1966 Levin-made Goya G-10 Classical Guitar

Update December 2017: The owner of this traded it back to me and so I've added a soundclip and updated the description where necessary. It's still playing great with 3/32" action at the 12th fret (standard for classical/folk nylon guitars) and, save for a little tarnish on the wound strings, is just as excellent as when it left.

This Levin-made (from Sweden) Goya G-10 is a customer repair and like the many I've worked on in the past, it's a reliable, great-playing, great-sounding nylon-strung guitar that's more of a folk guitar than a true classical. The owner had me install a K&K pickup (which sounds excellent in it) and I also gave it a neck reset, fret level/dress, some seam repairs, and some brace repairs, too.

The G-10 models have solid spruce tops over solid birch back and sides. The bridge and fretboard are rosewood and the neck is mahogany. A lot of the steel-string Levin-made Goyas have bolt-on necks, but the classicals all have dovetailed ones instead. Aside from the quality (and simple) build, the best thing about Levin/Goya classicals are their aluminum-reinforced necks which are thin (front to back) which makes them super-playable compared to your average classical from the same time (or even now).

While the nut width is 2" as per normal classicals, the depth of the neck is (as stated) shallower and a mild C/D shape. This guitar has a shorter 24 13/16" scale length and "00-size" lower bout at 14" across with 3 3/4" endblock side-depth.

This instrument is 100% original and crack-free.

The rosewood fretboard looks nice, the neck is straight, and the frets still have some decent life left in them after the level/dress job.

I love the understated appointments on Levin products -- the simple red/brown rosette and plain black binding is refreshing as many classicals make too much of a point about showing-off even when they're relatively inexpensive instruments.

Note how I've balled-up the ends of the strings like ukulele strings to mount them through the tailblock this way. This adds extra down-pressure on the saddle.

Also note the weathercheck to the finish (they're just finish cracks) which is all over the instrument. It's typical for Levin/Goyas and I see it all the time.

The birch back and sides blend nicely with the mahogany neck and they have a good amount of light figure throughout, too.

Here's the jack for the K&K pickup. These are high-output and very natural-sounding. Once customers of mine have heard them and used them it's very hard to go back to undersaddle-style units.

The original chip case with its Goya logo comes with it.