Almansa 435 Classical

Classical guitar made in Almansa Spain or Espana as it says on the label. Originally, I had attempted to puchase a 434 in the cedar top from ClassicalGuitarShop.com. Later in the day, I got a Phone call back from them stating that they didn't have the 434 in cedar, and they offered me the 435 (which has a cedar top standard) for $40 more. The deal was I would get the 435 (retail $845.00) with a free case (retail $69) with a free music stand (retail $10) and free shipping ($20) for a total cost to me of $599.00. I bit. The 425 is described on the website as follows: "Solid cedar top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, cedar and ebony neck, ebony fingerboard, detailed headstock, deluxe gold tuning machines, wood inlay rosette, polished lacquer finish, highest quality construction".

The solid cedar top is very nice. I love the smell. Indian Rosewood back and sides are also well done. The cedar and ebony neck is mostly cedar. There appears to be a strip of ebony along the back of the neck. For all I know it could be a paint line. Hard to see grain in ebony. Ebont fingerboard is ebony and well set and straight. Detailed headstock is a 1/16" overlay of the rosewood on top of the cedar headstock. Nice. Deluxe gold tuning machines are nice, but fake pearloid. Wood inlay rosette appears as any other I have ever seen, with a cool diagram with a center maroon color that is also found tastefully outlining the thin gold binding. ". The polished lacquer finish is sweet, and well done. I see the 434 has been described as overdone with dust particles. The 435 did not have this problem. The case it came with was kind of a cross between a hardshell case and a gig bag. The guitar is definitly protected. It has a triangular shap with zippered closure. I like it. For the price, I give this category a 9.

The sound on this guitar is GREAT. This is why I didn't send it back (see Action, Fit & Finish). FULL! RICH! GREAT! Pleasure to play. The note ring clear and crisp on all strings. No fretbuzz. Hear beautiful notes while smelling cedar. I sure am going to miss that smell when it seasons. Takes a year, but the sound is suppose to improve so I won't complain.

The action on this guitar is great. It did not come with the usual violin action you see on store classicals. My guess is that this guitar was eithrt a return to or considered a second by ClassicalGuitarShop.com. I say this 1, because of the deal I got (nothing comes easy, nothing comes free) 2, because there was no hang tags or invoice (although in an after sale phone call I was told it would come seperately, it never did) and 3, the nut was misaligned by about 1/16 of an inch to the high side. I have heard samples of the sellers music and doubt this would go unnoticed by him.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't rushing to return this guitar (store only has a credit return policy anyway). When a guitar sounds this good and the flaw does not affect the tone, I consider it no big deal. I have worked on enough guitars to easily remove the nut and place it in its proper setting, but like I said, it doesn't affect the guitar enough for my effort. The bridge could be wood or it could be plastic made to look like wood. My guess is the later because the grain looks too perfect. The gloss finish also covers the bridge so there is no way for me to tell for sure. I mention this because the guitar is advertised as having the "highest quality construction". My guess is that it is factory made in Spain. The guitars number is 10000791, so i am guessing this is a new company.

Classical guitar. Light and fragile. Supposed to be. I beleive I will get a lifetime of use from this instrument. I will have to watch the humidity or the cedar will surly crack.

Like I said, no warranty or hang tags, so I am probably on my own. Even if it had a warranty, what do I do ship it to Spana? I don't know if ClassicalGuitarShop would stand by this instrument or not. My guess would be they would. Personally, I think a warranty on a guitar is a good deal for the seller. What could go wrong? If you had a guitar that you liked the sound of would you send it in for another if something went wrong? The only way I would is if I could not fix the problem myself. I have yet to have such a problem.

I hope I Do not sound to picky in the above text. I am just stating the facts. Believe me, if this guitar was lost or stolen I would request the thief kill me before taking off with it. I consider myself blessed by getting this great sounding guitar for the price I did. Mail Order! I had to go this route as there are only about 5 classical guitars in a 100 mile radius of my home. I am 78 miles from anything that could even be considered a city. This guitar is advertised by CalssicalGuitarShop.com as, "A great performing guitar for the college level player, this sophisticated guitar has full wonderful expressive tone! On Super Special!". I would say that is an accurate statement.

Honestly, this guitar deserves a 8 because of the flaw with the nut, but I am going to give it a 10. Love is blind!