a Cedar front and relatively shallow bodied the volume is restricted and although a beautiful tone, its quite mellow.
After a couple of years and much research, I discovered a company called DOFF based in St.Petersburgh Russia, I found an all solid, although factory made it was all solid Maple body, I was intrigued so I took a chance and ordered one. Thing was, it very cheap as it was Russian made, only costing about £400, I couldnt believe my eyes, All solid for £400! I had to have it!
When it arrived it sounded lovely and bright but the playability was quite poor, I took it to my Luthier who said this. ''At that price, although all solid, had been literally thrown together, with no love or attention to detail. He then worked his magic on it, levelling the atrociously placed frets and gave it a beautifully set up.
I now rarely play my beloved Godin La Patrie which was MUCH more expensive and is still a lovely Guitar! I guess although I dont play Flamenco, I just prefer the louder brighter sound of the Maple construction or Spruce, hence why I never look at Cedar tops now.

I had the Kremona Sophia and it was a very nice guitar. One of the things that brought e to the Kremona was the site's very specific listing of specifications. Once I got interested I was also able to request and receive some custom touches. The Sophia was impeccably made, sounded great, and was beautiful.

The Romida can be purchased through one of the big box stores and returned if not satisfactory. I'm not sure about the Alhambra.

Doff Guitars;

Sore mentioned Doff guitars--I had never heard of the company. It turns out that other than the home site they are listed on Ebay and Reverb. The guitars are distinctive and made with solid woods at a very reasonable price.

Like Kremona, another Eastern Block country, Doff has not had much exposure in the U.S. Kremona does a better job of defining its listings with very clear and thorough specifications and U.S. standards of measurement as well as metrics. Kremona has also developed ties with Amazon and other U.S. distributors.

As Sorefinger mentioned, the price point of the Doff instruments is incredibly low which leaves a lot of slack for fine-detail setups.

[sorefinger]

Evan, honestly, Doff are Russian and are well worth a look. Its an amazing price for all solid construction, mine is all solid Maple body, once they are set up professionally, as mine is, it blew me away! Puts my Godin La Patrie to shame.

SF;

I've had a La Patrie and view your praise of Doff as noteworthy.

It's hard to break into a new market when coming from a different culture, language, and system of measurement. As noted earlier, Doff could take a lesson or two from Kremona.