Valencia CG-30 Classical

Mines a CG-30RCE like the one below (I suspect). Cedar top, shadow acoustic pickup, full size classical with cutaway. I assume China made or similar. I haven't played a classical for some time, but the action is fairly good and the neck is fairly fast for this type of guitar, much thicker deal than acoustic or electric. I like the internal Shadow pup a whole lot, so I give it a 9.

Like the reviewer below I have some balance problems between strings but this has improved as the guitar breaks in and opens up. And, NEW STRINGS. Regardless, sounds very good amped, especially the eq. on the pup that allows for sub-bass control. Excellent low-end, it adds a nice bassline quality to the guitar (amped of course). Not plugged in it's OK, similar to decent classical I had many years ago, perhaps a little cleaner sounding. I think new, hi-quality strings would definitely improve the sound characteristics of this guitar line. I am concenred that the cedar top is not the best sound board for this guitar, we'll see over time.

Mine was excellent. Perfect intonation. Frets are fine, no finish flaws that are obvious. The set seems slightly high, but that can be addressed easily with files. Better high than low. The cedar top is very dark, more than expected. I'm not sure this improves the look of this guitar, but it's interesting.

I'm not so sure. We'll see. The finish seems rather thin.

Rondo rocks, really.

Simply great value. If I paid twice what I did for this guitar I would still be satisfied. If it continues to open and sweeten it will be a long-term keeper. A virtual no risk purchase.

Features include good wood with the nice smell of good wood, cutaway body for better reach and a great case included. It also comes with a Shadow pickup with a 5-band eq. Herein lies my problem...

The pickup only picked up the middle four strings! If you want to hear either E string, then you got problems, unless mine was a faulty exception. Too bad really, because it was a smoking deal I got on ebay from rondomusic. First time I've had serious problems with one of their guitars.

The fret edges were rough, not hand-finished I expect. The sound was ok unplugged, but like I said the pickup not working properly doomed the guitar for me and I sent it back.

No comment here, it wouldn't withstand playing in my living room plugged in...

Kurt at Rondo always emails back soon and he told me today that the check's in the mail so I figure it will be. I'll have to hold off on this rating until I have it in my hands, however...

Wish the pickup would've worked. The only other problem I foresaw was in the rough fret edges. It seems the SX and Valencia brands I've tried from Rondo share this problem while the Agile brand does not. You get what you pay for I guess. Agile is made in Korea I believe while SX and Valencia are Chinese, so there you go. I have a feeling the pickup is just cheap and not broken on my specific guitar, so I asked for a refund instead of a replacement. The user review below seems to paint a totally positive picture though, so who knows?

Made in 2004, 20 frets no cutaway, rosewood fretboard i have no idea what the body is made from. nice looking, quite thick laminate on back of neck but very smooth. everything a classical guitar needs

it has a very bright sound and for a reasonably cheap classical guitar it has a very good sound. it is one of the best sounding classical guitars i've played

nothing wrong with it at all

i took it on an airplane and the baggage handlers dropped it in its hardcase from the plane and the headstock snapped but the airline payed for a repair and gave me compensation for it. i've had it for less than a year and played it about 2-3 hours a day except for when it was being repaired and it hasn't started to wear out. no fretwear at all so far.

3 year warranty

i've been playing for 6 years and i have an ibanez RG570, a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Gibson SG Standard and a marshall fullstack amp. i use a digitech RP200 which is one of the best multi effects box's i've ever used it can make almost any sound that a full rack of single pedals can. very grunty distortion