Sunday, November 8, 2009

Cantata Classical Guitar Strings Review.


Today we will be talking about the Cantata classical guitar strings from Medina Artigas.

These strings are made in Argentina and they have quite an ardent following, and we shall see why today.

The company Medina Artigas is renowned for their strings and they have a reputation of utilising the best materials and workmanship for their products.Many professional classical guitarists swear by their strings, so when reviewing the Cantatas, I cannot help but to have some innate high-expectations for them. 

The Cantatas are packed in a simple paper box, which is to my preference because the simpler it is, the cheaper the overall cost. The packaging is going to the trash anyway.
Inside, the strings are packed sealed in an air-tight plastic wrap, and within it, each individual string is housed in an anti-corrosion paper wraps. So far so good, at least I know the strings will
be fresh when I open them.
And for the record, the strings were fresh when I opened them. No visible signs of tarnishing on any of the silver-plated strings.

On the packaging and website they claim that the Cantatas have a 'rich' and 'powerful' tone.

Pretty generic description, if you ask me. But after playing with the Cantatas for just 5 minutes, I am pretty much convinced.

They are indeed louder and pack more volume than other strings of a similar tension that I have tried, not really an incredible increase, but definitely an audible increase in projection.

But they were not kidding when they claimed that the Cantatas sounded rich; arpeggiated runs from the middle to higher frets yield an amazing liveliness that I have never encountered with other strings so far.
And there is an excellent balance between the bass and treble strings, which is a god-sent because I abhor strings with a bass-response so overpowering that it completely muffles the highs, vice versa

Furthermore, the strings are also very dynamic and touch-sensitive. Light touches give you a clear, gentle rings while heavier strokes sound absolutely bold and commanding.

Feel-wise, they are outstanding too.

They offer very minimal resistance when I tried a continuos rasgueo; they are smooth and even and it makes everything very playable and enjoyable

I can now see why people are raving over the Cantatas, and why Cacho Tirao loves them so much.

So if you are looking for an affordable set of good-sounding classical guitar strings, I highly recommend the Medina Artigas Cantata.


regards,

Phil



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