Santos Series C-40SCE BK : FOR BEGGINERS

I bought this instrument because of its price as an experiment to be modified to accomodate (way) heavier gauge MAGMA TRANSPOSITOR strings.

First the goods: For USD 175 I got a classical acoustic with a cutaway, a transducer, a preamp and tuner. It's all black! And the best part it's that for such a budget it sounds way better than expected!

Then the bads: The fretwork on the unit I got was the worse I ever had. I had to level all the frets, re-crown one by one and then polish in order to make this guitar usable. Luckily I have luthery skills and after several hours of work the guitar plays beautifully. The nut and bridge are the cheapest low density plastic and you should swap both for bone or graphtech to get the most of this instrument. Depending on which part of the world you are, having these tasks taken care by a luthier might cost you the price of the guitar or even more. The black glossy finish is not as comfortable as matte, open grain or even glossy finishes from high-end models. In addition, this finish gets marred and scratched quite easily and somehow I don't think it will stay pitch black for long since white hue started to show in different parts of the body.

The conclussion: provided the frets are leveled and nut and bridge are replaced I find this is a great instrument for begginers (studying and performing). Just be aware of your local luthier's reparation price-list before ordering.