c.2000 Lone Star Requinto
The now-defunct Lone Star brand instruments (90s, early 2000s) were all made in Paracho, Mexico as far as I know, and I always respected them as a decent entry-level brand. This requinto is no different and has a great, full, respectable tone. For those not in the know -- a requinto is a smallish classical guitar with a short (20-22") scale and tuned up to ADGCEA (like a regular guitar with a capo on the 5th fret). This gives them a cutting, sweet, bell-like tonality that lets them punch through for lead work in mariachi ensembles.
This requinto is essentially unplayed. It was bought new and maybe had 5 minutes of play time. I just did a setup on it and added some new D'Addario Pro Artes and it sounds great and feels like a much more expensive guitar. I like the Selmer-style cutaway, too.
The top is solid cedar and I'm really not sure about all the secondary woods, but the fretboard and bridge are both rosewood. The board has the typical Mexican-style classical guitar neck (wide, flat, and D-shaped with a flatter back).
I don't know what the nut is made of, but it's very durable and slippery. It was hell to do the setup on it because it was so slippery and hard that it made slotting quite difficult. This is a good thing, by the way!
Nice classical rosette.
Cute stuff, huh?
If you're thinking about investing in a decent classical that's new-ish, I heartily suggest hunting eBay for the Lone Star instruments. They come up once in a while in the $200-300 range and after a setup can challenge some pretty decent fare.
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