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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Montaya guitars
I've been offered a Montaya 12 string with case for 200 bucks. Anybody know anything about them? I've done a little looking and can't really find much. I've seen prices from$60.00 to $900.00. I really don't want to waste my time checking out something I don't want (cheap korean guitar). Any advice appreciated.
play it. check it out for cracks, if it looks good sounds good, its up to you. 200 for a 12 string is pretty good deal
Montaya's were made by the Hyosung Corp. in South Korea, during the 70's. That doesn't mean it's a good guitar ... or a bad one. A lot of very good acoustics and electrics are made in South Korea, and are known for their workmanship.
The main thing to watch for with an older acoustic is for signs of moisture / dryness damage. Have a look down the length of the guitar, looking at it from the bottom straight up the neck. Looks for signs of warpage in the neck. There should be a very slight concave curvature in the neck / fretboard (called "relief"). It should be enough so that there isn't any fret buzz when strummed open or when fretting. But there shouldn't be so much relief, that the action (string height from fretboard) is so great that it's hard to play.
Also notice whether the top of the guitar is concave / convex. Look for a hump on top of the soundboard, between where the neck attaches and the sound hole. A hump here usually means the guitar has been dried out too much (improper storage) which is very hard to recover from once the wood has been re-shaped. Also look for lifting around the bridge. Here's a great article with more detail about inspecting a used guitar:
https://www.sagemusic.co/inspecting-an- … condition/
If the guitar is straight in these areas, and also plays / sounds good, you've probably got a good deal in your hands.
Let us know how you made out ... all the best!
Thanks for the replies. I'll probably go take a look at it a it's not very far from me. I don't mind where a guitar is made as much as what kind of standards they build to. Three of my Ovations are made in Korea and the newest one is made in China and I'm happy with all of them. I was more interested in not wasting my time if I got much negative feedback about these guitars. Maybe I'm a closet guitar snob but I'm leery about a lot of the cheaper brands. I've owned many cheap/off-brand guitars over the course of 40 years. A few were surprisingly playable and sounded fine, others not so much. I suppose it could make a good campfire guitar if nothing else. Besides I have a hard time passing up anything with strings if the price is good. If I decide I don't want it I know enough guitar players with small budgets that I can probably flip it and get my money back.Who knows, it might become a permanent resident. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted .
That's good info, BSWYERS ... I hope you make out okay. Cheers!
Good luck. I hope it works out.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Montaya guitars
