New Russian Seven 7 String Guitar. Acoustic Classical Classic Cutaway. Gipsy 184

I bought this guitar to experiment with tunings like Open G. It arrived in good condition after a long journey halfway around the world. It is attractive and sounds good. The only improvement I'd make is to widen the nut from 1.75" to 2.00" or even 2.25" because the strings are too close together for a man with large fingers.

I ordered this guitar mostly out of curiosity and because I wanted to mess around with a 7 string acoustic. The reviews were good so I figured it was low risk.This guitar is junk. There are so many issues with it that it's borderline unplayable out of the box. There are many luthiery rules of thumb that have been completely ignored in this guitar's design.- The string spacing is wrong. Instead of compensating for the thickness of the strings or using a string spacing tool to place the strings, they are all equidistant from each other. This means that the lower, heavier strings are very close together making them quite uncomfortable to play.- The bridge is too high and the saddle is too low. The saddle is sunk so far into the bridge that the height of the action isn't able to be adjusted lower. This is a problem, because the action is way too high.- the intonation wasn't set at all at the bridge. The maker just carved a wedge and hoped for the best. Therefore, this guitar is perpetually out of tune.- the materials for the bridge and nut suck - they're some sort of poly, but I guess I expected as much. What I didn't expect was the nut to be so banged up. It looks like it was cut off from stock with a hacksaw. This isn't functionally critical, but is extremely shotty work. Also, the fingerboard and bridge look like they were finished with some sort of shoe polish instead of a proper wood finisher.- Instead of using a proper set of 7 strings, they strung up a normal 6 string set, but threw in an additional D-string to take the place of the low E-string, and the low E was placed where a larger gauge low-B 7th string should be. String gauges are very important to intonation and playability, extended range guitars with 7 or 8 strings need heavy gauge strings to tune and play properly.- the frets weren't crowned and leveled, they were flattened. There are a lot of frets with weird plateaus that cause string buzz.- the body was finished with automotive finisher instead of a proper oil or lacquer. Again, not functionally critical, but it's just plain lazy and cheap, and acoustic guitar sound a lot better when they are finished properly.I am currently in the process of fixing this guitar, and when I'm done fixing all of these issues it will actually play - I'm just lucky enough to have the skills to fix a guitar like this. If anyone is wondering how much it would cost to fix all of these issues at a luthier shop, parts and labor, it easily exceeds $1000.So take your money and buy a decent Taylor or Martin, because that's how much you would spend getting this piece of crap to play.

When I considered ordering this guitar I was a little conflicted as to whether to go for a "standard" 7-string instrument (tuned B-E-A-D-G-B-E), or the Russian "Gypsy" style (tuned D-G-B-D-G-B-D). I finally decided to go with the Gypsy because it presented a unique appearance, and it's a small matter to put a slightly heavier 7th string on it and put it in the more "western" tuning, if desired. I've been happy with the choice.I should point out that although the description says "classical", this is actually a steel-string guitar, and it arrived with medium-light gauge phosphor bronze strings. This guitar plays well and sounds surprisingly good. I'm not sure how much of the sound is due to the larger than usual sound hole, but the instrument resonated a low B string with much more power than I expected, and the overall balance of sound is also good. The action was low and reasonably well-adjusted for an instrument that traveled almost 6000 miles to get to me, and it played easily all the way up the neck, on all strings.The guitar is by "Leo Tone"; I'm not sure if this is the luthier's real name, or a corporate logo. For $200, of course, you don't get electronics, gold-plated hardware, or a top signed by Yngwie, but the instrument is well put together, and the hardware adequate and tight. It doesn't come with a case, but it turns out that it fits easily into a standard 12-string dreadnaught case, so no worries there.My one fussy comment is that, although the neck is wider than a conventional 6-string, I think it could be a tad wider still, to accommodate the 7-string spacing: The strings feel a bit close together in the lowest positions. On the other hand, I also play mandolin, charango, and a number of other instruments with even closer spacing, so I'm sure I'll adapt to it, eventually. I haven't played on all that many 7-strings at this point, and it may well be that most of them are spaced like this.All-in-all, this turned out to be an excellent choice for me to experiment with and determine the extent of my committment to 7-string instruments. And if I decide to go the Russian Gypsy route, and get a more pro-quality axe, I'd go back to these guys first.A word about shipping: since this instrument was coming from the Ukraine, and they have some "stuff" going on over there right now, I was a little leary of ordering. Turns out my worries were groundless. These guys got me the guitar almost two weeks earlier than expected, and the guy at my Post Office commented that the packing was "impeccable". The guitar arrived in pristine condition, all I had to do was tune it up, and I was playing within 10 minutes of opening the box.These people go the extra mile; they deserve your business.

This is a beautifully made guitar with a wonderful sound. This was my second guitar purchase from Musical Harmony - their customer service was great to work with. If you are a 7-string Russian guitar player, you will enjoy this product!

This guitar is great. It looks much better than the picture. I changed the tuning things because I had some good ones kicking around. It is fine for rock and country if you like different tunings. I am very happy with it.