In-Depth & Hands-On
REVIEW: Yamaha’s CG171SF Flamenco Guitar Cary Apr 27th
Not Exactly An Electric Guitar, But…
While we’re on the subject of Flamenco, I thought I’d take a moment to review a guitar that has to be one of the best deals going around – Yamaha’s gorgeous CG171SF Flamenco guitar.
The Good: Being a bit manic about authenticity, I was absolutely convinced going into this that if I wanted a decent instrument for playing a decidedly Spanish form of music, well, I’d need a Spanish-built guitar…boy was I ever wrong.
After playing many guitars, at many different price points, I’m happy to let you in on a little secret that I discovered: you’d be hard-pressed to find a Flamenco guitar for less than $1,000 that sounds or plays any better than the Yamaha CG171SF. That’s pretty amazing when you consider that the CG171SF sells for less than $350.
The first thing you notice on this guitar is its beautiful finish. The solid spruce top and cypress back & sides that give the instrument so much of its lovely tone are lovely to look at, too, with very fine natural details evident on all sides. The action all the way up the neck is surprisingly low (a must for the Flamenco player,) and with a new set of strings installed – my favorites are Galli Genius Titanium – there is no audible fret buzz at all.
The CG171SF produces the kind of warm and clear tone that you’d expect from a much more expensive guitar, and it does it consistently, only sounding better as it ages (I say this from personal experience, having owned mine for nearly three years.) Of course, that assumes that you take care of your new guitar, and use a humidifier during the stressful seasons – particularly during the first few years.
The guitar also holds its tuning exceptionally well for extended periods of time – certainly better than any electric guitar I’ve ever owned – and the nato neck is highly playable and just plain comfortable.
The Bad: The only downsides that I’ve come across for the Yamaha CG171SF are admittedly minor: a guitar selling for this cheap has to skimp in some areas, and the obvious ones here are the plastic tops of the tuning pegs (they are a nice pearloid color though!) and what is probably a plastic nut. Some day I may find myself replacing the tuners, but currently they give me no problems at all.
The Beautiful: At less than $350 I can’t say enough about the CG171SF. Buy one, replace the stock strings, and you’ve got a beautiful instrument that will provide you years of enjoyment… and may just change your opinion on what a quality guitar should cost.
Howdy! Care to Comment?
April 27th, 2006 at 11:02 am
[…] REVIEW: Yamaha’s CG171SF Flamenco Guitar […]
May 12th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
I picked one of these up at Guitar Center today after itching to want to play Flamenco for a long long time… I was putting it off because I couldn’t afford a high end DeVoe or similar, and my buddies that play flamenco professionally said that the cheaper flamenco guitars you find in the USA (Cordoba, Conte Hermanos, etc.) don’t have the right neck radius and low enough action.
Today when I tried one of these at the local Guitar Center, and a local professional flamenco player was in the store. He told me that it is the closest thing he’s played that compares to the common flamenco guitars they use in Spain…down to the cypress back and sides and spruce top. He said that you would have to spend thousands of dollars to get a guitar that was much better than this one….and that this is the perfect guitar to learn all of the common flamenco techniques (rascado, etc.). Then he showed me some cool alternative tuning things with phrygian riffs (low E tuned to D….and G string tuned to F#).
Thanks for the heads up on this instrument!
May 13th, 2006 at 7:20 am
Hi Rick,
I’m really happy to hear you picked on of these up. I was fairly stunned the first time I played one, and of course people still look at me funny when I tell them I play a Flamenco made by Yamaha, but hey — the joke’s on them! hehe.
Perhaps the true test is that a few years later, with the guitar a bit more seasoned, it sounds even better, and the action is still spot-on. In fact — on my guitar, with good strings — if you play up around the 9th or 10th fret on the high E or B strings you even get phenomenal sustain… I mean it absolutely rings. It almost sounds like reverb.
I looked at the Hermonas, Cordobas, etc, and except for those in the $1,500 to $2,000 price range there didn’t seem to be any comparison.
