Valencia VG-190C

First let me say: For what I wanted (and didn't want)in a classical guitar I could not hope to find in this price range anywhere else! THIS GUITAR IS A BARGAIN! This is a High Gloss Finish on a Spruce Top. The body is a cutaway which was a key feature for me. The tuners are cheap but no problem once I screwed them down a bit. Until I did, the high E would not stay in tune. They arrived pretty loose and the strings weren't tight at all. I thought this might be deliberate for shipping but my (more expen$ive)Yamaha came tuned and ready to play. Spruce top and Mahogany sides on a good solid body. Amazing for the price!

The sound is great for the price but not very even in that the bass is thumping compared to mids and highs. It messes with your playing as you need to try and finesse the bass so it won't overpower the tune. The overall sound is dull compared to more expensive guitars but still acceptable for practice and beginners. No pop like my CG171 Yamaha. But Amazing for the price!

The action was surprisingly low although it gets a bit high in the upper frets. It was slightly mushy but I'm thinking better strings will help. The guitar stunk of glue for a day or two out of the box and was visible in a few places like the joins, but easily removed. Don't look too closely at the detail as it has lots of small flaws - like the dot marker on the 9th fret that was not neatly rounded. It looked all ragged but it was tiny and minor. The stain was uneven in many places. Did I mention Amazing for the price?!?

This seems like a tough guitar akin to a Yamaha. I expect it to be around for years and at the price I can live with it getting beat up and scratched if it so happens. In fact, I brought it to my girlfriends and leave it there to use when I'm there. Another good point of an inexpensive guitar! You don't feel like you have to baby it. I would not gig with this guitar, period. As it doesn't have the crispness and action I would want for a gig. If I did I wouldn't feel like I'd need a backup though, it's tough.

Have not had to call for support.

I've been playing off and on for 37 years. All kinds of music. I own a Strat, Les Paul, Jaguar, Alvarez Yairi Acoustic, and CG171CCA Yamaha classical. I've owned others along the way. Despite my criticism of it I LOVE THIS GUITAR! How they got this thing together for the price is beyond me! I directly compared it to my Yamaha ($445) and that is why I didn't give it higher grades but make no mistake, you won't be sorry buying this for a starter or kick-around guitar! ALSO: Thank you Harmony Central for helping me in all my guitar buying decisions! This site is great and I am going to rate all my guitars here as payback for your help! Rock on!