Cuenca 40-R

It is handcrafted in Spain and has 18 frets. Bought recently in January 2006. Solid cedar top; rosewood back,sides and bridge; mahogany neck; and possibly ebony fingerboard (acording to the dealer the fingerboard was rosewood, but I personally believe it's ebony because of its very dark colour -unable to check with the manufacturer as it has no website). Fitted with a nice gold-plated machine head and the neck is relatively thin. No add-ons and accessories included.

Overall, it emits an excellent sound for all type of music, classical, pop or rock. The bass is full and tight, but not particularly loud. For a classical guitar, the treble is surprisingly lively and I suppose it sounds marginally louder than the bass. Cuenca 40-R sounds almost similar to Alhambra 40-P, but with subtle difference in tonal balance, and obviously I personnally prefer Cuenca's tonal balance.

Generally fairly well set up, except for the action near to the body (10 fret and above) which is a litttle bit high. But it' okay to me as I've played guitar with higher string action. The fret is nicely rounded with smooth edge. However, the bridge is slightly misaligned by 0.5cm towards the left (upper bout). I did not notice this though until I measured it using a ruler. The guitar is very light but solid,perhaps due to the proper drying of the wood.

I play guitar for fun at home. But if it were to do live playing, there should not be any problem. However, it may preferably need a built-in pickup. The finish is fair. There was a slight depression, between the soundhole and the bridge. Perhaps this is due to the tension of the strings which pulls that particular area down (the depression was not noticeable until I placed the guitar flat on its back and carefully gazed across the top from one end of the bout to another).

Not applicable. However, the guitar comes with a sticker which states 3-year warranty.

I have been playing occassionally/irregularly for fun for about 10 years now. I had a taiwanese 'Pyramid' classical guitar costing only 10% of Cuenca 40R. Having now owned a Cuenca, high quality imported guitar, it has revived may interest in playing guitar. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another Cuenca.

I bought the guitar with higher priority on sound quality and lower priority on build quality (I suppose Alhambra has better build quality and finish). 40R is Highly Recommended, but you must pay particular attention to the finish.

Classical guitar, rosewood back-sides, cedar top, mahogany neck with ebony fretboard. Nice transparent finish, 19 frets. Standard 650 mm size 4/4.

Very rich basses and nice mids, the trebles slightly lacking power. No resonance whatsoever, even with capo. Overall sound very nice for classical music, the chords sound full. I also play flamenco with it-it's allright, but looses definition with furious rasgueos.

The action a bit high, but that can be adjusted. Otherwise the guitar is made very well, the finish is good and most importantly-there is no resonance and the neck is straight.

I've had the guitar for about two years now. I do play it a lot and it's seen many gigs. I scratched the finish myself-it's actually hard to get through, because it's thick. I depend on it 100%, no problems here.

Warranty is one year, but it seems it won't be seeing a repair shop any time soon.

Playing for about 15 years. Play a Strat, Ibanez Artist(awesome guitar) and Ibanez S-540FM, Fender semi-acoustic, Giralda flamenco and a few amps and effects. I played and owned other classical guitars -Alhambra, Camps, Raimundo-in this price range and higher. This one beats them all. For the money you pay, this is excellent quality (SPANISH MADE!!) guitar.