what grade?? practice, practice n practice....


that thing very cheap only.. less than rm40 can get if not mistaken.

thanks

grade 2 only. my technical suite not that strong yet. exam songs ok.

choosing scales or exerices??
exercises no need memorize, while scales need.. but should b ok 1..

less than RM40? sure or not? where to buy?

Hi everyone,
Glad to have found this amazing forum and hope some kind souls can assist me.

A short intro. As my nick suggest, I'm shopping for a full size solid top classical guitar for my daughter. Upgrading from a 3/4 Valencia. It's coming to the end of the second year and time to upgrade.

MOD,
This place is sooo big! Let me know if I have posted in the incorrect sub-forum.

I have took my daughter around to 'feel' the various brands available in the market and There are a few guitars with their own unique questions and for the first, I'd like to start with the LaPatrie ETUDE.

Has anyone owned this guitar before? I understand that it has a truss rod to correct bowing, but because it is a thinner neck, its it more prone to warping compared to, say, a regular neck of a Alhamra or Yamaha without truss rods.?

Thanks!

You are asking in the right place. No worries.

I have never came across with a classical guitar with truss rod, I think 90% of the classical guitars do not have truss rod. I understand the reason of the use of truss rod on steel strings guitar because steel strings have higher tension and tends to wrap the neck, so we need to the truss rod to adjust the neck relief.

Classical normally have thicker neck, the relief is planned into the neck when the guitar is built, and the nylon strings has lower tension, in this case, it doesn't require a truss rod. You mentioned about the La Patrie guitar has thinner neck, I think it's more prone to warping compared to thicker neck classical guitar. So they place a truss rod in the guitar.

EDIT: You tried this guitar in guitarcollection?

This post has been edited by la bella: Nov 25 2010, 11:17 AM

LaPatrie ETUDE will cost around 1.2- 1.4k, isn't it?
there's some better choice rather than that.

about the truss rod, its always depends the quality of neck wood,
in malaysia, nvr expect 1-3k classical guitar provide a good neck,
it will slightly bend just the matter of time, in that case truss rod will help.

la bella,
The Etude is the only one with truss-rod in the market here. In fact, double truss rods if I read their writeup correctly. Yes, tried it at GC. Among other criteria, my 11y.o. daughter found the neck to be 'easier' than others. Therefore, my questions about the this particular neck.
Do you play the classical guitar?

nostrings,
You are correct. Our weather does concern me, and if the rods are able to correct the bowing/bending, I can live with it. But if the neck twist/warp, I understand that it is a case of 'cannot save' Thus, I am hoping to hear from Etude owners about this.
BTW, what would be the other ' ...better choices', if you mind?

We are still doing our rounds of trying out different guitars. Some may get another visit or two.

I can't give comment about the guitar at the moment cos i haven't tried the guitar yet. I would try out the guitar if I manage to drop by any GC shops this weekend.

Yes, I play the classical guitar.

bella,

Did curiosity got the better of you? : )
Additional impressions will be very helpful and hope you can squeeze in the time to try it out.

Kamsiah!

You are welcome. After i tried the guitar, i will leave a comment here.
La Patrie is canadian guitar, under the Godin company, the company that produces Seagull, Art&Lutheir, Norman, Simon & Patrick. I think Godin is better in producing electric guitar and acoustic guitar. Not sure about their classical guitar.

That's the China make product, you can get it from Woh Fatt, but I got report from friend that it's suction cup not that suck (heheh) and the shape did not suite the guitar very well. You can try it and see.

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Added on November 26, 2010, 10:57 amI think you worry about the wrong aspect of classical guitar. There is no danger of warping neck as long as you take good care of your guitar ie. don't put it in a hot place like back of your car.

No matter what brand, most important things you need to consider is alway the sound (tone) make by the guitar, compare the sound first instead of physical aspect of the guitar. You also need play EVERY notes, EVERY position of the guitar to check whether you get any buzzing sound (especially higher position)

you can also check what kind of wood it use. to ease your fear of warping neck, try to go for ebony for the finger board, ebony is very hard wood. Check sound board for solid wood. Most classical guitar use Cedar or Spruce sound board. Cedar is cheaper with sweeter sound, Spruce is brighter but more expensive because it has better projection.

As for the "easier' neck, sometime we just need to adjust our technique to suit a good guitar.

Any, if you looking for mid-range student guitars, my suggestion is Manuel Rodriguez. It is the best money-for-value guitar you can get. It mid-range student guitar price at 2k-5k. Directly from Spain, world famous brand (MR also make concert guitar worth RM20-30k), great sound and craftsmanship. Check it out.




This post has been edited by yeehoo: Nov 26 2010, 10:57 AM

few days ago i tried L.Luthier guitar, its quite impressing me no matter the sounds quality or action, and the workmanship is also excellent.
or manuel rodriguez? i think they r much better than the canadian guitar...

i got a cheap classical guitar thats been with me for 20yrs...and its still going strong

its double truss rod system says its just for adjusting relief, so technically it should be a dual action / double action / two way truss rod.
but usually if the wood has been treated properly there is very little chance of warping, especially with nylon strings.

double truss rods are side by side, those can somewhat counter warpage, and which u usually find in some 12-string guitars and a few electrics.

anyway, if the neck really warps, a good luthier can always re-replane the fretboard and re-fret again.

I own manuel rodriguez, it sounds pretty good. It's a spanish guitar, guitarstore carry this brand.

I once tried L.Luthier classical guitar, they are cheap price guitar from china, what could I say, the rm300+ guitar sound beats all other laminated wood guitar including the famous yamaha c-40. I can't remember what model, this L.Luthier classical guitar has very bright color finish, it's the bright yellow color if i'm not mistaken. Looks pretty nice.

bro, 20 years ago, 3 tea spoon of milo powder can be "gao gao",
now put 6 tea spoon still like water.

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Added on November 26, 2010, 4:21 pmactually i dint know l.luthier is from china, but the 1 i tried is solid top.
if got extra money sure get 1 for myself

This post has been edited by nostring: Nov 26 2010, 04:21 PM

I also tried some solid top l.luthier guitar, the prices are cheap, rm600+ for solid top made in china.

i think have to beware of those and check with ur own eye.
i just tried a couple of l.luthier's in music master, both are acoustic.
both also say solid top on the sticker inside the soundhole.
1 was rm550, another rm950...but the rm550 is actually laminated top.

The one i was talking about is classical guitar, it's really solid top. I checked the edges of the soundhole, the grain lines are visible. I did test one L.lutheir acoustic guitar at a music center in jalan klang lama, yes, as you said, it's laminated top wood, the grain line not visible, it's not solid top as the sticker tells. I asked the boss, he insisted it's solid top.

I have a MR too. Model D.

The only quirk that I didn't really like was the 1st string is too near the edge. Most of the time it's hard to do a slur because the string will go out to the edge when I sort of pluck it.

Though the sound of the guitar is excellent for its price.