Quick hint: my new favorite strings for this thing are the Galli Titanium Normal Tension. They are concert quality, but not too expensive. I’m getting them from a place called Strings By Mail, mostly because I like to support the mom & pop shops, but I’m sure you can find them other places as well:
http://www.stringsbymail.com/sublist.asp?tCat=1&tMan=5&dMan=Galli&tSer=92&dSer=Genius+Titanium
Good luck with the Flamenco playing — it’s quite a challenge, but quite rewarding too.
May 26th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Hi, I own a classical one, not the flamenco, it’s a CG-171S. Over that I own a Jose Ramirez 4E plus (look around for the price, over 3.500 dollars), something like: Features
Solid East Indian rosewood back and sides, selected woods Solid Western Red AAAA grade cedar top African ebony fingerboard Spanish cedar neck Fusteros tuners 650 mm scale length 52 mm nut width
The two guitars are not comparable, specially because of the different top, S is for spruce, and for the general quality difference in tuners, back and sides. But the little baby is far to be out of the competition. You get more than what you pay for. Maybe is a good idea to change the tuners with good ones, maybe something like 30 / 40 $, than wait and be faithful. Instead of red cedar top, that come out from the beginning, solid spruce top guitars need at least one year to start singing, primarily because of the natural content of resin inside the wood, going to reduce with the seasoning. Once again, don’t expect to have in your hands a luthier guitar, but the sound is beautiful and clear. I use to play this guitar with D’Addario EJ46 (in the next week I’ll try the Galli titanio GR40), and I think this is one of the best string set, for price performance ratio and for classical music. Over that, the first reason of Yamaha good sound is in the company history and tradition, Yamaha have luthier classical and flamenco guitar line, and have a very long experience in doing it. So don’t be surprised if a part of this experience has been spent in the industrial line and if these products can be compared with thousand dollar guitars.
And if you don’t have an honest teacher for helping you in choosing the first classical or flamenco guitar, then Yamaha could be a very good starting point. Last but not least, thousand dollars guitars? better to save the money for a good guitar school or teacher.
P.S. It’s rasgueado in spanish, but hey, writing in the right way don’t help you playing it in the right way
December 14th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
GREAT REVIEWS…THK U FELLOW PPL WHO APPRECIATE FLAMENCO and I am Totally nuts abt Flamenco! I m soon to purchase the CG171SF !~!!!!
December 21st, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Sorry to ask what might be a dumb question, but could a nylon stringed guitar like this be strung with regular steel strings without tension problems?
I really like the look of the guitar, but play the blues.
Thank you
December 22nd, 2006 at 9:02 am
I wouldn’t recommend it… I tried this once when I was a teenager cuz’ I just had to have a steel string and the only guitar I had access to was a classical.
Amazingly, the bridge did stay glued on––but only for about two weeks.
I never heard or saw that bridge come off, but one day I just opened my case and discovered the wreckage….
: (
September 4th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Just found the question on possible fitting of steel strings on classical guitars. I recently received a used Yamaha from the U.S. which sounded superb but was fitted with steel srings. It had come across the pond with no problem and by the look of the strings they were of some age. Apparently therefore they had been fitted some time ago.
Changing to nylons had no affect on the action or appearance of the top. Does anyone have any experienceof steel strings that can be used this way. Regards, Herb.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Well, according to the books, it is not recommended to put steel strings (for “Acoustic Guitars”) on “Classical Guitars” designed for nylon strings. They are not built to handle the tension of steel strings.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I read this post and its comments with interest, since I just obtained a Yamaha CG-171S (non-flamenco) myself about a month ago, and tonight put Galli Titanio normal tension strings on. I like the feel of the trebles better than the feel of D’Addario J-47’s (same trebles as the J-45’s, but alloy-wound bass strings that don’t tarnish). The Galli strings cost quite a bit more, but they may also last longer; guitarist Ana Vidovic said in an interview that she uses the Titanio strings because they last longer, as well as for the way their tone complements her Jim Redgate guitar. If they last well, I may start using the Galli strings instead of D’Addario. The next three or four weeks should tell.
Pleased to read about the satisfaction experienced with the Yamaha CG-series guitars. I bought my second Yamaha because I do think the quality of build and of sound probably cannot be equaled for the money. I suspect the comment about Yamaha’s experience, above, is correct — they apply their lessons learned across the board.