What is it about classical guitars that makes us want to own them instantly? Well if you ask me, that classic, old, Spanish sound really makes playing experience very attractive and unforgettable. Nylon String guitar is a closest relative to the oldest Spanish guitar – Vihuela. We have made a research in best classical guitars under 500, as budget is a very important thing to consider before the purchase. We also prepared some good tips that will make your buying experience more simple and convenient. Here goes the list of top 5 instruments under 500 dollars..
Top 5 Best Classical Guitars Under 500
| Image | Guitar Model | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Cordoba C7 SP |  (4.9 / 5) | Check on Amazon |
 | Yamaha CGX122MCC |  (4.8 / 5) | Check on Amazon |
 | La Patrie Guitar, Etude QI | (4.8 / 5) | Check on Amazon |
 | Kremona Soloist Series S62C |  (4.7 / 5) | Check on Amazon |
 | Lucero LFB250Sce Spruce/Cypress |  (4.6 / 5) | Check on Amazon |
Cordoba C7 SP
Cordoba C7 SP is a beautiful handmade guitar, with powerful performance capabilities. It features solid European top and Indian rosewood back and sides. It looks stunning, with natural color, a traditional style hand-inlaid wooden rosette and a rosewood binding. The neck is made of mahogany, with rosewood fingerboard. It all enables great playability and nice tone. It has nice volume and clear sound. The instrument is equipped with Savarez Cristal Corum strings in High Tension, 500CJ. Cordoba C7 SP has a very high quality craftsmanship. This guitar is perfect for Classical, Samba, Bosa Nova, Ragtime and even the Blues. It will perfectly suit an experienced player, and will amaze with overall performance quality for this price.
Pros:
- Quality tonewoods
- Great Price for what the guitar offers
Cons:
- Action might be a bit too high
- Might think about changing strings for better sound
Yamaha CGX122MCC
Yamaha CGX122MCC has so much more than you would expect for this price. It has a Solid Western Cedar top and Nato back and sides. Instrument has traditional classical guitar construction. It features Yamaha’s’ signature pickups A.R.T. 2-way. This exclusive pickup system is constructed with 6 different material layers. The system is placed beneath the top board consequently body resonance that guitar produces is excellent. The instrument is not heavy, so it is very comfortable to hold. The guitar has natural, traditional classical guitar sound both plugged and unplugged. Yamaha, as they always do, did an exceptional job with the craftsmanship. All in all, the Yamaha CGX122MCC will amaze you with its exquisite look and wonderful sound.
Pros:
- Great top tonewood
- Great sound
- Comfortable
Cons:
- Finish is not the best
- Strings
La Patrie Guitar, Etude QI
This guitar has a solid cedar top and laminated mahogany back and sides. It gives the instrument a nice resonance and vibration. The neck is made of mahogany as well with a rosewood fretboard. It is thin and smooth, so your hand will glide like a breeze while playing. La Patrie Guitar, Etude QI has a beautiful natural look, with semi-gloss satin finish. It features rosewood bridge with a compensated saddle, gold “lyra” style tuners with pearloid buttons and Quantum I Electronics. The instrument has great dynamic range with rich sound, and all this comes at a very affordable price. The instrument is lightweight, so hours of playing will be less tiring. It surely will be a reliable companion.
Pros:
- Great quality for the price
- Comfortable
- Amazing sound
Cons:
- Finish
- Change the strings for the optimum sound and feel
Kremona Soloist Series S62C
This guitar is one of the most popular models of Kremona’s handcrafted Soloist Series guitars. It has ა solid red cedar top and Sapele back and sides with wooden edging and purfling therefore, produces amazing sound. Kremona Soloist Series S62C has great playability due to ან African mahogany neck with a set dovetail neck joint, an Indian rosewood fingerboard. It can be considered as perfect for beginners, due to nice playability and light weight. This instrument is equipped with polymer nut and saddle, Gebr. Van Gent gold-plated machine heads, and a nice gloss polyurethane finish. It definitely looks as good as it sounds. It comes with cool CGGB-BK branded gig bag. Overall performance quality is excellent.
