Alhambra Guitars -- Opinions?

[Nausicaa]

Well, I'm a beginner classical guitarist (only been playing about four months now) who absolutely loves the music and is totally infatuated with every aspect of playing it. Unfortunately, as an uneducated beginner, I mistakenly bought a cheap Yamaha C40 guitar to learn on. Time has passed, and I really cannot stand the terrible sound that this thing produces, or the rather high action. I am currently looking for a new beginner/intermediate guitar from a reputable Spanish manufacturer, and Alhambra seems to meet my every specification; including price. Only problem is, I really don't have any place to go to test out these guitars.

So, the next best thing is to ask you guys. I've been reading here for the past few months and have determined that most everyone here really knows their stuff, and all of you would be most helpful.

What are your opinions of the Alhambra guitars; or, more specifically, the:

Alhambra 3C CD/MH
Alhambra 4P CD/IN
(possibly) Alhambra 5P CD/IN

...models?

I am most interested in the 4P as it has the gold tuners and Indian Rosewood siding for a minor increase in price.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks much!

[Nausicaa]

After more searching, I have also taken interest in the Cordoba 40R and 50R. Any comments or comparisons to the Alhambra models are welcome!!

[adrian]

Hello Nausicaa,

Feel free to give our sales department a call: 310-399-2181. David or Ken would be glad to answer any questions about these guitars. You can also search this forum for the words "Cordoba" and "Alhambra" for members' opinions.

Adrian,
GSI

[kornflakes]

I am at the intermediate stage of my guitar playing, just recently passed my Grade 5 ABRSM (with distinction) and i've been using a Alhambra 4P, its a fine guitar to play on, good projection and in certain places (frets) the sound is particularly rich. Nice action with what i would describe as a rich tone i.e plenty of overtones giving it a darker sound. Can't fault it!

[Gus]

Hi I'm new to this Forum....but for what it's worth.........I spent a couple of hours playing guitars to pick a new one. The brands I tried were the Ramirez R4 and R1.....as well as the Alhambra 5P and 6P...........
Of these I chose overwhelmingly the Alhambra 6P. It's action was low and the sound projection beat the others hands down. It had a couple centimetres more depth than the 5P. I have a great sounding Larrivee made here in 1969....and the Alhambra even beats it. Hope this helps.

[pmremes]

say you know, the first guitar i had was pretty cheap, and had a high action too, really hard to play, and so after a while i bought a new one. but a few months ago, i took the old one into a guitar shop and had them lower the action on it, and it really isn't that bad now. it only cost 20 bucks too, so now i keep it in the lab at work and can play when i get tired. i think i read in this forum once that on a lot of estudio models they put the action up high so that you won't hear any buzzing, but that they don't need to be that high. not to say you shouldn't buy a sweet sounding new guitar, but maybe your old one is still good for something...

phil

[Gus]

Great idea the other chap had about getting the action lowered on the present guitar and saving $$. I find too that I use the high action guitar, if you can afford to keep it as well, for practice at work during lunch and it strenthens my left hand even more...then trying the same piece with the lower action guitar......it seems like a breeze.