quote:

ORIGINAL: Kalo

Thanks guys!

I did some research on the internet and you are both right about it being low end...

Guess what else I found out?? I was told by the Seller that there is a crack that runs down the middle of the body. This crack occurred about three years ago! The Seller claims that he had it looked at by a local luthier who put some cleats inside. He concluded that the crack is a surface fissure and does not pose a future risk and it is a Cosmetic faults!

In reality I think $1200.00 is way too high for this guitar. I haven't played it yet, but, low end, and a crack in the middle???

Thanks,

Kalo

quote:

If the crack goes under the bridge the guitar is pretty much done for and should be free. But if it avoids the bridge, it probably is just cosmetic. Price should be more like $800 IMO if the crack is bad. Conde student guitars tend to be made by Sanchis and others that are actually very good builds for the price range. At that point it's about label and looks to go for student conde vs the actual valencia maker. Perhaps bracing different I don't know but feel and sound is the same deal.

quote:

Kalo, as I recall from posts a few months ago was not scale length and neck width an issue? something to consider with this guitar as i believe the student conde's are longer than 650mm. as ricardo and others have said or implied, $1200 seems like a lot for a conde that is used and has a crack. if the crack is due to lack of hydration i wonder what other problems may be going on? neck angle? fret ends sticking out? wood woofing? for the same money i would think there are a bunch of alternatives that would be much better with respect to your hands and/or the quality of life expectancy of the guitar.

quote:

Kalo,
I have a suggestion, look in the classifieds section and look up the following guitar: Cogger, blanca. I've played this instrument and while its a bit rough looking, there is nothing wrong with it. It sounds very similar to a Culpepper guitar as he is Andy's mentor and it used to belong to Andy Culpepper. I know the guy selling it and he is switching away from flamenco and that's only reason he is selling it. I think he is asking $850 usd but you could probably get it for a bit less. Its really a nice sounding instrument with good action and for that kind of money, a solid instrument you could live with for a while.
Sig--

quote:

fully understand your concern, however I don't think you would have a problem with a 54mm nut. 2mm over the standard shouldn't cause you any hardships as the difference is quite small. The action is nice and low and it takes very little pressure to fret a chord, even a barre chord down on the neck... Sig--

quote:

My advice is do not buy the Conde EF5. For the cost of $800 to $1200 you can obtain a good new guitar with no flaws or cracks, and with a 52 mm nut, which is what you want. These EF5s are not really made by Conde in the first place. As Ricardo wrote, it most likely was made by Sanchis or someone else in Valencia for Conde. They can be good guitars, but in this case you would be putting out a lot of money for a guitar that is already flawed. And who knows what other flaws it may have besides the crack. Keep your money and wait for a guitar you really feel confident is in great shape and that you feel comfortable buying, including nut size, scale length, and the shape of the neck. When you finally find the guitar you really want, you will be glad you waited.
Patience, my friend, patience. It will pay off in the long run.

quote:

Just lettin you know that the ef5 are 664 in scale length.
I saw that on a Conde catalogue, but that was from a few years back.
Cheers

quote:

You should check out delcamp, they have a Johnny walker 640/50 scale negra for sale.

quote:

Kalo,
Yes, if you could try it, you might like it but since that isn't going to work I agree with Bill's advice. Don't rush into a purchase, take your time and find something that fits and you can live and grow with; there are lots of guitars out there, eventually you will find the right instrument...
Sig--

quote:

If you live near any place that has a big inventory of classical and flamenco guitars you can go and pretend your a serious buyer just to try many different things out to see what suits your needs. When you feel something you like, ask "whats the nut width on this? What scale? Whats the neck shape?" etc.. I did this, luckily I live near Guitar Salon, I felt a little bad but the experience was invaluable. It actually dispelled some things for me, things I thought were important I found were not and vice versa.

quote:

it's delcamp.us it's a classical guitar website but they have flamenco guitars in their 'for sale' page sometimes. it's good that you are in the USA, you can test the guitar out and then return it if you don't like it. you can search johnny walker on this foro and read about the luthier here as well..
hope you will be successful in your search soon!

quote:

Kalo - just stick to your Takamine. I am visiting back home now and got to play my Hohner HC-06 $80 classical guitar. It sounds AMAZING! No really, I still absolutely enjoy playing it. Just hold onto your Takamine and work on your flamenco skills. Once you get to the next level in your playing, you'll find the most appropriate flamenco guitar will magically appear near you for you to buy and enjoy it. (Maybe I'm living in flamenco fantasy world now. )

quote: