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Home > Guitar > Acoustic Guitar Reviews > Alhambra > 7Fc

Alhambra 7Fc

Summary
Features 7.0 (1 response)
Sound 9.0 (1 response)
Action, Fit, & Finish 7.0 (1 response)
Reliability/Durability 10.0 (1 response)
Customer Support N/A (0 responses)
Overall Rating 9.0 (1 response)
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Product: Alhambra 7Fc
Price Paid: USD 1000
Submitted 05/19/2008 at 01:00pm by Joel

Features : 7
I'm not a classical or flamenco guitarist, so YMMV. I'm approaching it as a general purpose guitar that I can play jazz, folk, and classical music on.
It's an Alhambra 7Fc flamenco model, made in Spain, with solid englemann spruce top, beautiful solid cypress back and sides, spanish cedar neck, and ebony fretboard. The trim is rosewood, as is the bridge, and headstock veneer. The frets are low, small, and very well finished. The nut and saddle are cut perfectly, if a little ugly, and are made of corian (I think). Nut is 2 1/16". Body depth is 3 3/4" all around. The tuners are crap, frankly. I'll be ordering a set of Gotohs to replace them.
Shipped with D'Addario extra hard classical strings.
It came with the "galpeador", large clear plastic tap plate, glued to the top. I actually peeled this off (slowly!), and then spent about 4 hours with a rag and a can of WD40 taking the tenacious glue off the top. The light poly finish is no worse for the wear that I can see.
Price included a molded plastic SKB hard case, which is quite nice.
Features gets a 7 because of the cheap tuners, and non-bone nut/saddle.

Sound : 9
I just love the sound of this cypress body, compared to a cedar/rw classical. It's more lively, punchy, and clear. The body just feels light and resonant, and it gives you great feedback when you hit the strings. I was afraid a flamenco guitar wouldn't be versatile - but this one is. It seems to work well for just about anything I can throw at it. I played everything in the store under $2000, and this one just stood out.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 7
The action is 4/32 on the bass side, 2.5/32 on the treble - which feels very good on this neck, and I don't get any buzzing or dead notes even when playing pretty hard. I don't plan on making any adjustments, which has got to be a first for me. Intonation is pretty close to perfect all the way up and down the neck.
The wood is great.
The finish job is rough in a few spots, and the rosewood bridge plate was missing a chip out of the corner, which is why they took $100 off the price.
The insides seem clean and well done, although there was some sawdust and wood chips.
Overall a mixed bag here. Fortunately with the excellent sound quality and playability, I simply don't care about a few cosmetic flaws.

Reliability/Durability : 10
All the joints and bracing look well done and solid. The finish is tough - see comments above!

Customer Support : No Opinion
I don't know or care. I do all my own work.

Overall Rating : 9
A great sounding guitar, that plays and looks great. For the money, I don't think you can find a better sounding flamenco, and this will also work great for other styles. If you're looking at the Yamaha GC171SF, I think you should play the 7Fc also - you will be shocked at the improvement. I was. Definitely worth the extra $550, although the Yamaha would be nice for travel/camping, etc.
Removing the tap plate does slightly improve the sound.

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