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brojangles · September 2020

Recently I got a bee in my bonnet about wanting to play the prelude from the first Bach cello suite and decided to get a classical guitar which could also double for sofa-noodling duties. I looked at Alhambras, the Taylor Academy crosssover nylon - a fun little guitar, but I didn't think the sound of it would go the distance - and an ancient 7/8-sized Giannini, which sounded great and had Brazilian bossa nova cred but also some alarming warping on the neck. I thought too about the Yamaha transacoustic with the crazy built-in reverb, but in the end decided it was gimmickry and would spoil the Zen-like purity of a traditional Spanish-style guitar.

I ended up taking a punt on a late 70s/early 80s Yamaha G-250S, a guitar that was near the top of their line back then and cost the equivalent of about £1300 when new. My thinking was influenced by this blog post and also by the fact that I could get it for considerably less than the price of, say, an Alhambra 4P. It showed up two days ago:

And I've got to say I'm really pleased with it. I don't know from wood (or photography) but the top seems to be a really nice bit of spruce:

The back and sides are laminated but made with some classy-looking rosewood:

More important, the neck is straight, it plays well and it sounds really good, with a decent amount of bass and a decent dynamic range. I'd spent a lot of time obsessing about sizes and nut widths, but in practice a full-sized classical still feels pleasingly small and sofa-friendly if you're used to a dreadnought, and the two-inch nut just feels right for this kind of guitar: it's not like you're going to be flatpicking bluegrass numbers on it, and I have a dread if I want to do that. So I reckon it was 200 quid well spent, and I'm already 16 bars into BWV 1007 (with a right-hand technique that would make a classical teacher throw up, but whatever, it's making me happy).

TheBigDipper · September 2020

Excellent! :-)

GTC · September 2020

Congratulations - it looks a really nice guitar and a bargain at the price

GTC · September 2020

I've just read the blog post mentioned - and I would strongly disagree with the opinion that cedar is an inferior, low-cost substitute for spruce as a soundboard wood. It is frequently used in classicals and acoustics where a warmer tone is sought.

However, Cedar is more susceptible to dings than spruce, particularly an issue with thin top finishes (ask anyone who has a cedar-topped Lowden).

I've a couple of high-end guitars for which I specifically selected a cedar top for the tone.

drofluf · September 2020

Very nice

brojangles · September 2020

@GTC I didn't mean to spread anti-cedar propaganda! I'd been looking for a cedar-topped guitar to start with, as it happens...

GTC · September 2020

brojangles said:

@GTC I didn't mean to spread anti-cedar propaganda! I'd been looking for a cedar-topped guitar to start with, as it happens...

No - I didn't think you were, but the blog writer seemed to be of that opinion and I couldn't let that one go. Whatever, it looks like you've got a lovely guitar there.

ToneControl · September 2020

GTC said:

brojangles said:

@GTC I didn't mean to spread anti-cedar propaganda! I'd been looking for a cedar-topped guitar to start with, as it happens...

No - I didn't think you were, but the blog writer seemed to be of that opinion and I couldn't let that one go. Whatever, it looks like you've got a lovely guitar there.

that blog writer claims cedar is inferior and often cracks,
I've never seen a cracked cedar top. I've seen cracked spruce ones. I'm not sure either would crack unless you mistreated them

I'd generally choose cedar over spruce on steel and nylon guitars

DavidR · October 2020

GTC said:

I've just read the blog post mentioned - and I would strongly disagree with the opinion that cedar is an inferior, low-cost substitute for spruce as a soundboard wood. It is frequently used in classicals and acoustics where a warmer tone is sought.

However, Cedar is more susceptible to dings than spruce, particularly an issue with thin top finishes (ask anyone who has a cedar-topped Lowden).

I've a couple of high-end guitars for which I specifically selected a cedar top for the tone.

Ditto. Cedar is widely used for the tops of classicals as an alternative to Spruce. It's not a second rate alternative any more than a mahogany top on an acoustic would be - just different - and sometimes preferred. On classicals, Cedar has the reputation of having fewer audible harmonics in the trebles and for opening up more quickly on a new instrument but so much of this is subjective there will be varying opinions.

Nice Yamaha. Pre-owned is always going to have dings if it's been loved and played. The lines on the back are from someone playing the instrument whilst wearing a shirt with nylon buttons. Wouldn't bother me at all but a good example of something to avoid doing! On all guitars actually. Shops hate it.

Keefy · October 2020

You can't go wrong with Yamaha build quality - enjoy!

Toms_Dad · October 2020

For the Bach, I can recommend the transcriptions by Richard Wright published by Cadenza. Some of it is used in the ABRSM syllabus. The Prelude to Suite No 1 is very nice.

brojangles · October 2020

@Toms_Dad Thanks - will try to check it out. I already learned the first free arrangement of that prelude I found on the internet and can just about play it through. It's going to take another month or more to iron out all the squeaks and screw-ups (I've never tried to play fingerstyle seriously before this year) but it's giving me a ridiculous amount of pleasure.

Toms_Dad · October 2020

It’s very addictive isn’t it? Most versions are in D major and played with a drop D tuning. The one I recommend is in C major, so if you’re up and running it may not help.

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