Antonio Hermosa AH-50 Classical Acoustic-Electric

This guitar completely exceeded my expectations. I was looking for a guitar that I could practice on, take to the beach, etc. I looked at many, many acoustic-electric guitars and this one caught my eye for several reasons:1. I always wanted a classical, nylon-stringed guitar but the wide necks don't suit my style. This one is wide enough for finger-picking but feels like an electric guitar neck2. It has the built in pickup and tuner; more about those later3. The price, duh!4. Okay, I admit it, it looks cool (subjective); have had a lot of positive comments on itI have been playing guitar for more years than I care to admit. Also managed a music store where I bought, set up, and sold hundreds of guitars, from $150 Yamahas to Gibsons, Fenders, and Guilds (when they were all made in the US). So I'm not a virtuoso guitar player, but I know something about guitars. Okay, so to address some of the issues in the other reviews:1. Playability: there's always variations in guitars, whether they're $100 Chinese guitars or $5,000 Martins. Obviously more expensive guitars are more consistent. My particular guitar arrived in perfect playable condition - no fret buzzes, low action, etc. Couldn't be happier. Because of the neck, action, and nylon strings, this is the easiest to play guitar I've ever owned and is now the first guitar I pick up, despite having several other, pretty expensive guitars. The next one ordered could be different, but at this price, worth it if you have to have it setup.2. Finish: some people didn't like the finish. Guitars basically come in two finishes: gloss (used to be lacquer but is now usually polyurethane) and matte. This one is matte; I suspect polyurethane. Gloss is not better than matte, it's just different. Matte tends to be used on the less expensive guitars and is perhaps less durable. On the other hand, it will probably never crack or chip. Some people believe the finish effects the tone; could be, you'll have to judge the tone for yourself. In a guitar like this that is virtually a solid body, I doubt that the finish has any effect on the tone. Personally I like it because it looks like natural oiled wood. The spruce top on mine, unlike some of the reviewer's, is gorgeous: tight-grained and free of defects. And I love the way it is bonded seamlessly to the sides. The fingerboard wood is also very attractive. And it has dot markers on the top and sides of the fingerboard, which you won't find on classical guitars.3. Tuners: yes, the tuners are cheap. The brown plastic knobs are really tacky. But mine actually work pretty well and hold a decent tune. I'll eventually replace them.4. Electronics: the pickup sounds good to me and the tone and volume controls are adequate. There's no EQ but chances are you'll be playing it through a preamp or amp that has EQ. You can always buy a pedal EQ if you need one. My amp has EQ so there you go. The pickup has enough gain to drive the amp and the effects to high levels. I love the way it sounds amplified. Unamplified, it is very quiet, which is great for practicing. The biggest disappointment is the tuner. It only registers on about half the strings. Maybe its the strings. I'll see when I change the strings out. But at least it has a tuner and I can use my ear to do the other strings.5. Shipping: one reviewer said his arrived in nothing but the cardboard "coffin" box. Mine arrived in the coffin encased in a larger cardboard box that protected it very well.6. Case: there is no case made specifically for this guitar. It is too small for regular acoustic guitar cases and too wide for many acoustic-electric cases. It will fit in many electric guitar cases: check all the dimensions to be sure. I decided to get a soft case so I could easily lug it around. The first bag I ordered was too big so I returned it and got a World Tour electric bag for $25. It fits fine. Yes, it has "pink" piping and a strong smell when new, but I've been airing mine out on the patio and it's okay. I like this guitar so much I'll probably order a hard case eventually.Here's the bottom line: Gibson came out with a guitar like this in the 80s. It was about $1500-2000 if I remember well. It was entirely a solid body. This one is chambered and has some acoustic sound unamplified and is under $250; which would you buy? And Godin makes something similar for $800-1500. Yes, the Godin has extra pickups and EQ and is a better made guitar (I own a Godin electric and love it) but again, the price. I never thought I'd buy a Chinese guitar, let alone sight unseen, but I took a chance, knowing I could return it if I didn't like it. Now you can't pry it out of my hands. I love this guitar so much that if I go back to playing professionally, it will be my axe. And if it gets trashed, I'm only out $250. After dropping my $1000 Guild on stage, I'll never do that again. If you're a beginner looking for an easy to play guitar, this would be great. Or if you've always wanted a classical but with a thinner neck, this works for that too. Or if you need an inexpensive stage guitar that sounds good amplified, it will do that too. I couldn't find this guitar at any of the major brick or online stores. Turns out I coulda ordered it through my local music store but I'd never heard of it so I bought it from Amazon. Go for it. The downside? It's not gonna work for the beach or campsite because its too quiet for sing-alongs, unless you bring a battery powered amplifier. But I like it too much to drag it to parties anyway. I'll buy a beater on Craigslist.

Let me start by saying I have been playing guitar off and on for over 40 years. During that time I have owned, Guild D40 acoustic, Fender Strat, Ibenez hollow body electric jazz guitar, Guild Bluesbird Electric, Washburn Classical and a Gibson ES335. I am not here to tell you this guitar is equal to or better than those but I am going to say that for the price this is an excellent guitar. Fit, finish, sound and playability is really impressive at this price point.In a way I am sad to be so happy with this guitar, labor cost is so low in China that they flood our market with products that are, at least on the surface, very high quality. This global free market has helped to enrich the lives of people in China and Mexico while at the same time eliminated jobs for Americans. Fender makes guitars in Mexico and profits from the cheap labor, Gibson makes it's Epiphone guitars in Asia and also profits from the cheap labor. So my pleasure with this instrument is tempered by that fact.But back to the guitar. I am shocked that it made it to my home in New Jersey in one piece. The guitar box was in an Amazon box twice it's size and with nothing but a small amount of brown paper that did little to cushion it. The box from China had little real packing but in spite of that it arrived in excellent condition.When the guitar arrived I allowed it to come up to room temperature before I even touched it, this guitar is a world traveler, from China, to Texas, to Kentucky and finally New Jersey where the temperature was around 19° when UPS dropped it off.Once the guitar had warmed up I inspected it, it is a lovely piece, wood is beautiful and blemish free. There is a scarf joint in the neck, not at all unusual in import guitars. Some hate it, some say it's better that way, I have no informed opinion and it is barely noticeable without close inspection.I tuned the guitar and noted that the action was high at upper registers. I used the included allen wrench to tighten down on the truss rod. The first three 1/4 turns had little resistance which indicated to me the bar was under no stress, after a couple more turns the resistance was there and the neck came into adjustment quickly. After a few days I will probably need to do it again when the guitar settles into the temperature and humidity of my house.Once the neck was adjusted I again tuned it and it is a pleasure to play, great action, no buzzing and the intonation at the 12th fret was spot on.The built in tuner is accurate when checked against my other tuner and the electronics all seem fine, no feed back.The guitar is roughly the size of a Gibson Les Paul and is quite heavy. The 1 7/8" nut is the same as my Washburn Classical but the neck is thinner similar to an electric guitar.Bottom line, this is a really nice guitar that sounds great through my Vox VT20+, it is so much fun to play I can't put it down.