With a heady waitlist for a new guitar, Eric Sahlin’s Classicals are a rare sighting on the used market. Today we’ve landed a single owner example from 1994 in Indian Rosewood & Spruce that’s completely opened up, rich, and responsive. Eric adorned the soundhole with an intricate mosaic rosette, and paired that with Rosewood bindings (which even follow the curve of the heel) and Sloane tuners at the headstock. This Classical has been lovingly played for the past 25 plus years, and bears the marks of a guitar that never had the chance to collect dust, but we’re happy to report that all that music has paid off for an opened up voice—and the playability is still sweet and easy to boot.

Other keywords: lutherie, nylon string, andrew york, classical guitar, concert classical, classical music, IR, 650mm

A guitar which plays this smoothly should be illegal. It’s practically criminal, the balance across the registers, the pianistic separation of the strings, the heft of the bottom end, the way the trebles fill the room, and somehow retain a gentleness at the same time. Heck, it’s even a crime to call this a used guitar–practically brand-new from 2015, with not a scratch to be found. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Maestro-RF from Masaki Sakurai. With Central American Rosewood back and sides and a Spruce top, she sings in a voice equal parts vigorous, rich, and articulate. This isn’t your grandpa’s Classical, either: the Maestro-RF features an elevated fingerboard, which allows for easy access to upper frets and modifies the break angle of the strings over the saddle, increasing the amount of vertical force being applied to the Spruce top, whch increases the responsiveness of the plates and dramatically enhances the sustain. Moreover, this shifts where the soundhole is projecting outward, which translates to more of the guitar’s sonorous voice in the player’s ear. If you haven’t played an elevated fingerboard Classical yet, this is your chance! You won’t be disappointed.