Cortley Guitars

[moonwashed]

Hi. I have this guitar that was my fathers. I have no information on the guitar. It has steel strings on it right now, but it feels kind of weird and I was wondering if it might be a classical guitar. If anyone has any information on these guitars, please let me know.

[Miguel]

Hello there.

It is hard to determine this without directly looking at the instrument. I am unfamiliar with that brand/maker, but I would check on the Orion Blue Book for Musical Instruments. It may have some useful info (the type of guitar, the different available models, fair market value, etc.). I did a quick search on the internet and it seems like a rather obscure brand: they seem to make electric guitars as well as steel string acoustics (I found no reference to nylon string guitars), but nobody seems to know much about them. Does the guitar have a label on the inside? That may give you some clues: the model, year of manufacturing, where it was built, and some times even the type of guitar. How wide is the neck? Classical/flamenco guitar necks typically are 52mm wide when measured at the nut (or at least fairly close to this). If the neck is considerably smaller than that (45 or so millimeters) you may be dealing with a steel string guitar. Do remember that there are many exceptions to these rules, but at least you can use them as guidelines.

Hope this helps
Miguel
GSI

[keith]

the type of tuning mechanism used will be a significant key. if it has 3 holes per side on the face of the head, with metal rollers sticking through each hole, it probably is a steel string. if it has viola pegs, then it is nylon. if it has a long slot on the face of the head and 3 holes on the side of the head with plastic rollers through each hole it probably is a nylon. if it has metal rollers it probably is a steel string. however, if it is really old the metal rollers of the last example may indicate a nylon guitar--we are talking turn of the century here.

[moonwashed]

You guys know a lot about guitars. I'm still not sure about it. I have been playing guitar since I was 12 and I am 17 now. I am in college and I am thinking about studying classical guitar. I think that I will try and buy a new classical guitar, but I just don't know much about them. So, I'm not sure what I should look for. Thanks for the replies. That helps a lot.

[adrian]

Hi moonwashed,

I think you'd also benefit from reading our Buyer's Guide:
http://www.guitarsalon.com/?site_url=61&focus=5

Good luck. :wink: