KremonaSolea Artist Series Nylon String Guitar

Some background rant;I've been playing guitar for 35 years. I play folk and classical. I'm not a professional guitarist but rather I work blue collar (salt mine). Guitars are mostly a solitary passion and escape for me like it is for most players. With that said I've been known to play out and about now and then. On my own estimate, I am an intermediate guitarist with a good feel for some songs. I am often told I have far too humble opinion of myself.My past guitars include CF Martin, Taylor, Santa Cruz, Guild, Alvarez, and a Korean copy Guild. Note; I bought the American guitars decades ago when they were still reasonably priced. That changed. All these ended up sold when i was low on cash - except the korean copy - that I smashed in a drunken rage at its mediacracy.On the other hand, I feel that the American (and some Spanish) guitar makers, such as Martin have taken a "working-class soul" instrument and turned it into a pricey exclusive snob thing. There is such a snob appeal to some guitars that makes me not even want to pick them up. I look at them with contempt even. A man on blue-collar wages can't really afford these. THAT my friends is why I (in Upstate New York) gave the unheralded Bulgarians at Kremona's century-old violin shop a chance... a gamble. (For some reason I pictured squads of dedicated oompa loompa midgits working with focus in a hidden guitar shop - no offense to the great men of Kremona!). Ok, about the Kremona Solea.Ordered new from Amazon and it arrived on schedule. Decent case - black molded plastic. nothing fancy, but it will doNow, examining the guitar, and I mean really SCRUTINIZING this guitar visually, and I could not find a single flaw in the workmanship any where. Nice! I was delighted and impressed with the quality of the materials as well. Best guitar i have owned in terms of build. It doesn't have a "rushed" or factory look or feel. Ok, fine. How does it sound?Out of the box, I tuned it up and played a few varied classical pieces. Hmmm... it was ok - but dull and flat. It was just plain unimpressive no matter how hard I plied at those strings to sing. I felt let down - deflated. Return? Sigh... Wait!I looked at the sticker inside the guitar and I see it was made three years ago. So this guitar has been traveling around the world and sitting in warehouses for three years with the same strings. There was yet hope.A few days later. .. I got some good-quality new strings and strung her up and gave it a day to settle in.I played the same songs as I initially did.Wow. Huge difference!Guitar sounds great throughout the ranges. Intonation dead on, playability right where it should be. I'm not sure how to describe sounds as well as some people do in reviews, but I will say it is the best sounding classical guitar I've ever played - it has a resonance to it that I think I can exploit. I have a feeling this guitar won't let me down in terms of workmanship and materials, playability and sound. So I'm giving it my hard-to-get 5 stars and keeping it.This said, they are handmade and guitars will vary amongst same model. Always best to play it first. But when you live as far out in in the boondocks as I do , and you work 6 days a week, driving to the city to a big music shop it's not an option so you take a chance ordering based on reviews. In this regard, its not a big chance is amazon has a good return policy, and they'll even cover the return shipping.Finally, this guitar retails for $2,000 dollars and I picked it up for $1,500. That is still a lot of money. But in my sincere estimate a guitar of equal quality and materials would cost two or three times as much if made anywhere else - which would price it out of my range. This is a bargain. I am keeping this guitar!Tim Shenk Sr.UPDATE: Six months later - still very pleased with the guitar in terms of tone, volume, playability, build quality. It's nothing fancy to look at but it is a great playing guitar and a value.

THE GUITAR IS UNUSED FOR TIME AND WITH LOOSE ROPES PRESENTS DEFORMITIES IN THE TOP ABOUT 3 CENTIMETERS BELOW THE BRIDGE IT APPEARS TO BE A FAILURE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GUITAR AND IN THIS CASE THE GUITAR DOES NOT HAVE A QUALITY ACCORDING TO ITS PRICE BUT IT DENOTES THE LACK OF PRESSURE IN THE CONSTRUCTION TO PREVENT IT FROM BEING DEFORMED WITH VIRTUALLY NO USE.... Kremona Solea WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT

Great sounding guitar. It came with several dings on the top of the guitar. It was not the same color of Cobobolo wood as the one presented on the Amazon site. Otherwise, it works great!

What a wonderful instrument. Very well built with attention to detail. Straight and tight grained solid cedar top, beautiful cocobolo back and sides, perfectly book matched. The rosette is abalone, very beautiful and makes the top pop out at you. The best is the sound,very warm yet clear, with great separation. I was so impressed with the quality of the workmanship for the unbelievable price. A great opportunity to own a solid wood instrument at such affordability. I was so happy that I have since purchased a Romida solid spruce top with solid rosewood back and sides. Another great purchase. Tight grained Spruce top, beautiful rosewood back and sides. The Romida sounds great now but I am sure it will open up and sound even better as time goes on. The sound is bright and clear, with great volume. I am enjoying my guitars so much. I will be looking for what comes out of the Kremona Workshop in the future.

First: To the guy who reviewed the Kremona Solea and imagined little people working in a sweatshop in Bulgaria... Sad, but typical arogant and ignorant American approach and view. Bulgaria has been a country since 681, has incredible history and traditions, and has gone through far too much for it to fit here. About the instrument...Nothing against the average campfire strummer; but the kremona is not too much to behold.Great workmanship, and great wood, and for that I give it 4 stars.Poor setup, buzzing, very soft, too soft, the nut and maybe the saddle would have to come a bit. Soft is good only so much. If you want to creschendo you will get lots of buzz. This is easily fixed though so that is why I only take away 1 star. A bad choice of finish for a classical guitar too, very pretty, but not for the sonority of a classical guitar.It is a good guitar and you will be paying money for workmanship and quality of tonal wood as such is the Cocobolo.On the Kremona website the Solea is mentioned as a concert instrument. I think that Kremona means well but the setup issues will have to be addressed if we are going to talk about concert quality guitar. I also wish they would do away with the poliurethaine finish. It leaves the guitar as shiny as a new Corvette, and I suspect it stays like that for years but that tight gloss also holds the sound. French polish and this guitar will sound much better, and will likely go up in price too.Buy it if you want a pretty guitar with ok sound, excellent intonation, and a great case; it is worth the money.Do not buy it if you are looking for a recital instrument.Good luck

This guitar is beautifully crafted and has a lovely sound. I like it better than a Martin I tried before because it is easier to play.

Beautiful looking and beautiful sounding guitar! I love this company! It’s my third guitar from Kremona this year …. And thanks to Daniel at Calido’s Guitars for the great set up before shipping it to me! He set the action also oiled the fretboard and did a polish to boot ! And install a fresh set of strings too I think! ( they look and sound too new to be from the factory) overall very happy!

Quality is great. Beautiful instrument. Very nice sound. Although a beginner would be very satisfied with it, it is a little expensive for a first instrument.