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Showing 151 to 158 of 158 (6 Pages)

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Front and back of a 2013 Pepe Romero Jr. classical guitar, spruce and maple

2013 Pepe Romero SP/MP

$12,000.00

This 2013 Pepe Romero Jr. is a classical guitar with a spruce top and maple back and sides, made in ..

Front and back of a 2024 Teodoro Pérez "Antigua" classical guitar, spruce and African rosewood

2024 Teodoro Pérez "Antigua" SP/AR

$9,000.00

This 2024 Teodoro Pérez "Antigua" is a spruce and African rosewood classical guitar made in Madrid, ..

Front and back of a 1986 Cynthia H. Burton "Melissa" classical guitar, spruce and quilted mahogany

1986 Cynthia H. Burton "Melissa" SP/MH

$18,000.00

This 1986 Cynthia H. Burton "Melissa" is a spruce and quilted mahogany classical guitar made in Port..

Front and back of a 1974 Hernández y Aguado classical guitar, spruce and CSA rosewood

1974 Hernández y Aguado SP/CSAR

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This 1974 Hernández y Aguado is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar from late in the Madrid w..

Front and back of a 1987 Miguel Rodríguez classical guitar, spruce and Honduran rosewood

1987 Miguel Rodríguez SP/HR

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This 1987 Miguel Rodríguez is a spruce and Honduran rosewood classical guitar made in Córdoba, Spain..

Front and back of a Cordoba C10 classical guitar, cedar and Indian rosewood

Cordoba "C10" CD/IN

$1,599.99

The Cordoba C10 CD/IN is a new all-solid classical guitar from Cordoba's Luthier Series, with a ceda..

Front and back of a Cordoba C10 classical guitar, spruce and Indian rosewood

Cordoba "C10" SP/IN

$1,599.99

Cordoba's C10 SP/IN is a new classical guitar from the Cordoba Luthier Series, built with a solid sp..

Front and back of a Cordoba C12 classical guitar, spruce and Indian rosewood

Cordoba "C12" SP/IN

$2,499.99

The Cordoba C12 SP/IN is a new all-solid classical guitar from Cordoba's Luthier Series, with a Euro..

Showing 151 to 158 of 158 (6 Pages)

FAQs

How to choose a classical guitar?

Choosing a classical guitar might seem daunting at first, however, at GSI it’s our pleasure and duty to ensure that the selection process is a very satisfying experience thanks to the advice of our guitar experts. Our classical guitar store features guitars made by carefully chosen luthiers from around the world and our staff knows each instrument very well. Our experts are able to help you narrow your top picks to just a few guitars which you might want to try by yourself with no commitment to purchase.

What defines a classical guitar?

Classical guitar, in the form as we know it today, was largely developed by Spanish guitar maker, Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817-1892). Torres introduced many new innovations to his guitars. Most notably, he increased the size of the body of the guitar, and introduced a fan-strut bracing system, and in his later guitars he started using machine heads. His guitars also had separated saddles which allowed minute adjustments of string heights.

What should I look for when buying a classical guitar?

We should look for:

Establish a budget
Identify what type of sound you like the most. You can also ask our experts for advice.
Decide whether you want a used or new instrument.
Check for ‘wolf’ notes and buzzes. Playability is also very important.
We recommend testing the sound from the perspective of a player and a listener.

What are the differences between classical and flamenco guitars?

The differences between classical and flamenco guitars lie in their materials, construction and sound.

Materials: Classical guitars are generally made with spruce or cedar tops, and on rare occasions, other woods like redwood or pine. Back and sides are mostly made of various rosewoods, maple and mahogany to enhance sustain. In recent years many younger luthiers searching for more sustainable and easy-to-source woods have begun to use some really fantastic materials including granadillo, exotic ebony, wenge, koa, walnut and a variety of other hardwoods. Flamenco guitars are generally made with spruce tops and cypress for the backs and sides to enhance volume and emphasize the attack of the note. However over the past many decades, rosewood flamencos known as “Flamenco negras” have risen in popularity, largely due to Paco de Lucia who first used a rosewood guitar beginning in 1969.

Construction: The body of a classical guitar is generally deeper and the woods are slightly thicker. Flamenco guitars have a flat or negative (before string tension) neck relief, making the action very fast at the cost of some buzzing. The strings are also closer to the body on flamenco guitars to facilitate tapping. Flamenco guitars often bear a "golpeador", which is a sheet of plastic mounted to the face of the guitar to protect its finish from percussive techniques, like tapping the soundboard with the players fingers.

Sound: The classical guitar is designed to give the soloist the tools to perform poly-timbral music: "An orchestra in a box". The attack is soft with a longer and gradual decay. The flamenco guitar is designed to cut through the sound of dancers stomping their feet. The sound is a bit more percussive, a loud and immediate sonic burst followed by a swift decay is characteristic of traditional flamencos.

It is also important to mention that many of these "differences" are finessed to different degrees by different luthiers, depending on their personal taste. Miguel Rodriguez classical guitars for example have always famously had a fast, flamenco-like attack. There are also numerous hybrid-type guitars where the luthier intends for the same instrument to be playable convincingly by both flamenco and classical performers.