Giannini AWN 21

My Grandfather purchased this guitar in 1978. The wood has the most beautiful grain I have ever seen. Almost a marble look. I have had zero problems keeping it in tune and it has all of the original hardware. Glossy finish and no fret markers. I think it is Rosewood back and sides but I am not sure. It has 19 frets.

The sound is great! Very bold and natural. Projects very well. I play a lot of styles but mainly blues and any kind of finger picking sounds great on this guitar.

Almost in perfect conditions with the exception of a few markings in the wood. Most of the flaws are almost unseen. I think the action is a little high but stull plays comfortable. Everything seems to be put together very well

Very reliable. All original and sturdy. It's one of my favorite guitars.

I wish I knew the overall value. The lable says the following:

Mod AWN 86
SER 2 1978

This is a classical acoustic guitar, small scale (thinner body), 19 frets; the neck joins the body at the 12th fret. I have no idea what woods it's made from, or even whether the top is solid, but it has an interesting sculpted headstock and the soundhole decoration is made from small pieces of 3 different woods. The bridge and nut seem to be made of plastic and both are unremarkable. The tuners are cheap and one of the gears popped off as I was tuning, so those needed to be replaced. The neck has a slightly flattened "C" shape that gives a good relaxed hand position; it is 1 13/16" wide at the nut.

With nylon strings, this guitar is smooth sounding, with ringing chords and sweet single-note sounds. I play a mix of blues, folk, classical, and rock & roll, and it's really versatile. It is surprisingly loud for its size and projects well, with a bit less low end than I might like. It sounds great on recordings, where it can either blend in or cut through the mix. With steel strings (which I tried in order to use a pickup) it accentuates the treble and sounds almost tinny through my Lawrence soundhole pickup.

I had to file the bridge down a bit to improve intonation. Other than that, the action is perfect. Inside is quite dirty, but it's an old guitar. The two pieces of the top are slightly different colors.

This guitar is sturdy but not droppable. It loses its tune when picked very hard. But it is in quite good condition for over 20 years old. I imagine it will continue to age well.

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For the price, this guitar is really great! It stacks up against new guitars in the $4-600 range. I would buy it again, even for 10 times the price. I've been playing for 8 years--on a tight budget--and my previous classical guitar was a cheapo student model. This guitar is appropriate for an intermediate or skilled but casual player. Or anyone who can find one as cheap as I did!