In December, 2023, I had a conversation with Geoff on my ride home from work. I knew instantly I had found the right place to purchase my new classical guitar.
Having waited years to find the right time and the right guitar, on December 20, 2023, I pulled the trigger on a Cordoba C12 in cedar as an early birthday present to myself.
As promised, the guitar arrived after the new year and when I opened the box, just seeing the quality of the hard shell case got my blood pressure up. But when I opened the case, I was speechless. The guitar was flawless!! Just as Geoff promises on his site.
The smell of that cedar top was amazing too. I had never held such a beautiful instrument - and I own some nice guitars.
And then I played it. OMG! The sound was out of this world. The clarity of the high notes. The nice depth of the lower strings. And the notes ring and ring and ring.
Having always purchased my guitars from a local national chain or retail store, I was worried that purchasing on line would leave me with a guitar that was totally destroyed in the shipping process. I was wrong. Matter of fact, this guitar was more pristine than any guitar I have ever purchased. Retail outlet guitars are handled and played by so many hands, they invariably already have scratches, and imperfections due to use and careless handling. My Cordoba didn’t have so much as a finger print!! And this guitar was set up right out of the box.
Anyone reading this review, please take my word for it and trust Geoff with your next guitar purchase. Tonight, I just got home from visiting a Guitar Centers and every guitar that I picked tonight looked used and handled poorly. It’s what prompted me to sit down and write this review.
Geoff, thank you for your advice and guidance in helping me on my first classical guitar purchase. You have no idea how grateful and happy I am!! I love my Cordoba C12.
It's difficult to imagine having a better experience on the several orders I have made with this company. Good easy to use website, fast response, all items as advertised. Highly recommended.
The TKL hard case has the look as well as the protection and fits about any classical and flamenco guitar brand.
Great choice for the price.
Received my Alhambra Deluxe Soft Case/gig bag 9 days ago. As always, excellent service and fast delivery from X Guitars.
This great-looking featherweight, semi-rigid guitar case is totally safe for home-keeping. I also feel that it’s fully adequate for traveling in a car or even in the NYC subway train. What sets it apart from the majority of other soft cases is that it has positive support for guitar neck – just like quality hard cases do. I compared this case to 2 more expensive ($100 & $130) soft cases and found this Alhambra case to be superior – by far.
In addition to its great looks, semi-rigid construction and generous storage pockets, this case has sturdy backpack straps and 3 handles. I find this case to be good enough for safe keeping of one of my world-class guitars.
Received my Alhambra Deluxe Soft Case/gig bag 9 days ago. As always, excellent service and fast delivery from X Guitars.
This great-looking featherweight, semi-rigid guitar case is totally safe for home-keeping. I also feel that it’s fully adequate for traveling in a car or even in the NYC subway train. What sets it apart from the majority of other soft cases is that it has positive support for guitar neck – just like quality hard cases do. I compared this case to 2 more expensive ($100 & $130) soft cases and found this Alhambra case to be superior – by far.
In addition to its great looks, semi-rigid construction and generous storage pockets, this case has sturdy backpack straps and 3 handles. I find this case to be good enough for safe keeping of one of my world-class guitars.
I've played these for years.
I bought my guitar in Spain, and I love that I can get strings from the same brand. And I was not expecting it so quickly
Absolutely Stunning Case. It is super strong, very protective, exquisitely lined/padded, and form fitting so it holds my guitar securely and doesn't allow it to slide around. I'd also add that it is a very handsome, low key guitar case that will protect your guitar throughout your travels. Bottom Line: I cannot describe how highly impressed I am with my new Alhambra Guitar and case. And let's not forget Geoff's incredible service, communication, pricing, and professionalism. Thank you, sir!
1. I recently received my new Alhambra 10FC Flamenco Guitar from XGuitars. It arrived nicely packed & in perfect condition. I gave it the appropriate 6 hours to come up to room temperature before opening it up which was great advice. 2. Tuned it up and ran it through a few Sor and Aguado studies; Packington's Pound; and even Metallica's Unforgiven (Classical version). At a summary level, this guitar is absolutely stunning and XGuitars is not getting it back! :) 3. Everything I played was better than I've ever played before. Geoff may recall that I have a slight hand tremor so everything is a bit of a challenge for me, BUT not so much with this Alhambra. Amazing! Perfect fretting was a breeze, no noisy string/fret stuff, gorgeous sound, and very comfortable to play. 4. The neck is just super comfortable. Not sure why it is so good but it reminds me of the first time my guitar instructor let me play his pro-level Les Paul where I found the Gibson so much easier to fret, play, etc. than my Custom-Shop Strat (with a smaller neck). Whatever the magic is with this neck I am so impressed because it instantly made me a better/more accurate player with no extra effort. 5. Tuners: Who ever thought that tuners could be so good!!?? And so gorgeous in gold with black/ebony knobs. Truly the best tuners I've ever had, a delight to use, and a pleasure to look at. 6. Rosette: Drop dead gorgeous. Nothing else needs to be said. 7. Fantastic looking guitar that is finished beautifully. Everything is perfect and exquisitely finished. 8. Sound: Super nice. Can't wait to record the guitar a few times so I can listen to how truly beautiful this guitar sounds. I imagine that when I change the strings to the Savarez brand that the sound will be a bit louder and even more stunning. 9. Really appreciate all of Geoff's advice on the selection of this guitar. He really set it up perfectly and I know that I'll get years of fun out of this beauty. 10. I also need to let potential customers know that Geoff is not just some guy selling guitars on the Internet. Rather, he is a highly skilled working musician and luthier, he has a degree in classical guitar (+ Engineering!), studied Flamenco and Classical guitar in Spain so he really knows what he is talking about, and he used to be the VP of Alhambra in the USA. And finally let me add that Geoff is an absolute gentleman who will help 'steer you in the right direction' on procuring a guitar. Oh, I liked this guitar transaction and Geoff's professionalism that I bought another guitar from him a week later! Thanks Geoff!
