Good news!!!

Today I traveled to my nearest classical guitar shop, I think you might like to know what I brought back .



A fantastic Hiscox Pro hard case for a classical guitar. It is really good, good padding the price was fairly good too.

There was something else too, something you're probably expecting:



Complimentary Union Jack Picks! Whilst paying for my case, I saw these and thought-"these will go really well with my Strat" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73034506@N04/6589497011/in/photostream/

Those picks are great, and I'm very pleased with the case.

























Upon further inspection, my case seems to contain an Alhambra 5P CW !!! Strange that this should happen, but I guess it's my lucky day!!! .











This guitar is great! It was a "little" over my budget, but it combined the playability of the thinner neck and cutaway that come with "CW" part, and the sound of the brilliant 5 series. Couldn't be happier The Esteve was actually a little dull sounding, and the Alhambra 3C CT was way too thin-barely deeper than my tele! The Alhambra 3C CW was just a £300 guitar with electrics-not a big enough upgrade from my old Admira. The Yamaha NCX700 couldn't be compared to the Alhambra's or Esteve, and I was uncomfortable with the neck's on the non-cutaway Alhambras (5 series, 4 or 3).

All of that led me to this guitar, and I am very happy with it My quest is over, Adey!

I do have a question though ( ). In the manual, it says that the guitar should never be hung on a wall, because "humidity that gathers on the wall can be transfered to the instrument". Is this true? the walls in my house are well insulated and never get cold enough for condensation. I think I should be alright.

That was a good day. Thanks for your help on my guitar-finding mission Adey. I shall report back as it wears in!

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

A few nice axes posted here!... Love the cutaways.

Here's my baby...
Bought it back around '79 for $35 off a guy I knew who didn't know how to play guitar. Had it in his house as a nick-nack. The label's torn off on the inside. After some research I believe it's a Japanese knock-off which company was forced to remove the labels due to copyright infringement.
It's a flamenco, not a classical. Big, fat sound too.

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Nice story Frank. Do you play flamenco on that? Looks like quite a nice guitar

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Wow Teledeluxe, I'm really pleased for you!

What a great case!

Lovely guitar, and your research on it's purchase has been immaculate. Clearly that dilligence has now shown the dividends. It's inevitable I guess, that guitars that check out on paper can sometimes be sadly lacking once (for whatever reason) once you have them in your hands. But they have led you to the object of your current desires. I like the look of her very much indeed. A real guitar - with the bells and whistles you wanted - but a real guitar first and foremost.

Hoping for some better pics later on, but for now - is that a cedar top? Looks a big orangey for spruce. And I'm guessing laminated rosewood back and sides. Rosewood fretboard? She's very handsome indeed.

I will be youtubing the Eric Satie piece(s) as promised, but just before I started recording in our little project studio I managed to break my thumb and 3rd finger nails quite low down. I won't record some compromised playing, so I'm waiting for them to grow back again - especially frustrating when my new Raimundo is sitting there in it's case demanding to be played!

As for advice on humidity - keep her in the case, with one or two of those silicate sachets if you have them. And keep some distance from the nearest radiator too. If you take the guitar out the house, especially into the cold, leave it in the case for 15mins or so when you get to the other end of your journey. You don't want to expose it to instant extremes of temperature.

Congratulations again!!

Good looking Flamenco guitar there Frankie, and welcome to the thread. My first decent classical was Japanese. Good intrument for affordable money that got me through my first 3 grades..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I know, it's a fantastic case, and those picks... wow!

she plays really well, very comfortable. My favourite part is the neck-it is so comfortable, it feels like it was built for my hands.

Sorry about the pictures-I never seem to be able to take steady pictures with that camera, I don't know why!

I'm very sorry to hear about your hand-that is awful. Best wishes for a quick recovery I've always managed to avoid injuring my hand at all, but my friend once broke his thumb I think, about a year or so into learning to play guitar-a real hindrance.

The sides are laminated rosewood, but the fretboard is actually ebony! The top is solid red cedar. Seems a great combination!

About the case-surely keeping it in the case in as near as possible perfect conditions, but then taking it out at least once per day and playing it, would be worse? The conditions in my room are usually quite stable, right now it's 48% humidity and 21.9 degrees. That, especially the humidity, doesn't change much each day. In the care manual, it says keep it between 50-70%, certainly not lower than 40%. It never goes below 40% in my room. On their website, it says between 40-60% (which concurs with what I have seen on the internet), which pretty much describes the conditions here.

