We have in our hands this Cutaway model, Alhambra's top of the line. A guitar handcrafted with select materials, as you can see in the spec sheet, using solid woods exclusively. Everyone already knows the work of this Spanish maker: meticulous construction that takes care of the details and shows, in general, the loving care with which all its guitars are built.
Unboxing
We received the instrument perfectly packed. It may seem like a minor detail, but it's good to know the conditions the instrument travels in before it reaches our hands, so I think it's worth pointing out. After taking the "package" out of the box, we found a well-finished, custom-fit case (included in the price) made with attractive materials on the outside. With the eagerness of a guitarist facing his "favorite candy," I set about opening the case. I liked the care and delicacy with which everything came perfectly arranged inside: notes on the construction, general care tips, the warranty, instructions for the preamp and a chamois cloth for cleaning our instrument.
First contact, the feel
For a few minutes I'd already been savoring the scent of fine woods this guitar gives off. It may sound exaggerated, but in my view engaging all the senses optimizes your connection with the instrument.
After playing the first few notes standing up, I was magically hooked on the sound and, without stopping, I sat down to enjoy this Alhambra at my leisure. I felt very comfortable with the feel of the strings, with perfect tension for my fingers, set especially close to the fingerboard, just enough to avoid any buzzing while allowing fast, comfortable and smooth playing.
I have to say that it is honestly one of the nylon-string guitars I've felt most comfortable with, both for playability and for the perfect sync between what I wanted to do and what the instrument gave me.
The sound
After this first contact, in which my fingers appreciated the feel, I turned my attention to the sound. A more than adequate balance between the thickness of the lows, a dense yet defined body of sound, mids that are not at all harsh, and highs that are fully defined yet full-bodied. In short, in my opinion, an especially pleasant tonal quality.
Besides showing this perfect blend among the different tonal ranges, I detect a warm, sweet sound that lets you truly enjoy the authentic sound of a nylon-string guitar. Naming the sin but not the sinner, I had previously been recording a piece that fused a bossa nova tune with flamenco flavors in a "jazzy" setting; in short, hard to describe, but for it I was using a guitar from another well-known maker (though, I must say, lower in the range) and I was somewhat "bothered" by the imbalance and lack of "feeling" of the first string. When I played that same piece on this Alhambra, my problem was completely solved, so much so that I had been thinking of reworking the piece to avoid certain combinations of low and high notes that didn't quite convince me, leaving me stuck wondering whether the problem was in the composition.
Well, after going over the piece with this guitar I could see that the problem was neither in the playing nor in the composition, because with the Alhambra it sounded exactly the way I thought it should have sounded from the start. In the end we erased the tracks from the previous guitar and kept the sound of the guitar on the test bench for good. To "come to the rescue" of the other instrument, I should say that ever since I put a new set of strings on it, it has shown a certain incompatibility with my ear, so maybe I need to figure out exactly where the problem lies.
Tuning
To my satisfaction, this area is also well handled on this guitar. It's cold; in fact, when the instrument arrived the package was "freezing," and it was opened in a heated room, as you can imagine. That meant temperature changes for the Alhambra, which even under these conditions showed admirable composure. I barely had to adjust the tuning to get it into optimal shape.
But that's not all. On the one hand, I want to note the guitar's excellent intonation and the beauty and accuracy of its harmonics. On the other, I have to compliment the sensitivity and precision of its tuners: smooth, precise and 100% effective.
The preamp and the amplified sound
A Fishman Prefix Pro Blend preamp. This preamp is specially designed for classical guitars with a mic plus piezo, and its battery can be accessed from the outside.
The sound it picks up and that the preamp delivers is true to life. Thanks to its controls we get a certain flexibility to shape what ultimately comes out of the speakers to our liking. The preamp's little manual (in English) offers several suggested settings depending on the result you're after. But honestly, when you plug in the guitar and start playing, almost intuitively you adjust the sound to exactly your preferences with small tweaks of the controls. The signal is more than ample, clear and well captured, and it ultimately offers a wide range of possibilities that perfectly cover almost any sound we might want to achieve. Finally, I should add that I had no feedback problems, keeping the gain, volume and treble under control.
I've always found the idea of a preamp in the guitar interesting. This option doesn't rule out the usual mic recording if that's what we want, while also offering the quick option of recording or playing amplified with a simple ¼" jack. Likewise, we can do parallel takes (in a recording) with a condenser mic on one line and the preamp signal on another, thus enriching the nuances of the recorded instrument.
The Cutaway
The cutaway, the position markers on the edge of the neck (top side) and the preamp give this guitar that ideal touch for those looking for a Spanish guitar with a pure sound that departs from the purely classical concept. What I mean is that any guitarist, however much of a "rocker" he may be, would grow attached to an instrument like this one, if not now, then perhaps at a future stage of "musical maturity," and for such cases, that is, guitarists not used to the traditional shape of a classical guitar, this model, because of the details described, comes close to ideal for a musician curious about "nylon strings" who doesn't come from the "hardcore" classical camp.
Options available on this model
The maker gives us several options to choose from when ordering our guitar. They are:
a) We can choose, at no extra cost, between a German spruce top or a solid cedar top.
b) Left-handed version: + €87
c) Clear pickguard: €24.36
Conclusions
We'll talk about Alhambra's acoustic series in a future test (although we've already published some on this subject). Nonetheless, and independently, the maker's experience shows in this nylon-string guitar model, and I think it's excellent. Throughout the whole review I haven't forgotten its price: €1,187 (approx.), and although at first glance it may seem alarming, if we compare it with other handcrafted instruments with similar features, the balance tips in favor of today's guitar. My conclusion is that it's a very reasonable price for an instrument with a fine selection of materials: ebony, solid cedar or German spruce, solid Indian rosewood... precise and smooth tuners, a feel well suited to almost any guitarist, an impeccable sound and a versatile preamp. A very high-quality product at a price that, compared with others, is attractive.
