Chartwell Guitar

Woods: Indian rosewood three piece back and sides, Alpine spruce top. Spanish cedar neck. Nitro lacquer finish.

Specs: 650mm scale, 52mm nut, 43mm string spacing at nut, 58mm at saddle. 4mm string height at 12th fret, bass string. Custom Adalid hard case. 12 hole tie block. Gotoh tuners. Five fan bracing with Spanish style transverse treble bar.

Condition: new

Comment: Were it not for a fortunate trade that landed my first Adalid guitar in my shop, I would not have discovered what a fine line of instruments this Spanish luthier has developed. This is his Sonatina, which features Indian rosewood instead of the Madagascar rosewood he uses for his Evocacion line. I find both his spruce and cedar Sonatinas possess the sweet, creamy colors one expects from traditional Spanish built guitars. I hear plenty of energy and a laudable balance between treble and bass sides.

Adalid guitars are meticulously crafted and the rosettes he uses are quite beautiful. They are easy to play and the nitro lacquer finish insures trouble free handling, The gloss finish they present as new will last decades and it takes rough handling to leave a mark in the finish. Best of all, for anyone worried about moisture whorls during summer months, the nitro is a complete barrier where French polish would not be.

I find Adalid guitars to be worthy of advanced players while they are priced so as to be accessible at any level.