Before I ordered this guitar, I had a Yamaha CG122 and two Cordoba C7 guitars, one from the B series and one new. Unfortunately, none of the previous guitars were okay, so I had to send them back.
The Yamaha CG122MC is a solid guitar with flawless frets and neck. The sound is somewhat muted in the higher registers when playing chords, lacking a bit clarity, but otherwise, it’s an good guitar for the price. Unfortunately, the string action on my CG122MC guitar was too high, almost 10mm at the 12th fret. I lowered the strings to a fairly normal height of about 5mm, but the string angle at the bridge was too shallow, and the sound changed significantly.
The highly praised Cordoba C7 guitars somewhat disappointed me. They do look very beautiful and have good sustain, but the sound is very unbalanced between the high, mid, and low tones. The basses are too loud, at least with the factory-installed strings, the high tones have considerably less volume and sometimes sound quite thin It’s possible that the factory-installed high-tension strings are to blame; unfortunately, I haven’t tried normal-tension strings. The main reason I returned both C7 guitars was the issue with the frets; both had significant fret sprout on all frets.
The Alhambra Black Satin Plus really surprised me. The guitar isn’t quite like it appears in the photos and is noticeably heavier than the previous guitars.
It seems to be a mix of different Alhambra guitar models, at least the one I received. The neck of the guitar is from the Alhambra 4P model, the fingerboard is made of ebony, and the rosette is the same as on the P4 A. It’s possible that the entire soundboard, including the rosette, is the same as on the P4 A model. It has P4 Alhambra Gold machine heads...
The sound of my guitar is very balanced,
I was very surprised that the individual tones on the thinner strings have significantly more volume than on the previous guitars, and the tremolo is also more pronounced. The color on the guitar, which is slightly thicker than on the other guitars, somewhat affects the character of the sound, however, not excessively. The string and neck setup is ideal; the height is just right for playing comfortably and effortlessly, and the guitar has no fret buzz.
My personal interpretation regarding the guitar I received is that the factory may have recycled certain components from higher-end models. I deduce this from the visible signs of finishing on the fretboard, which likely wouldn't make it into standard models. Minor scratches and imperfections in the wood do not affect the guitar’s performance, and any potential aesthetic flaws on the soundboard are covered by the black finish.
Even though the guitar is likely assembled as I described, Alhambra has nonetheless made a great effort to assemble it flawlessly and to a high standard.
If I knew that all guitars from this series (Black Satin Plus) were made this way, I would recommend purchasing to anyone.
