Buying a new classical guitar but what does Signature series, Concert series, Studio series mean?

[Peter Terpstra]

Dear guitar friends,
Having for almost 20 years on a kodaira artist model 135s with a solid cedar top, which i still love.
Have been away for a while but since 1 year i'm back on the guitar with a guitar teacher and feel
great potential to become a "good " guitar player.

Was particularly charmed by the Mexican Rodriguez guitars and have been able to play a Rodriguez
concert- guitar and a studio guitar that had no noticeable difference in volume but very different sound.

http://www.cervantesguitars.com/

Do not know so much about "guitars" and wonder if someone could elaborate on this topic or knows some information
that could enlighten me. What does Signature series, Concert series, Studio series really mean?

Kind regards,

Peter

[wollybyrde]

It means how much they're going to charge you. Set a budget and go out and play as may guitars in that range and less and make a decision that way. Your teacher should have dome good advice. If he doesn't, shop for one of those, too.

[dougla...@gmail.com]

Peter,
The best bargain for a great classical guitar is Francisco Navarro or for a student model, his son, Marlon Navarro. I own and had several students buy these guitars. They sound better than many, many guitar 3x's more expensive. They are sold through Memorial music in Houston.

DS

[Matt Faunce]

It's my understanding that most luthiers who sell graded lines like this
only use their own wood---wood that they inspected and properly aged---for
their top one or two lines. So, the risk of a guitar from a lower line
someday cracking on you is greater. I always say, 'if you're going to buy a
cheap guitar get an old used one. Its wood has at least settled.'

After considering that, go for sound quality, which is, to a considerable
amount, a matter of personal preference. It's a fact that people, over
time, refine their taste; and it appears to me that the general trajectory
is toward guitars that follow only a few criteria. For this reason I won't
say that sound quality is 100% a subjective matter. The debates about what
those criteria are rage on. But I will let you know that the cedar vs
spruce debate is all in fun. The general trajectory which has revealed
itself over the years shows an equal number going toward each. Therefore
it's safe to say that the difference between the sound quality that is lent
by cedar or spruce is 100% subjective. That said, if you pick spruce you're
nuts!

--
Matt

[Ken Blake]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2016 08:31:28 -0700 (PDT), dougla...@gmail.com
wrote:

>Peter,
>The best bargain for a great classical guitar is Francisco Navarro or for a student model, his son, Marlon Navarro. I own and had several students buy these guitars. They sound better than many, many guitar 3x's more expensive. They are sold through Memorial music in Houston.

Not to say I don't trust your judgment, but I'd like to hear from some
others here for confirmation on how good these are. Anyone?

I'm not ready to buy a new guitar now, but I hope to be able to one of
these days, so the more I know in advance, the better.
.

[Peter Terpstra]

Thank you kindly for your advice.
But have already fallen for the cervantes guitars and they have a very good price too!

[Peter Terpstra]

Matt Faunce wrote:

> [...]

Useful information about the wood, thank you very much. Yes my new guitar should be high durable quality...
I'm also a lover of the cedar top.

> It's a fact that people, over time, refine their taste; and it appears to me that the general trajectory
> is toward guitars that follow only a few criteria.

True, was always a bit sceptical about my kodaira which i thought i had bought a bit cheap, but after trying several guitars in some
shops i find that many more expensive guitars are not able to produce that quality and volume of sound.

Peter

[Peter Terpstra]

wollybyrde wrote:

> It means how much they're going to charge you. Set a budget and go out and
> play as may guitars in that range and less and make a decision that way.
> Your teacher should have dome good advice. If he doesn't, shop for one of
> those, too.

Thanks!

[Dan Mozell]

Cervantes makes the signature series in his own shop, with his best wood. His concert and studio series are made in Mexico to his specifications and he does final setup. You can call him and talk about it. He answers the phone. I have a Cervantes Studio Milenia (under $2000) and believe it's great for the price. He likes high action. You might want to have that adjusted.

[Peter Terpstra]

Thank you very much Dan!
I believe "high action" is a short distance between the frets and the strings, am i right?
Did not noticed that yet was more surprised by the volume and warm quality of the
Cervantes Rodriguez PE guitar which is in the studio series.

Your guitar looks really beautiful on the picture.
http://www.cervantesguitars.com/portfolio-item/milenia-pe/

My first projections about the names is that a studio guitar is for students and small rooms to play.
While a concert guitar should have more volume to reach a bigger audience and a signature guitar
is a more specialized version of the concert guitar. But guess it is not like that.

I did send Cervantes a email with questions like these but he came back with a question that i could not answer properly.

I might call him but my English on the phone is not so clear and do not like calling so much either, i prefer he easiness of email :)


Thanks for your enthusiasm about the cervates guitar.

Peter

[John]

On Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 7:50:56 AM UTC-7, wollybyrde wrote:

>Your teacher should have some good advice. If he doesn't, shop for one of those, too.

+1. Get a teacher first. Ask him or her to help you choose an instrument.

John R.

[Dan Mozell]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 12:35:06 PM UTC-4, Peter Terpstra wrote:

> I believe "high action" is a short distance between the frets and the strings, am i right?

The other way around: high action means large distance between strings and frets. Low action means short distance between strings and frets. With high action you can play louder, but it's also more difficult. This is something you learn about by playing lots of guitars. Over time you will discover what action you like best for your particular technique.

[lance]

When I went to purchase my CG about 10 years ago I told the owner of the
shop what my price range was. He sat me down and proceeded to bring me
about 10 guitars. I played the same songs on each one of them and
narrowed the list down to 5 and then I narrowed my preference down to 2
guitars.

I finally chose a Francisco Navarro guitar. I have never been
disappointed. I couldn't have told you who FN was at the time (or any
of the other luthiers I played for that matter). Price wasn't discussed
until after I picked my favorite based on what I thought sounded the best.

I have been to many performances over the past 10 years and I would rank
the FN in the top 10% for sound quality to my ears. As a reference point
some of the performances where I found the tone of the guitar sound to be
memorable include Sharon Isbin, Eduardo Fernandez, and Roland Dyens.

Another note. At least to my ears, the sound of a guitar is completely
different when one is playing versus when one is listening. I never
realize the beautiful sound quality of my guitar until someone else picks
it up and starts playing it (or I record it) and then I go "Wow, that has
a really beautiful sound quality" - of course, it is probably because
they play better than I do - LOL! Kind of sad actually. Probably because
when playing you are behind the sound hole from whence the sound is being
projected?

Hope this helps,

Lance