My mother decided to take guitar lessons and her teacher recommended a classical guitar. He told her to just find a student guitar under $150. Not surprisingly, my mother tasked with finding a good one with a case for under $100.
A retiree in town had a 2001 Yamaha C40 with a hard-case for $79. It was in excellent condition and sounded good. I gave it a thorough cleaning and burnishing. I then cleaned the fretboard with 0000-grade steel wool and treated it and the bridge with Lizard Spit Fretboard Conditioner.
After all that, I restrung it with D'Addario Pro Arte EXP 45's. It looks and sounds even better now.The set-up is fine as it is. I was thinking of carving a bone saddle but there doesn't seem to be a real need for that.
I'm overall impressed with how good this guitar sounds considering what I paid for it and what it normally sells for at retail ($130 to $160). While I enjoy the better tones that I get from my three other classical guitars, I honestly believe that I would do just fine with a C40 if it were the only guitar that I could afford.
I'll be giving the guitar to my mother as an extra and belated Mother's Day gift.
