Cashimira 145 Special

145s(pecial) solid top,nice grain. all good looking woods used on this guitar.nice finish,heavy enough to protect as it is supposed to do but not too thick as to be a tone dampner. upgraded the tuners,the stock ones are crapola.

nice guitar,good sound.the grain on the inside and outside of mine match perfectly.most people dont realize that many top makers for years have been doing laminations for strength reasons,especially with b.rosewood,which will crack over time when shaved thin and subjected to a few humidity changes.

i like the sound,maybe it would be a bit more powerful it it WAS solid b/r but unless you are in a large hall performing you will not notice it.the sustain is very good and the trebles are,as one other poster remarked,very clear and pretty.

the frets are laid out well and the intonation is good,until the higher frets where the lack of a compensating bridge does show up a tad,but it is not anything that a good player isnt used to.careful matching of string guages can go a long way to fix that problem ive found. guitar is definitely well built for the money.sort of plain jane ish except for the spalted rosewood,which is stunning on mine,but the sound is really worth it and thats what i look for in a guitar,that and playability.i did have the nut shaved and lowered the action a bit,it plays nicer now for sure.bone nut and saddle it appears,nice.

dont play live with it so im just guessing.

i think if it was cared for like it should be it would be no problem to used it for a #1 road guitar if someone wanted to.

dealer was awesome,highly recommended.let me chose from several (and there were definitely ones that sounded not nearly as good as others,so i was very happy that he let me try out several before i decided.the one i got was hands down ALOT better sounding than the others,and the dealer said i figured i would pick that one out if i ever tried it.so there is some degree of variance to the sound quality of the same models(as is to be expected)

potential buyers should take time to play several of the same model if possible to get the best deal on one of these choice spanish guitars.

Grrrrreat!go buy one but try to get a dealer that will let you check out several.(you were going to do that with any instrument you were planning on buying,right?)Doh!

I bought this guitar from Cashimira Asia Pacific, the distributor for Cashimira in Asia.
This guitar is made in Spain with Solid Spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and side. The back and side although is laminated, but it really can't tell from its looks and the sound. It has a scale length of 650mm and nut of 52mm. The tuner look likes is from Gotoh with very good feel and accuracy.
Many of my friend who listen to it can't believe the price/feature for this guitar.
The guitar was received with the hard case from the luthier, a certificate signed by the luthier as well as a Cashimira cleaning cloth. Cashimira Asia Pacific even shows me a copy of the export certificate to prove that it is true Brazilian rosewood.
As a whole, I'm amaze with the feature, set-up and finishing of this guitar as compare to other Spanish guitars I own.

The sound is just beautiful... especially after 3 months playing with it and the sound start to open up. It has a clear treble tone and strong basss projection. The tone color is very usual Spanish but with voice of a true classical guitar.
Especially the tone above the 7th fret, you can get crystal clear tone on the treble and really sing well....at this price, I have no regret with the quality of sound it can produce.

The guitar was set up for low action... so it is much easy for me to play. The Spruce top is from German with very tight grain... color is very light as compare to other Spruce top guitar I own. The finishing is flawless.... no scratches etc... the distributor here pack the guitar in a very careful manner so even not a single finger print when I receieve the guitar!
One great thing of this guitar is the smell.... very strong smell of the Brazililan rosewood just can't describe with words....

Although only play it for 3 months, but I believe this is a true work horse that going to last for many years.... anyway, at this price I'm paying, I think it is really worth value for money even if I just use it for 10 years.... but certainly, this is going to pass down to my next generation.

Only one word can describe the guy from Cashimira Asia Pacific: FANTASTIC! the boss himself is very professional and knowledgeable. More than 20 years of playing experience, he can answer ANY questions for this guitar or any general question on guitar, wood, performance, music....he really offer very honest opinion and not like a typically salesman in the guitar shop that only interest to push something to you off their shelf. He is helpful and responsive to any request from the customer.
If you guys want to buy the Cashimira, should contact them for more details at cashimiraasia@yahoo.com.sg
....Strongly recommend.

