Product: Samick C3
Price Paid: ?130 (GBP)
Submitted
08/08/2005
at
08:44am
by
Graham
Email: berenbaby at aol<dot>com
Features
:
7
Solid spruce top. Ovangkol back and sides (probably laminated).
4 ply cream binding. Designed by Greg Bennett and made in Indonesia, probably in 2004. With 18 frets, the neck joins the body at the twelfth. The neck looks to be made of mahogany/sapele and the fretboard is most likely rosewood.
The tuners are particularly cheap looking, with white plastic buttons. The head has a nice rosewood veneer.
Sound
:
6
This is a cheap classical guitar and unlike others in the Greg Bennett series, it sounds quite cheap. It's not muddy, having good volume and reasonable separation. It just lacks body and the bottom end warmth, that this type of guitar needs. For the money it is Ok but I've come to expect more from Samicks, even at this end of the price range. It would be a decent first guitar for a budding Segovia.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
Unlike the sound, the finish is very good. Good, buzz free action and fretting, with very decent intonation, for a classsical. A quality gloss finish to the nice woods on this guitar.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
It is solidly built and should last as well as any other guitar of this style. Very nice woods for the price, well put together.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
7
This guitar excels in most things except it's tone. The ovangkol looks gorgeous on the back and sides. I'd have preferred a cedar top however. I can't think why they used spruce, it is too bright. Cedar would have provided the missing warmth, I'm sure. The only other thing is the soundhole rossette. It looks cheap and nasty. Not in keeping with the effort put into the rest of the guitars appearance.
As I've said, It's a very decent guitar for the money but, by Samicks normal standard, it should have been better.
