Build Quality:4.2 out of 5 stars
Hardware:4.3 out of 5 stars
Sound:4.3 out of 5 stars
Value:4.4 out of 5 stars
Average:4.3 out of 5 stars

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Barcelona Beginner Series 41-Inch

Pros:

  • Affordable
  • Beginner Friendly
  • Stylish

Cons:

  • Fragile
  • Tuning Instability
  • Easy to Graduate from

The market of cheap guitars is saturated with guitars that have neither style nor sound. These instruments give people without the ability of dropping a load of cash for a guitar feel like there is no option for them, in terms of beginner guitars. While there might be a lot of bad cheap guitars, there are also some which are a great option for beginner players. One such option is the Barcelona Beginner Series Acoustic Guitar, an affordable instrument with a lot of positive qualities to it. Let us take a closer look and find out what these are.

Body Quality

The Barcelona Beginner Series Acoustic Guitar is a very nice dreadnought shape, one which is popular with cheap or expensive guitars. The dreadnought gives the guitar a slightly bulky shape, making it harder for children to play, but any adult should have an easy time getting used to the guitar. The sound of the guitar, as a result of the dreadnought shape, is very powerful and the enhanced bass response is a nice bonus to come with the power.

The top wood of the guitar is Spruce. Spruce is definitely one popular and incredibly useful hardwood for guitars, especially for the guitar top. Its beautiful and effortless resonance of the high and mid tones of the guitar is something every player can appreciate. The laminate on the guitar slightly flattens the sound, but the spruce can be felt through the laminate any way. The back and sides of the guitar are Basswood, a popular wood for the making of electric guitars that is sometimes encountered in acoustic guitars. The wood is light and not dense, allowing for comfort during play.

The lamination of the tonewood results in basswood not having much of an effect on the sound of the guitar, which is rather unfortunate, as further refinement of the mid and low tones of the guitar would have been nice. Basswood is also known to be very soft, which means that the guitar will be susceptible to denting if not treated well.

The neck of the guitar is basswood as well. This is not necessarily the best choice the manufacturer could have made. The guitar may end up in danger of being damaged if it is not cared for by the player.

Hardware

The rosewood bridge of the guitar is a nice little addition that can often be seen on cheap guitars. The rosewood is of course laminate, a way to keep it from aging. This does result in the rosewood not being able to resonate to its full potential.

The nut and saddle of the guitar are synthetic, a plastic of one kind or another. This cheap solution, while not being optimal, does provide good enough harmonics for the guitar. Beware of the buzz if you play too hard though!

The chrome cast tuners of the guitar are one of the most irritating qualities the guitar has. They have a tuning stability problem, with you having to retune the guitar every time you try to play. While these could be easily replaced, it might be smarter to save up and buy a better guitar once you are ready to graduate.

Barcelona Guitar Sound

The sound of the guitar is adequate for the price it is being sold at. While it is not capable of stellar performance and by no means will stand out in a crowd of instruments, it will provide any beginner with adequate tools to study the instrument and practice it. The guitar has a nice bass response and pleasant treble sounds. The strings are prone to buzzing when played fast, making the guitar better suited for slow playing, which won’t be a problem for most beginner players. A beginner sound for a beginner player makes the guitar adequate but easy to graduate from.

Conclusion

Overall, we should all be thankful that cheap guitars like this one exist. They give the option of musical education to many children unable to start out their career with a more expensive instrument, even if the instrument is slightly more expensive. Yet their instruments are easy to graduate from and not the best in terms of sound. Still, the Barcelona Beginner Series 41-Inch is a nice guitar to begin with, definitely recommended for those looking to start cheap and dream big.

Click here to find out more about Barcelona Beginner Series Acoustic Guitar.
Click here to view more from Best Acoustic Guitar for Beginners.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for the input Doug, and you’re very welcome. If you ever have a specific topic you’d like to see covered, feel free to let me know and I’ll do my best.

  2. with an unfinished repair of a broken neck, worn out tuners and other minor flaws one was brought to me which I gave $30. I did the necessary work to make it playable including changing to a bone nut and adjusting the action and when finished I was amazed at the sound and comfort of which I can only compare to some of the higher end instruments. I must add that my style of playing uses extra light electric strings. Up until then I had never heard of a Barcelona and still haven’t unless it’s in a search on the web. After more than 40 years of playing, who would have thought?

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