I have been playing for the past 10 year. I own many other guitar like Ramirez, Bernabe, Kohno and Contretras. I like to collect good guitar and play them in leisure.
I love the Cashimira as it is really a good value for money with its features and sound quality it can produce. It is just an amazing guitar from Spain that you should not miss....check it out!

My cashimira 145 special is a 2003-made with 20 frets.(its not customed. Just that its 19th fret is not cut in the middle like most other classical guitars, it divides out another fret-space on the fretboard.)I have to make a special order for it to come with in solid Cedar top as the distributor in my region (Asia)only imports spruce top ones. According to him, this is due to the local preference.It eventually came in a very tight-grained cedar top and I was very pleased. A main aesthetic feature of this guitar which so attracts me is the brazilian rosewood back and sides with unique pale brown sapwood streaks decoration. The distributor was quick to declare that the back and sides are not solid Rio but laminated using 3 pieces of the rosewood and that a solid Rio back and sides could have cost me at least 3 times the price. It comes with gold plated fusteros tuning machine which I notice that the button for the fourth string wasn't tuning smoothly.

I play mainly classical and dabble occasionally into flamenco(when I come across nice songs). Strange enough, much as the 145 special is touted as a sweet sounding classical guitar, mine carries a particularly strong flamenco accent. The projection is excellent for its price range at least compared to guitars in the same range my peers owned. The 145 special also has a substantial sustain considering it employs laminated back and sides.

The set up for my Cedar top was very different from the spruce top ones I tried before placing the order. It came with a low action like its set up for flamenco playing and it does buzz easier. The gloss finish was excellent. It came wrapped in polyester foil and an additional plastic cover so there wasn't any scratches, not even a speck of dust when I just unwrapped it and the sweet scent of the rose wood was still strong.

I haven't played anything live on this guitar yet but the construction of the guitar seems sturdy enough. I only play live in ensembles and the damages comes not from playing but bumping into music stands, chairs and other guitars. If careful, I will believe this guitar can be dependable and last a long time.

The distributor was friendly enough, even offered to show me his collection of books on how guitar vibrate when played. Never dealt with the makers though.

Mine is a 2003 model 145 special. It was made in Spain, has a solid spruce top, laminated rio rosewood sides and back and an ebony fretboard. It has a gloss finish and no electronics installed. When I bought the guitar, I was told that it had solid rio back and sides. The sapwood striping on the rosewood is very striking and is very unique. After I had the guitar about a week, I noticed that the sapwood striping down the back, and along the top edge of the sides did not match the pattern on the inside of the guitar. This could only mean plywood. I told the distributor and he pleaded ignorance. After he checked with the factory, he admitted I was right but gave me no option to return the guitar. I kept it and I'm happy with the guitar overall, but still a bit disapointed that it's not solid wood. Solid rosewood guitar for $1000? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I really can't give a good opinion on this topic since I'm primarily an acoustic guitar player. I bought it because I wanted a quality handmade spanish classical guitar in the $1000 range. I first bought a Ramirez that was a total P.O.S. although I thought it sounded nice. I then bought the Cashimira. I think it sounds wonderful and rich, but keep in mind that I'm not a good judge of this.

The action to me is high, but again I'm an acoustic player. I think all classicals are high by comparison. I've played several others that have much higher action. In any event, there is no buzzing anywhere on the fretboard and it plays very nice. The wood working and the finish are very nice. The craftsmanship and the wood selection are not perfect, but not bad for the money. Slight imperfections give it character anyhow. If you don't like little variances then buy a taylor where every part is cut out on a computer controlled mill. I'd have to say that the finish is a little thick for my personal preference, but it's flawless as far as blemishes.

I can't say about reliability. I keep it in a humidity controlled cabinet and only play it about once a week. I do not "gig" so it basicaly gets baby'd like my other guitars and at this rate they'le out live me. Every thing on the guitar seems solid though. I can't say about the finish though, as I said before, It seems a little thick and I hope it doesn't fall victim to checking prematurely.

Never delt with the company, only the distributor.

