Segovia SJ-65

I bought this guitar (70s J-65) from a well known Vintage Guitar shop in downtown Seattle about 10-yrs ago for $200 (no case) and have had it for approx 12-years. No issues with nut, bridge, action. It has sealed tuners and never goes out of tune-seriously. I have 9s on it. It has a spruce top and I believe rosewood body and fingerboard. It sounds great with a pick as well as fingerstyle. Its tone is like a same-sized Martin. Its projects as expected for a guitar of its size. There are no cons what-so-ever with this guitar. I have vintage Guilds and a Red Label Yamaha. When I purchased this guitar, I was shopping for a vintage high-end guitar. This was the best sounding guitar in the shop with lots of vintage Martins and Gibsons in it. It is well suited for guitarist with small hands. My hands are X-large and I have no trouble with fretting chords. Probably the best value on a vintage accoustic guitar out there with the exception of Red Label Yamahas which sound better that same year Martins.

The Segovia SJ-65 is an acoustic guitar, essentially for beginners. I don't own this guitar, but a good friend of mine does and I've played around with it countless times at his house. This guitar has nothing to do with Andres Segovia as far as I know, so don't be fooled by the name! It's not an acoustic/electric, so there aren't any pick ups or controls to work with here and I'm not at all sure about what kind of materials this is made out of. I'm pretty sure this guitar is made in China, but do not know this 100%.

UTILIZATION

The feel of the Segovia SJ-65 definitely isn't the best. It feels somewhat cheap and in general isn't the easiest guitar to play for whatever reason. It probably has a bit to do with the fact that the specific model I've played wasn't very well maintained, but even a few years back when it was in better shape it wasn't great. I'd probably spring for something else for a beginner, as it's crucial to get an accurate guitar feel when starting out.

SOUNDS

The sound of the Segovia SJ-65 isn't anything to get excited about, in fact it's below average. I haven't used the guitar for anything other than playing around in a home setting, but based on this use of the instrument I wouldn't recommend it at all for recording. It sounds like a guitar (which isn't a given) and will give you an okay sound for what it is, but definitely isn't anything better than for practicing and getting to know the instrument.

OVERALL OPINION

Segovia isn't the most well known brand, but they've got a few low end guitars out there, including the SJ-65. I don't know how easy it would be to get your hands on this guitar, as it was really just a coincidence how I've gotten to use it. I haven't used it in any serious manner and don't believe it's suited for that. Even as a beginner's guitar, I'd encourage you to shop around as there are definitely more accurate feeling guitars out there in this price range that you can get started with.