I have another guitar support, however, it does not fit in the guitar case. I needed a support that would fit in its hard case. So I thought I would try Gitano support. It does fit in the case. It does take a bit to attach it to the guitar. But once it's on it stays on. I like it.
Excellent strings, rich and powerful. They will work great for concert and student-level guitars. Service and prices at X guitars are A+.
The guitar is beautiful and impeccably set up by Geoff. Its sound is rich and powerful, almost too loud for the small office where I practice. This is the first classical guitar I've owned since a no-name cheapo that was my first guitar nearly 60 years ago. I don't pretend that my playing skill will ever be up to what this guitar can do, but I wanted a guitar with really good sound, and the linea profesional delivers. I've only had it for a week, and the transition from a steel string will take time, but so far I am very happy with the guitar as well as Geoff's setup and string recommendation. Finally, the case fits the guitar like a glove.
I had one of the best customer service experiences with my recent purchase. The processing and handling of my order were exceptional. I am extremely pleased with the setup of the guitar I bought; it arrived ready to play, which is a rarity compared to other places I’ve shopped. Highly satisfied with the overall experience.
I am happy with my new Alhambra N2 tuners. Installation took less than 5 minutes, and the machines worked smoothly and effortlessly to hold the strings in prefect tune.
Victor
I purchased my Cedar Estudio 3 at XGuitars, and It was set up with Ramirez medium tension strings as I ordered. Later, I experimented with a hard tension set but now I'm back to the medium tension strings as they produced a clearer sound, consistent volume, and a more pleasurable experience for my playing level.
Great service and quick delivery. It's great to have sagework magnets for multiple guitars.
Like others with double tops, we know the soundboard veneer is very thin, and that even the slightest amount of pickguard material can change the resonant function of such a design. These protectors are perfect for such soundboards, they are very lightweight, but offer the perfect amount of protection, they also do not damage cured French polish finishes,...these are win-win protectors.
I ordered this at the same time as the Alhambra 10 Premier Classical Guitar (reviewed in an earlier post). The XGuitars website describes it as “classy” and it is indeed that however I think a better term would be Elegant on both the inside and outside. The fit with the Alhambra 10 is absolutely perfect and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the D’Addario Humidipak is able to maintain acceptable RH levels even up here where the RH inside my house is about 22% most days. Great product and again excellent service from XGuitars!
I have a couple of excellent classical guitars that I enjoy playing however, the ease of working the neck on the Alhambra is just awesome. Sonically it is outstanding with the Savarez 500CJ strings that Geoff recommended. Projection is very good and the tonality is well, just exquisite! And BTW the service at XGuitars is equally excellent.
I recently purchased the Alhambra Mengual y Margarit Serie NT guitar and could not be more pleased. It is a big step up from the Linea Pro which I had been using. As the product description says, "it's tone is absolutely beautiful and it's power and projection are at the top of its class." The sustain is remarkable. The tone gives me chills. What more is there to say. The setup was perfect and Geoff, as always, was a joy to work with. He bent over backwards to provide what I needed to make a decision and the after-sale advice on care of the guitar was very helpful. I would not buy a guitar anywhere else. I also got the BAM case. It is rather expensive but worth every penny. I have always had a problem keeping the humidity in my cases stable, even with Boveda inserts. With the BAM case the humidity was closer to what Boveda said it should be, probably because the case is airtight and the padding material isn't the fuzzy faux fur that is often used (more surface area).
A well designed system to protect a guitar and maintain correct humidification.
These are some of the best sounding strings available. The basses are rich and powerful. New Cristal nylon 1st and 2nd strings have excellent volume and sustain and Alliance carbon 3rd provides excellent transition from basses to trebles and vice versa. My only complaint is its high tension of the 4th string (about 1# higher than 5th and 6th strings). I typically replace the high-tension 4th with medium-tension 4th and it works great for me.
High tension basses:
514JP D 0.0299 16.78 ??
515JP A 0.0358 15.67
516JP E 0.0441 15.45
Medium tension 4th string:
514RP D 0.0291 15.89
Ergo play trappart guitar support.
I had 4 days to practice before first gig with it last nite. 2 hours…no issues.
Took my footstool just in case but did not even think about it.
Wish I had got one 45 years ago!
I bought the 5FP Piñana Negra Flamenco Guitar in early February, 2024 to complement my cedar top classical guitar, also from Alhambra. I wanted a nice mid priced flamenco which I could use for classical guitar, but has flamenco qualities. This guitar is perfect for my uses. It’s lightweight, balanced, tunes well, uses quality components. And the laminated back & sides gives excellent durability for traveling. If you’re looking for a second guitar, or your first classical/flamenco guitar , it’s an excellent choice in my opinion.