I've been playing as a hobby for 25 years. I also own a Martin D18 Custom, a Lowden O-25 cedar, and an American Delux Stratocaster. I play around with the classical but don't play classical music so my opinion is weak. My main reason for submitting a review is to warn others that may be considering a purchase of this guitar, that it is indeed plywood. This is not inherintly bad, but it is note worthy if you want a solid guitar. If it were stolen or lost, I don't think I would replace it.

Made in Alicante, Spain on 10/2001 by the Joan Cashimira family business. Solid spruce top. Solid rio rosewood back and sides. Cedar neck. Ebony Fingerboard. Gold plated tuners. Gloss finish. No electronics, cutaway or strap buttons. Beautiful example of a nice dark rio rosewood with the characteristic white flashes of sap wood going down the middle of the back. This 'feature' also appears around some of the edges of the wood on the sides and produces a striking guitar and a great talking point! Very beautiful and a difficult wood to find nowadays. The spruce top has the well known light colour which I much prefer to the redder cedar and the soundhold rosette has a pleasing design that is not boring or garish. Headstock is the Cashimira tradition of the 5 lobed leaf type design which looks really good. There is a binding running around the sides of the guitar at both the front and back and also under the headstock 'face' which is made of the same dark rosewood as the back and sides. Nut and saddle looked like plastic until I took them out when changing the strings. They are a very hard brittle material which I suspect is bone. Bridge looks like rosewood. Skunk stripe down the back of the neck and pearloid tuning buttons. I assume it is handmade but not by a single luthier as those models are in the next higher range (and price bracket). It is at the top if it's own range though.

I play classical and celtic music and it sounds especially good at the latter. I would prefer more sustain for the classical but maybe this will change with maturity of that spruce top.

Difficult to gauge sound as I've never owned a classical before or heard other peoples but it has a bright sweet treble and a nice vibrant bass. I have installed a Shadow 1900 clasical under-saddle piezo pickup and I play through a Boss BR8 digital 8-track with a little reverb and echo. It sounds great! It's amazing how much more articulate the sound is as everything seems to shine through. It sounds good recorded also and I am certainly well pleased with it. I'd prefer more sustain but there again I would probably say that about any classical guitar as I'm used to playing electric.

It is difficult to judge the setup as all classicals (and most steel string acoustics) have an action way too high for my liking. I lowered mine a bit but it could do with going lower still. The strings came off within a week I'm afraid as they were as naff as naff gets! After plucking them the volume immediately dropped away to a much lower level before decaying. It sounded strange to say the least so I got a set of D'Addario standard strings and now all is well. Sustain has improved also. I'm afraid the tuners will be going at some stage as they deeply suck. They are inconsistent. Some are very sticky and others not too bad but still not great. Schallers here I come! No flaws in the finish that I can see. The only disappointment is that when you hold the guitar as normal and look down inside through the soundhole. A splinter of wood had protruded from the curved brace that follows the contour of the bottom side. I guess it wasn't too keen on bending with the rest of the wood. I have glued this down myself. Lose a point for the splinter and the 'sucking' machine heads.

Seems just as durable as any other classical. Don't gig so I've no experience of wear and tear. Maybe the machines will smooth out in time but I'll probably replace them in the next few months.

Never dealt with them. They are based in Spain and don't appear to have a website.

Been playing for 15 years or so. Own three electrics a Pod v2 and a Boss BR8 digital 8 track. I have installed a Shadow 1900 under-saddle pickup for this guitar. In the future I may get a professional to lower the action further and install a superior pickup system in this guitar but the Shadow is great for now. If it was stolen I'd be well knackered as there were only five imported here in the UK when I purchased mine as wood of this quality is hard to find so I guess I would look for something similar maybe with a pickup system. I bought this one because spruce tops are not that common in the price range I was aiming for and it is a more exclusive model than the standard 145. In fact for the price you cannot get a guitar with this quality of wood anywhere else at present. Overall 9. Cashimira are not that well known but they are well up to scratch. I got mine from http://www.staffordguitar.com/.