American made?

[mr. beaumont]

I wasn't talking about independent luthiers.

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by rick375

I must have been mistaken when her Honda said made in Japan and her Escape says made in Kansas. Sorry, I guess my intelligance must be somewhere between a plant and an insect. I also didn't realize that Honda was an American company and that this site was to have posts about cars. I thought it was for guitars.
Thanks for the sarcastic post!

Some Hondas are imported but most of those offered in the US are made here. Seventy-five percent of the parts of Accords assembled in Kentucky are made in the US.

At this time, by some estimates, the most second most American car on the market is the Toyota Camry assembled in Marysville, Ohio and Lincoln, Ala. with eighty percent of its parts being made in the US.

Cars.com ranks the Chevrolet Malibu as being the sixth most American car. In other words, Detroit iron often comes from Mexico or Canada and if made in the US, is comprised of a fair amount of imported components.

[silverfox103]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

There's really not any american companies making what I would call a great nylon string guitars in that range. You might look for a used lutheir build, or a used taylor (which are completely underwhelming IMHO)

I'm pretty sure someone else mentioned the used Guilds as a good value as well.

Nylon string guitar isn't that popular in the US in the "big scheme," therefore not many companies are focusing much attention on making anylon string guitar in that price range...you have budget models made in canada by la patrie, and a lot of asian made guitars. Then you get into the American built, small luthier stuff that is considerably more expensive because it's not only difficult and expensive to build a good nylon string, there's also not as much of a market for them as for steel strings.

I would say there is a lot of truth in what Mr. Beaumont said.

[dosland]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Used, look for a Guild. Mark III can be found under $1k and you might even find a IV within your budget.

New, the Cervantes Crossover 1 is made in North America (Paracho, Mexico).

And don't discount the Taylor NS guitars just because of some faceless opinions on a guitar forum somewhere. (Most of the guitar players I have met haven't a clue how to draw a good tone from a nylon stringed instrument). Try one. The lower end models, NS32, NS42, are the best value and used they can be found well within your budget. A Taylor NS may not be ready to play Symphony Hall, but my bet is that most of the NS naysayers aren't either!

I applaud your conviction.

By all means, play as many guitars as you can get your hands on! It's the only way to know what you're really looking for, and the only way to test whether something will do what you want. But do not be surprised to find out that the American-made instruments you test will often be very similar or even less impressive than their very-frequently-less-expensive foreign-made counterparts. In my experience with classical guitars/crossovers, if you're dedicated to buying U.S. made, you have to either be willing to pay a bit more or accept a bit less. As Beaumont pointed out above, the US guitar-making world just hasn't historically been all that invested in classical instruments. As far as I can tell, Spain is still sort of top of the class in that category (like the US when it comes to steel-stringed guitars), and Asian-made instruments now represent some serious competition, especially for the lower-end range.

[rick375]

so my conclusion is this. if i want an american made classical thats solid wood i'm going to have to be in the 3k range. i found a couple american made guitars for 1200 to 1500 but they are laminated. i'm going to look at orpheus valley, some cordobas, manuel rodriguez, and ill check out the taylors. im searching for a guild mark 3 or 4 but im also going to be open to the guild gad "made in china" models. i have played the orpheus valley fiesta and romida. the romida is top choice right now, very sweet guitar. cars are a whole different subject and since the fords,chevys,dodge, toyotas and hondas,according to a post are made in the usa, i now know that americans build the best cars. im just getting into nylon so i dont want to spend a fortune. the next steel string i by is going to be an american breedlove 000 so that will take care of my american craving and if the nylon really captures me then ill look at the hills and some other american luthiers.

has anyone ever tried to organize a get together on here. one where everyone could put a face to a name and just play and talk? like a players convention?

[Odie1974]

Rick,

You might also want to ask on delcamp.us forum - there are a lot of folks there who are specializing in classical nylon string guitars so they can also be of great help to you.

Delcamp has a big nylon string classifieds section where you can get used models (american, spanish, other) - you might get a much better used guitar for less money if you do not necessarily want to get a brand new instrument.

[rick375]

Originally Posted by Odie1974

Rick,

You might also want to ask on delcamp.us forum - there are a lot of folks there who are specializing in classical nylon string guitars so they can also be of great help to you.

Delcamp has a big nylon string classifieds section where you can get used models (american, spanish, other) - you might get a much better used guitar for less money if you do not necessarily want to get a brand new instrument.

thank you so much. i signed up. both of these forums seem great and informative. once again thank you.

[corbetta]

Having played a few Orpheus Valley and a couple of LoPrinzis (including a Cremona), I think there is absolutely no question that Augustino makes a better guitar, no matter what material the back and sides are made of. YMMV.

[ihs]

rick375,

I would definitely recommend trying out the Taylor nylon's before passing them off. I'd taken a stab at them a few years ago when they first hit the market, and didn't much care for the couple I played. However, I ran across an Ns24ce at Marshall Music (just down the road from Elderly's) after playing through everything Elderly's had on their floor, and was blown away. Sure, it's not solid wood back/sides, but it sounds spectacular, and that's all I really care about.