Thomann Classica Flamenco 1F

I play mainly classical guitar style, though I do not limit myself totally to it and greatly enjoy an adventure into other styles of music, and of course, guitars. Because of HB's reasonably priced guitars ,these adventures have become more frequent and affordable and my latest is into the world of flamenco. I have tried playing flamenco on my hand made Richard Newman guitar but it has always lacked that bright, percussive tone as you can imagine so for £150 (approx) I decided to try Thoman's flamenco guitar. After a short wait the guitar arrived and I couldn't wait to get the box open and try it out. Getting a guitar from Thoman always makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning, it's a joyous occasion.
First impression was not disappointing. The colour and quality of the wood is gorgeous and I was lucky in getting an amazingly symmetrical grain book matched feature on the back. Neck nice and smooth, not overly thin, and fretboard is flat with fairly low out of the box action. Tuners functional but not pretty, so will upgrade them. Nut plastic and in sure the bridge saddle is an uncompensated sliver of bone, so will probably change them too. Sound after a quick tune up was to my ears more like a classical guitar than a flamenco. The soundboard is thicker than I expected and the strings certainly were not doing the instrument any justice. After changing them to D'darrio flamenco, however, it took on the feel and sound of a flamenco. Certainly not a thoroughbred but adequate for my needs. A clear scratch plate or golpeador would have been a practical feature as it doesn't take long for your nails to rip up the surface of the soundboard without it.
All in all a nice guitar for the money. Well made, good wood, nice finish, easily playable with a surprisingly deep resonant bass and bright treble. Happy with the guitar and would recommend it as a student flamenco or as a go to now and then flamenco.
Now , I wonder what my next HB guitar is going to be?! I think I feel a bit of cool and slow and mellow electric bluesy jazzy stuff coming on; so maybe a semi hollow? Who knows? With Harley Benton the choice is remarkable and most satisfyingly varied. I'll go have a look now.

My first flamenco guitar, when I showed it to my friends and they listened to how it sounded wow they was very surprised. Because it sounds very dignified (I put the carbon strings from the Savarez). Dry and bright sound, I advise you to put carbon strings, those that are included (normal nylon - a dull sound - it is better to replace them). There are slight damage under the varnish on the side and a slightly badly traced black line in one place on the side. But it's all nonsense for such money to get such a guitar ... I'm very impressed! The guitar paddles that come complete with plastic and they are high, it's better to replace them with bone ones and set them low. Strings are installed through the guitar deck, very comfortable and beautiful looks! I put this guitar 10 out of 10. If you play a classical guitar, you definitely have to try it! Now this is my favorite guitar, thanks Thomann! I will advise this store to my friends, I am very happy with this purchase!

First off I bought this not to play flamenco music however think this is a lovely guitar. When it arrived i tuned the guitar up and spent two hours playing 19th century Carcassi & Sor studies. I think the guitar is delightful, very lightweight construction (lighter than a standard classical guitar), the sound somewhat brighter than a standard classical guitar....perhaps this is the maple back & sides and solid spruce top? Finish.......absolutely flawless.....I looked.....I could not find a flaw.....anywhere :-) Action comparable to a classical guitar which I actually like because I am not playing flamenco guitar. If I was playing Flamenco which I am not perhaps I may wonder why the guitar did not include a golpeador/low action.....however i do not care because i am playing classical. So why did I buy this? 1. for the aesthetics, 2. for change of tonal variety afforded by a flamenco 3. for the fantastic price. In truth this guitar would require very minor tweaks to suit a true affection-ado of Flamenco, lower the action, add a golpeador and it's perfect! The guitar 'as is' is perfect for my requirements. I can play classical or accompany in Latin style strumming with other instruments with perfectly acceptable volume acoustically. Tonally this instrument strikes me as being very acceptable and comparable to what you would expect from an instrument 2 or 3 times the prices from other established brands but this is rather what I have come to expect from Thomann........ namely great instruments at affordable budget prices.

I ordered this guitar for use at a weekend Flamenco workshop at the end of the month.

The woods used in making this guitar look very attractive and produce a full sound. The quality of the varnish is excellent. There are no blemishes anywhere.

The strings are good enough but I don't know what make they are. They don't keep their tuning very long. I have decided to upgrade to designated Flamenco strings which will keep the tuning more reliable as well as improving an already-good sound.

I think careful bridge adjustment would improve the action by a millimetre or two without compromising sound quality.

One must be very accurate with finger placement on the fretboard otherwise an irritating buzz will ensue at the bridge.
Again, careful work on the bridge would cure this.

Overall, I am very pleased with this guitar. I would certainly recommend it.