Student Guitars

These are guitars made with beginning guitarists and student budgets in mind. They're typically constructed by a group of craftsmen or in a factory with relatively higher volume than that of craftsmen luthiers. Student guitars should have solid tops but often utitlize laminate woods for their back and sides to reduce production costs. A lacquer finish is typically used to provides durability and protection for the instrument but this is generally regarded inferior to a French polish shellac finish used for concert guitars.

Student guitars can start under $1,000 and range up to about $3,500.

• Browse our selection of Student Guitars

Concert Guitars

These are instruments built by a single builder or a duo of builders, for example; Tezanos-Perez (by luthiers Mariano Tezanos and Gregorio Perez, Ober/Blochinger (by luthiers Fritz Ober and Edmund Blochinger). These builders typically have a very low anual output ranging from about 4 to 20 guitars a year, allowing them to focus more on each individual guitar and its components. More attention is also given to the refinement of tonality and color ina concert guitar. Concert instruments tend to be finished with the much more time-intensive French polish shellac rather than the less expensive lacquer more common in student guitars. The most celebrated benefit of French polish is in improved sound.

Concert guitars generally start at around $3,000 US and climb from there depending on the skill, consistency, celebrity and rarity of the builder.

• Browse our current selection of concert classical guitars, concert flamenco guitars, and concert acoustic steel-string guitars we have in stock.