Aria AS-100C Sinsonido Travel Guitar - Classical

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $629.95
Sale Price: $588.80
Today's Bonus: 7% Off

• Mahogany body with removeable frame
• Breaks down for travel
• Built in preamp with headphones for silent practicing
• Comes with padded travel bag
• Licensed by SoloEtte

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I bought a Soloette classical, then had a chance to test the Aria Sinsonido AS 100-C. It is almost identical, with very similar sound and controls. And why not since the Aria is a licensed design from Wright, the makers of the Soloette. It also uses a Wright Technology pickup system. If what you seek is a practice guitar, not a concert performer, buy the Aria Sinsonido and save yourself about $340.

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I bought my Aria AS-100C 4 or 5 years ago at a high end guitar store in San Francisco and I have been very happy with it. The fretboard width (2 inches at the nut) and length are the same as on a true classical guitar. The guitar uses ball end style nylon strings that are threaded through the end of the fretboard -note the tuning gears are in the "body" of the guitar where the bridge would normally be, which allows for a shorter guitar 34 inches. The only complaint I have about this arrangement is that the first string (high E) cuts into the mahogany. To alleviate this, I cut a tiny bit of insulation off a lamp wire and threaded the string through that and wedged it as close to the hole as possible so the string is resting on the insulation instead of the wood on it's way to the nut.

The Sinsonido comes with a padded carrying case that is about 35.5 long x 10.5 wide, by 3 to 4 inches deep. When using the case, you disassemble the guitar by taking off the foam padded frame. I take this guitar with me when I fly and so far, I have been allowed to carry it on board (in addition to my other carryon) and stash in in the overhead compartment, even though it is longer than the 22 inches allowed by the airlines. If you were required to check the guitar in its padded case instead of carrying it on, I think there is a chance that it could be damaged.

I also use my Sinsonido at home for practicing instead of my true acoustic classical guitar when I don't want to disturb others. It comes with headphones for silent practicing, but you can also hook it up to an amplifier. It uses a 9 volt battery.

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I bought this guitar as a "silent" classical guitar practice tool.

A couple of problems compared with the original Soloette:

1) Neck was 48mm not 52mm (the model Amazon sent me had a 48mm neck).

2) The top of the guitar is completely flat. Unlike the Soloette which attempts to mimic the depth of a regular classical guitar.

3) Aria tuners on this guitar feel like cheap plastic toys. But I cannot honestly say how well they maintain strings in tune. I sent the guitar back as soon as I realized (1) and (2).

I ended up forking over the full price for a Soloette and I believe it was worth every penny if you are trying to work on your classical guitar technique.

Hope this review saves some aggravation for somebody.

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I've hesitated to review this for a while, because I don't like to be mean.

The good:

+ cheap

+ supposed to deliver a great amplified sound (can't confirm)

+ great idea. Based on the well-regarded soloette.

The bad:

built cheap.

The body feels very heavy for what it is.

The tuners are crappier than those I've seen on sub $100 chinese classicals. These go out of tune *while* playing (even during tuning).

The body wings fall off at any inclination, even when I'm still seated practicing scales. I'm not exactly duck walking!!

can't adjust action

The action can only be adjusted to a certain extent due to the nature of the construct. If the body profile was slightly curved like the top of a real guitar, it might be able to have action that approximates a real classical. Unfortunately, the profile is just a flat slab.

I'm not a Julliard trained classical guitarist. However, I've played many hundreds of guitars to get an understanding of a good guitar from a bad. To me, this is a bad guitar. With some major tweaking, it may be acceptable.

If you need a classical travel guitar and have space: I'd recommend getting a cheap student guitar with a piezo, stuffing it with cotton, and using a headphone amp.

If you need something purely electric, spend more money on something else.

For me, I'll likely build something.

I am neither guitar expert nor professional guitarist. I am not qualify to rate the sound quality of this music instrument but as a frequent traveller who loves playing guitar, I strongly recommend this travel guitar since her price is affordable and the most important is the idea that you can take her with you everywhere repeat everywhere by all means of transports moreover you can enjoy playing her anytime you wish. Only a question of how long this instrument last that I have observe.