NGD (Burroughs classical)

[DankStar]

Been eye-balling this guitar ever since Pete Thorn did his review of the steel string.

The guitar itself is $119, but the pack with a soft case and extra strings is $109. I miss my nylon string guitar from way back, and l love to have a beater around to just grab and not worry about every little ding.

Plus, I'm doing a guitar club at my school this year, can use this to goof on with them

https://www.adorama.com/b20cnt1b.html

 

[DankStar]

oops, I meant Boroughs

 

[GuitarStv]

Is that a solid top and sides guitar for a hundred bucks? If so, holy crap!

 

[DankStar]

Is that a solid top and sides guitar for a hundred bucks? If so, holy crap!

Pete Thorn & the steel string:
https://youtu.be/NzkMOTb7Tr8

(he says prob not solid)

 

[DankStar]

Arrived yesterday. Well packed, fast shipping.

Immediate impression last night - it looks pretty, and overall well-made.

Took wrapper off strings - I noticed the D string was discolored the entire length. I immediately wanted to change the strings.

Took a strum - was no where near in tune, very slack. No problem, tune it up....

First thing I feel are the fret ends - very sharp. OK, I can handle that with a little filing but it's not a great feeling.

Second thing I feel - dull/scrape-y frets against the strings. OK, I can handle that with a little polishing.

Third thing I notice - very low action. Feels kinda nice, but a little buzzy. OK, I can handle that with some truss rod adjustments.

Then I notice - total dead & very buzzy notes at & near the first fret (worst offender on high E string). Now I'm thinking it needs a new nut. This one pissed me off. Nut files are expensive. Luthier work is also expensive and I don't really have a go-to these days.

I keep playing on it. My take is that with some work it will be a fine player. But it needs work.

I then recall Pete Thorn's video and realize he probably received a guitar that had all the work done to make it very playable. He definitely wasn't playing on one out of the box. I then cursed the gods and went to sleep.

 

[beaubrummels]

$100 guitar is a $100 guitar. I have a Yamaha and an Avila. The Yamaha has frets that cut your hand, if you have bad habits with the left hand. The Avila is a bit more like butter, but was an even cheaper instrument (I got it for free, but even used, seems to be cheaper than the Yammy). I'm sure you know but classicals aren't designed to be played like electrics. You have to have proper hand technique, posture, etc. You might be able to just shim the nut with the same material and/or the bridge if you need to raise the strings and truss adjustment doesn't accomplish what you need.

 

[Mincer]

In classical guitars, there seems to be a big jump in quality from a $100 guitar to $300.

 

[DankStar]

agree on all the points

- yes, I think a thin shim + sanding the affixed shim will accomplish what I want (bypass the files needed to cut new slots)
- the fret end dressing and fret polish are simple enough
- I would like to learn the proper classical technique & finger picking, so excited for that

 

[DankStar]

Lil’ update

Nut and saddle height were fine, I just put some relief in the neck and it fixed all the buzzies, even at first fret.

Waiting on a fret dress file and fret polishing kit and should be good to go. Just getting the strings higher makes me feel the fret ends less already. Some filing and polishing and it’ll be a great axe.