1950s Favilla C-5 Classical Guitar

Update: the owner of the guitar clued me in on the interior stamps signifying that this is a mid-late '50s product. I had a hunch on that when I was working on it because the finish is a little different from the '60s ones, but I wasn't sure about it because I'm used to seeing this type of classical tuner on '60s models. Back to the original post...

New York's Favilla company made excellent nylon/gut-strung instruments. I'm not always as crazy about their later steel-strings, but this smaller classical guitar is simply fun to play. Like their baritone ukuleles, this one has an all-solid mahogany body -- top included. It's very-lightly fan-braced and cut thin, too, so the tone and volume is there. The lower bout is only 14" wide at the fullest, too, so it's a comfortable guitar to handle on the couch.

I'd say the sound is more "flamenco" than "classical" in character, but despite the mahogany top it does have a good, clean, full low-end. It's not muddy like some cedar/spruce-topped classicals, though, and you can bang on it a bit strumming-style and not have it get too boomy or woofy.

This one's in on consignment and arrived in decent, crack-free condition with its original chip case in tow. After setup it plays nicely and is ready to go.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, lowering/resculpt of the saddle area of the bridge, a couple reglues to the ends of top braces, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays great with 3/32" treble and hair-over 3/32" bass action at the 12th fret. The neck is straight. I've got it strung with LaBella Gold strings with polished basses for a silkier, flatwound-like feel. They're a little mellower than straight roundwound strings but they feel oh-so-nice and one doesn't get the scritchy-scratch sound while playing them.

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 2 1/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/4"

String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"

Body length: 18 5/8"

Lower bout width: 14"

Waist width: 8 3/4"

Upper bout width: 10 1/2"

Side depth at endpin: 3 7/8"

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Neck wood: mahogany

Bracing type: very light fan-bracing

Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood

Bridge: Brazilian rosewood

Neck feel: slim-to-medium D-shape, flat board

Condition notes: there are light scratches all over but no cracks. The finish has weather-checking throughout as well. It's all-original with the exception of the bridge having minor modification to its saddle area.

It comes with: a presumably-original '60s chip case.