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| Hardware: |  |
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Pros:
- Good strings
- Comfortable
- Affordable
Cons:
- Okay hardware
- The sound is good but not the best
So many companies claim they have come up with innovations that will transform the market of affordable guitars and nothing will be able to compete with them. And so many of them are just… not true. I do not want to roast manufacturers, they are doing their best but there is only so much you can do with the resources you are provided. AND the resources you can get for a guitar under $150 are rarely enough. So it takes the best of luthiers and experts to come up with new ideas on how to economize the best. By “economize the best” I do not mean just taking away all the important, quality parts of the guitar to reduce the price the most. I mean coming up with ways that will help not the highest quality products can complement each other and produce a guitar that is of decent quality and sound. Let’s see if Stagg C547 is one of those guitars.
Build
This is a full-size classical guitar that will serve as a great first step into the world of guitars, music and everything nice. The top of this model is spruce while the back and sides, as well as the neck, are mahogany. Overall, mahogany has been a go-to tonewood for decent sound. When discussing whether the tonewood is any good you should not consider JUST the sound that it helps to produce but also how long it will last. You can get a guitar that will sound great for a while but with time the tonewood just deteriorates, taking the sound and tone with it. That being said, you probably are not planning on a long-term relationship with your $150 guitar. It is a starter guitar and hopefully, you will manage, if you decide so, to upgrade in a couple of years. Thankfully, the C547 will definitely still be decent after a year, two or even more.
Hardware
Now, let’s talk a bit about some of the hardware and features of this guitar. First of all, the bridge is made of rosewood, again a decent quality tonewood. The machine heads are Lyre gold and they are easy to use and will not give you any trouble. One great thing about this model is the finish. First of all, the look that this guitar gets from the finish is pretty nice. The darker finish makes this model look not like some cheap plastic instrument but a nice quality guitar. The D’Addario strings that the C547 ships with are surprisingly good quality and are especially easy to use for beginners who might not be as accustomed to playing on guitars and tend to get sore fingers from playing harsher, more hard to play strings.
Stagg C547 Sound
The combination of the spruce top and mahogany back, side and neck render a well-balanced tone and warm sound that come very close to how high-quality, classical Spanish guitars sound. The full size of this model also helps with the volume and strings are high quality enough to bring great sound from the start. Yes, the sound is nice but do not get all excited and giddy that it will sound like the highest end Gibson or Fender model.
Conclusion
If you are a beginner who does not know much about guitar and specs there is a good and an bad news for you. Good news is that there are hundreds and hundreds of models for beginners at quite a nice price. The bad news is pretty much the same. The problem of too many options will hit you more than it ever has when you start looking for one guitar among thousands. The key is to find a balance between being thorough and obsessive when choosing your first guitar. The chances are you will have it for a year or two before you develop your skills and upgrade to a better model so do not fret if you do not buy the guitar of your dreams. That is why Stagg C547 4/4-Size Nylon String Classical Guitar is a great guitar for beginners but, obviously, not the best one in the world.
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