Get well soon!

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Thank you for your good wishes.. but perhaps I wasn't clear. It's just my thumb nail (and 3rd annular) finger nail that I broke.. not my actual thumb! Thank God!

If you're at all like me, then you know that right hand finger nails are alsolutely critical when it comes to playing in the classical style. I can tell exactly how long they need to be, and even when they're just 2 millimetres or so too long or too short. Left hand nails of course are filed very short. I'm paranoid about my nails at the moment - especially when I'm pounding away on a keyboard..

An ebony fingerboard is the business on any classical guitar - so that's a great thing to have. And dip your nose into the soundhole - gotta love that Cedar smell..

Just out of interest, which Guitar shop did you go to? I love exploring those places - there's one in Brugge, Belgium, I stumbled on. I was there all afternoon playing the Spanish guitars in the shop and entertaining the customers! One guy came in while I was feeling smug, and put me in my place by playing "Recuerdos De Alhambra" (The Tremelo Study) perfectly - a piece I'm too afraid to even try..

Here's to many happy hours with your own Alhambra.. Have you tried it plugged in yet?


You're in the UK aren't you. I really don't see that humidity problems are going to be an issue for you in our climate. I worry more about changes in temperature. But if you do have central heating, I'm told it's worth keeping a saucer of water under the radiator or blow air vent - though I must admit I've never bothered with that..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Having smelled my guitar , I agree the smell is definitely very nice

The shop I went to, quite a trek, was the London Guitar Studio. I would recommend them to everyone, great service and they were really friendly. They were willing to negotiate on price too-even then, I sort of, forgot, my budget . Great shop.

http://www.londonguitarstudio.com/

I haven't tried in plugged it at home yet, although I have at the shop. I haven't got an acoustic amp, although I will see what happens with my blackstar at some point... The electrics would be used, by me, more for recording and performances at school than playing at home-Alhambras are very loud guitars.

On a bad day, temperature may change by 4 or so degrees celsius, humidity by 8 or 9%. Normally the temperature doesn't change by more than 2.5 c, and humidity 5 or maybe 6%. I think that should be OK? But in the summer, I may put it in the case for the worst of the temp/humidity-I don't actually know figures for those in the summer though, I've only had my hygrometer about 40 days. Am I right in thinking it's the temperature changing from say, 22 to 29 in a day that's more dangerous than staying between 27-29? Hot temperatures themselves are OK, it's the change?

On the internet you see that it is bad for guitars to experience large changes in temperature or humidity, but no one actually says what a large or harmful change is

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Well when there's snow on the ground and your guitar has been in the car for 30mins or so, then I wouldnt immediately open up the case in a warm well heated room.

I'd leave it in the case for 30 mins or so to acclimatise, before taking it out.

Other than that, I don't worry. The UK climate is pretty kind to wood products.

And keep it out of the sunlight obviously, if its on a stand or hanging up. The sun will bleach the colour out of anything. Apart from the heat of those direct rays!

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Cool, thanks very much Adey, that's great. I rest assured that I'm doing the right thing

Thanks for all your help

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

flamenco??? i can't think that fast, never mind play

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haha i agree-it's above my speed limit too!

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Haven't posted here in a while but here's mine:




Yairi CYM-95

any relation to "screamin"?


Well, my major is rhythm guitar. I can pull off an occasional lead or intermittant riff, but it's pretty basic.

It's a nice guitar... different, that's for sure. Most (if not all) of the other gut-strings I've seen here have hardwood sides and back, and machine heads (like you see on Ovation guitars). Mine has wooden pegs (tuning is a real pain) and the body is all softwood, sides and back included.
Mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. Here are a few othe pics:

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nice, i like the wood tint on that. What sort of stuff do you play on it?



Nice headstock on there-cool engravings! How does it sound, with the soft wood body?

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Big, fat, full sound. Lots of sustain. I use it mostly for finger-picking songs. Friend of mine's daughter got married about a year and a half ago. Her mom asked me to play at the ceremony. Instead of "Here Comes the Bride", the daughter wanted "Here Comes the Sun" for her wedding march... anyway, I used the nylon-string. Nice warm touch.

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