ALHAMBRA6 String Classical Guitar, Right, Solid Canadian Cedar, (2C-US)

I purchased this guitar based on the good reviews it had here. Maybe I was very unlucky, but here is my experience.Packaging:The guitar was packaged in a loosely fitting box. That loosely fitting box was packaged in a bigger box, alongside the gig bag. Other guitar manufacturers make the wiser choice of putting the guitar in the gig bag, and then package said gig bag, allowing for effective protection during shipping. Why Alhambra does not proceed the same way is a mystery that contributes to a "cheap" feeling, despite the "Made in Spain" sticker.Gig bag:The gig bag I received is not the one showed in the picture for this product. It is of much better quality. It looks much nicer, and is well padded. Which makes it even more a shame for the guitar not to be stored in there during shipping.General look and feel:Despite a minor dent on the back of the headstock, which may have been avoided had it been shipped inside the gig bag, it looked well made. The raw-finish look (very little varnish) combined with rosy wood makes it look like a toy for kids, but maybe that's on purpose. After all, Alhambra considers this guitar as a beginner, entry level guitar. I guess I was expecting something more subtle in terms of looks. But that's just my personal taste.The guitar is very lightweight. One the one hand that's great, on the other hand it makes it feel cheap. But that's a subjective thing. I would probably have said otherwise of a lightweight guitar with a different look.Sound and playing characteristics:The first sound I heard was a rattling noise inside the guitar itself when I picked it up. Turns out a small sticker with a bar code on it had either come loose or found its way into the guitar. I got it out easily, but that made it feel like QA had not done their job.Anyway, I don't know if it's the Open Pore finish or if it is common to all Alhambra guitars, but the sound projection was very, very good. I was quite impressed with the volume of the instrument, its balance, as well as the roundedness of its tone.But this good surprise was short lived. Unfortunately, the guitar was unplayable out of the box.1. Any fretted note played on the A or D string would buzz, even with perfect finger positioning. Not just around a couple frets, but almost on the entire usable string length. This was extremely frustrating. Maybe this was due to the low action, but I'd rather have a higher action and no buzz by default. The buzz was so loud and persistent that one would mostly hear that and not the note itself. And since Alhambra guitars do not come with a truss rod, there was nothing I could do about it.2. The intonation was way off. Past the 12th fret, all the notes sounded sharp. Not talking a fraction of cent sharp. I am talking about anyone-can-tell-it's sharp. That, combined with the high buzz on whole strings and the overall cheap experience was enough for me to return the product. At that point, the guitar not only did look and feel like a kid's toy to me, it also sounded like one. Don't get me wrong, that's fine to make toys that look like a guitar, but not for $400.Bottomline, I was very disappointed by the overall experience. Even more so given the reputation Alhambra has in the upper end guitar segment. The only thing I really enjoyed was the gig bad. I wish I could have kept it.

First impressions.This is a great classical acoustic guitar and case for the retail price of about $500 in 2021. Guitars are typically marked up double from their wholesale price. So this guitar and case likely cost the distributor ~$250. This guitar comes shipped from the manufacture in a heavy fiber cardboard box inside an excellent padded case worth close to $80 retail. WARNING a few sellers have been known to take and keep the padded case to sell separately.My son is a student in a four year program and this guitar is appropriate for a beginner to intermediate player and even for an advanced player on a budget. So factoring out the case this is about a $420 retail guitar. That cost the distributor about $210 for the guitar and $40 for the case. So if we simplistically compare it to a $250 dollar retail guitar without a case with a distributor cost of $125 the difference in the distributors cost is quite significant, $210 versus $125, this is the difference in the wholesale cost to the distributor. That $85 in wholesale dollars means a lot to the manufacture and buys a lot more quality in a guitar for the distributor and ultimately for the consumer when marked up to retail price; $250 vs $410 [$500 w/ case]I was impressed with the build certificate that came with this guitar, listing woods from three continents among it various details.This is an open pore instrument without the heavily lacquered finish of most guitars. This open pore finish gives this guitar different sound and wear characteristics from its high gloss finished cousins. This is a matter of personal choice.

I don't know if I would classify this as a beginner model. There are certainly guitars that sound better but this is a well made instrument. I've played telecasters for years and wanted a good quality classical to broaden my skills. It simply sounds great, stays in tune and is easy to play. There are several classical that are cheaper but I had no problem paying a little extra for a quality instrument that's not made in China.

Not really a fan of the flat natural finish, but I suppose the open pore finish does allow for a louder sound. There are no dots to visually indicate fret #5,7,and 9, which I had on my other classical guitar. This Alhambra 1 OP (open pore), comes with Daddario Pro Arte strings which give it a mellow and soothing sound. It has really nice sound at the higher frets. Overall quality seems very good, with no tendency to buzz on the lower frets. Unlike other sellers, the seller of this guitar did not include a gig bag. In summary, the Alhambra 1 OP is a good value for the money. Since it is a solid top guitar with a red cedar top, the sound should improve with age.

I like this guitar. It sounded pretty good out of the box but it wasn't strung properly and the 4th string was pulling out of the nut. I had already made a bone nut and saddle for it before I even got it. The plastic nut and saddle sounded okay but once I put the bone nut and saddle in it sang a beautiful song. The nut was not glued in so I'm guessing that's something everyone changes out. Other then the plastic nut and saddle this guitar is really nice. Great finish. Nice sound. Tunes well enough. Easy to play. It's a beautiful guitar and my first made in Spain guitar and I would recommend it.

Compared to a Martin D-28, the Alhambra 1 OP has a base sound that blows it away! The 1 OP sound is so lovely that it has a stimulating sensation against my heart, that triggers endorphins. In addition, when I compared it to a Yamaha Classical Guitar, the 1 OP sounded much better than the 30 year old Yamaha.