When I was learning to play guitar, I took classical lessons, on a Spanish guitar, as you would expect. Around the age of 13 I was still taking classical lessons, but I got myself an electric. Back then I was even "embarrassed" for my friends to see me playing a "fuddy-duddy classical" nylon-string. I thought it was old-fashioned and that guitars like that were only used by classical players, or at Mass.
A few years later, I was still excited about my Les Paul copy and banging out (given my questionable skill) something resembling heavy metal. Then along came a guitarist who was even more into metal than I was, but... surprise, he also had a Spanish guitar and did totally amazing things on it, at least to me. Later I realized how stupid I had been and learned the charm of trying to get music out of any guitar that fell into my hands. Obviously, my classical study guitar was no use to me in the rehearsal room. How was I supposed to strap that on and make it sound next to the band's drummer?
The passing years made me see that I had to learn from many sources and styles. I stopped wanting to play just one kind of music. I even developed a taste for making more music than noise, incorporating silence, nuance and playing with less strident sounds. So what kind of guitar would suit me for playing my music with the band, for recording and for use in contexts far removed from the strictly classical?
Manuel Rodríguez Cutaway Model B guitar
For a long time I missed having a guitar of this kind. Something that sounded like my nylon-strings but was closer to my context in the band. Something easy to handle, with a preamp and a comfortable feel, similar to my electrics.
I think this instrument was specially conceived for those situations. A guitar like a classical, but with a much narrower neck, like an electric's. With a thinner body than a classical, a cutaway and a preamp. Designed to be played without needing a mic. It seems it would be the perfect companion for rehearsals, the studio and our gigs.
Construction
I was struck by the good quality of the materials chosen. Honduran cedar for the neck, solid Canadian cedar for the top, and a curious choice by its maker for the sides and back: rosewood. Rosewood also for the fingerboard and bridge.
A light guitar, comfortable to play and well finished. Its tuners have, to my taste, a particularly comfortable stiffness and precision. Tuning stability, hardware and intonation at professional levels. It is clearly well made, although I would have liked a little less austerity in the decoration of the sides. Perhaps this responds to the search for a band look that is far from classical; I don't know. In any case, it is a detail of little relevance and reflects only my personal impressions.
The sound with and without the preamp
The guitar came to me brand new. It had that new smell. I love that smell and the look of a guitar made of fine woods when I open the case or box. As usual with a new instrument, the tuning was somewhat unstable: unstable because the guitar was adapting to the temperature and humidity of its new workplace, and unstable because it had just been strung.
Unplugged
I kept it in the studio for ten days, playing it for a while every day. When the tuning stabilized, I assumed the wood was comfortable and had adapted to its new environment. The truth is that I noticed certain changes in the instrument's sound over the course of this process.
At the start of the tests, the guitar was powerful in the low end. That is what I liked most about this instrument: the definition and punch of its natural lows (without the preamp). I like the powerful yet clear low end of this instrument. On the other hand, the three treble strings sounded very dry, with a sustain hungry for more tail. I put this "weakness" in the highs and mids down to the narrow body, compared to other models I had around the studio. As the days went by, this improved. With the wood of the top "happier and better adapted," the notes from the first three strings lasted longer and gained a little volume, giving the instrument a better-balanced tonal range.
Plugged in
It was time to find out how the preamp performed. How would its EQ options affect that punchy low end and the need for more sparkle in the highs? As expected, the preamp gave us more versatility, letting us shape the sound with its knobs.
To adapt the sound to my taste, I used the preamp to cut the lows and tried to boost the mids and highs. I also used an external EQ (on a mixing console) and added a little reverb, which gave me a somewhat more cushioned, longer sound. Now I had the sound I was looking for coming out of the monitors through this M. Rodríguez Cutaway B.
I think that with a more demanding preamp, the guitar would gain a little more flexibility when it comes to cutting lows and boosting highs. As for how long the notes live before dying away, the sustain kept improving as the days went by.
Conclusions
The instrument's good finish and the quality of its construction materials justify a price of around €1,125. The strongest point of this guitar is how comfortable it is to play. A light instrument with a narrow body, ideal for playing on a strap or in positions that have nothing to do with classical posture. Its "electric"-style neck also stands out: narrower than on a conventional nylon-string, and more comfortable for fast passages. To these advantages we must add its cutaway, which also makes it easier to play in the highest part of the fingerboard. In short, I would sum up its most outstanding qualities in one word: comfort.
I think this is a guitar for musicians who are used to electrics and are looking for this concept in a Spanish guitar. For traditional Spanish guitar players, the neck will feel strange (because the strings are closer together), and the acoustic characteristics of a narrower body will raise questions.
The type of player this guitar was designed for seems very well defined, and I sincerely think it achieves its goals very well. If you like nylon-string sounds for laying down grooves in your band, whatever your style, and you don't want to sacrifice your electric-neck playing style, this is a very appealing option with first-rate materials.
