Classical Guitar

[albertgen]

What brand of classical guitar gives the best loud and bright sound? Thank you, Albert

[Mike Nye]

Are you only interested in volume (loudness) and nothing else, and forget about a sweet, full tonal range?

[albertgen]

Well both, to get the Chet Black Mountain Rag sound or Strutten sound. Thanks, Albert

[Mike Nye]

Hi there Albert,
And how much are you willing to spend?

Mike

[albertgen]

no more than $1000.00. I have a CEC Studio but the pickup is putting out wolf or loud sounds on some notes, so I thought I would go back to pure acoustic. Thank you, Albert

[Mike Nye]

Well Albert,

When I was young working in a mall music store in mid 70s, we began selling new Asian-made Ibanez guitars. They made ass-kickin' Strat, Tele, L5, Les Paul, and both steel and nylon string acoustic knock-offs for $300.00 with a hardshell case! We use to get comments along the lines of, "That cheap Jap crap," until they played one then shut the hell up!

Ibanez, also had a high-end line, Tama, that looked and sounded as good as a Martin, Gibson, and hand-made Ramirez from Madrid, for a fraction of the price!

One day a familiar-looking woman I couldn't quite place walked in with a Gibson J-45, asking if we take guitars in on trade. She said she wanted a nylon-string classical guitar. Still grindin' my gears tryin' to figure out who she was, I quickly tuned and handed her a Tama nylon string classical. She played a few chords, asked the price including her J-45 trade-in, then whipped out a credit card. I then asked her if she was sure she wanted this particular guitar, as we have others at different price ranges. She said this one sounds like her friends custom-made classical guitar he had made in Spain years ago.

Back in those days, we had to imprint and authorize credit card purchases over $200.00 by phone. The woman on the phone authorizing the card purchase had given me an authorization number for the receipt saying, "I hope Miss DuVall enjoys her new guitar." Then, the light came on to whom she was! I then started de-tuning it to install a new string set, where she said she liked it the way it was, so I put a new set in the case, and off she went . . .

Unfortunately, Tama disappeared in the late 70's, where finding a used one in good condition in a music store or guitar shop would be a great option for you, as they were exceptional guitars as well as drums.

Hope that helps,
Mike

[albertgen]

Thankyou Mike, I keep an eye out for one of them! Albert

[Tom Keller]

Mike, I am dying to know who the lady was who bought the guitar?

Tom

[Mike Nye]

Actor, Shelly Duvall, who recently passed on . . . She was really nice and down to earth!