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Student-friendly
- Great sound
Cons:
- Change strings
- Finish is not good enough
Lucero LFB250Sce Spruce/Cypress
Lucero LFB250Sce Spruce/Cypress delivers that Special flamenco kind of vibe. The instrument is a combination of Solid spruce top and Cypress sides and back. It all delivers an incredibly rich and beautiful tone. This guitar has a bit slimmer neck than usually, nylon string guitars do. A cutaway for upper-fret access and premium Fishman electronics gives it perfect and simple playability. Your hand will move with ease. Lucero LFB250Sce Spruce/Cypress includes Fishman pickups with EQ control to make it suitable for performance environments. It also has built-in chromatic tuners. It never goes out of a tune. This instrument combines nice tone, perfect playability and pocket-friendly price. This carefully crafted guitar is surely one of the top instrument in the price range of 500 dollars.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Good quality electronics
- Comfortable
Cons:
- Action is high
- Not the best finish
Key Characteristics of Classical Guitar
Guitar making process can be measured with three aspects: sound, playability, and visual. Main factors affecting instrument sound include – wood quality, guitar shape, bracing, etc. The most often used materials for classical guitar crafting are – Maple, Mahogany, Cedar and Spruce. Each one of them has its own perks, however, generally, it is considered that spruce is the best among those materials. It delivers strong and powerful sound. It keeps the clarity of the tone even when played hard. This wood maintains a crisp sound with character. As for the Cedar and Mahogany, they produce a warmer tone with less clarity and character. Maple wood has a brighter sound and nice clear tone on high frequencies. As for the shape, a classical guitar can have 5 major scale shapes. It sounds a bit weird, but scale shapes have names of the letters: C, A, G, E, D. The scale shape can be considered as something sort of a watermark on your playing. How well you play scale pretty much shows how well do you play in general.
- As far as playability is concerned, it includes neck, how long, wide and thin is it, the spacing between frets etc. The string should not have any kind of buzzing noise. The playability of instrument shows, how simply and comfortably you use this guitar. In the ideal situation, your hand should not get tired, even after hours of playing, but vice versa – glide like a breeze on the neck of instrument.
- The visual part of the guitar is highly important as well. Sometimes people forget what a significant role it has in enjoying your guitars’ performance. It concludes the visual features of the guitar, including rosette design, inlays, ornamentation, etc. Every person should keep in mind that the instrument should look as cool as it sounds.
If you do not feel connected to the guitars listed above, we have some tips to help you in selecting that one and only instrument – your perfect match.
Tips until you buy:
- First of all, decide how do you want to use your instrument. Do you want it to be a travel guitar, maybe do some concerts, or just to play at home for fun? It can really affect your final choice, as instruments differ with their purpose, so it surely is a thing to think about.
- Secondly ask yourself, if you plan to change the instrument after you learn the basics, or just in general. Guitars that are good for beginners or even intermediate players are different from those crafted for pros. So, make up your mind about it.
- After that think about the material that you want your ”perfect match” to have. As you already know different materials produce different sound. The guitars’ top materials affects it most of all, so we would advise you to splurge a bit on its material, and maybe not equip with the best pickups as you can change them later.
- Also keep in mind that solid wood produces much better sound than laminated wood. Try to go for the solid one, as it really makes a big difference. At least find a guitar with solid top and maybe laminated back and sides, as those parts affect soundlessness.
- Do not forget the comfort. You will most likely play this instrument for many hours, so it should be a perfect fit. Your hand should not get tired, so find the best and the most comfortable neck possible. It would be the best to try out the guitar in your hand before purchase, to actually feel it.
- Last but not least, find the one that looks cool. It is not only about sound but about overall performance and satisfaction that you get from it. Obviously, you will feel better with good looking, beast instrument is your hands so opt for that one.
Conclusion
Overall, we made a list of best classical guitars under 500 and gave you some good advises, together with characteristics that you should pay attention to the most. We hope that article was helpful. Do not forget that at the end it all comes down to the pleasure that music gives you, so try not to stress too much about the choosing part. Just relax and calm down, because if you use these tips, we guarantee that you will be fine. Wish you the best of luck
