BARTOLEX 10-String Classical Harp Guitar

Cutaway, BBand Pickup, and Sound Port!!!

AUTHORIZED BARTOLEX USA DEALER

NEW Bartolex

10-String Guitar

Up for consideration is a new Bartolex 10-String classical guitar, with cutaway, sound port and Fishman Presys pickup. This guitar is the new Bartolex 10-string model, the SPS10Cel, which has Ramirez fan bracing, cutaway, active electronics, and features for the first time: a sound port!!! This guitar is from the same Bartolex line that I personally play, and it sounds simply amazing. Click HERE for 1270 Hi-resolution photos of this guitar. This model features the sound port, which increases the overall bass response and also gives the player a much better sound as you can hear the guitar directly from the sound port. So here is your chance to get this incredible new 10-string guitar right away, without having to wait or place a custom order!!!

Bartolex is a guitar company founded by Argentinian luthier and guitarist Neris Gonzales, with production based in a high-quality Artisian Workshop in China. The result is a great guitar design with high-quality woods and workmanship, at a very affordable price (Click here for my Cathedral Guitar Interview with Neris). Click here for additional Bartolex reviews 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. The sound, both acoustically and recorded, is phenomenal. I personally am endorsing Bartolex 10-string guitars and am selling them on eBay and through Bartolex USA, because I have already played hundreds of gigs on my own Bartolex guitar, and I'm continually astounded at how good these guitars are. This guitar is the answer to my personal dream of having a quality 10-string guitar in standard production, at an affordable price -- and maybe it will be for you as well.

I have played and owned dozens of multi-string classical guitars, and this instrument rivals, equals or surpasses many luthier built guitars in the 3k - 6k range. This guitar has a AAA-grade solid spruce top, laminated East Indian Rosewood back & Sides, ebony fretboard, and creates a beautifully-balanced Spanish sound with nice trebles, deep basses, and excellent resonance and sympathetic sustain. The low bass response is particularly good on this guitar due to the sound port. Many low A strings sound weak and tubby, but the Bartolex design ensures a wonderful balance across all registers, and creates a very even response all thw way down to low A.

STRINGS
I have the guitar tuned in Romantic tuning, a standard 10-string tuning where 1-6 is normal, and 7-10 descend step-wise: 7=D, 8=C, 9=B, 10 =A. Strings By Mail has a great selection of 10-string sets and can put together custom sets for you at a discount over individual strings. Several excellent string manufacturers offer 10-string sets, including D'Addario, Hannabach, and Savarez. LaBella also makes a 10-string set but I do not recommend it, because the low basses are too weak. All Bartolex guitars come with Savarez strings.

GUITAR SPECS:
* Model: SPS10Cel
* Serial # 01158018
* Top: Solid Spruce
* Saddle/Nut: Bone
* Fretboard: Ebony
* Finish: Lacquer
* Scale: 650 mm
* Nut Width: 85 mm
* 12th Fret width: 100 mm
* STRING SPACING
@ Nut = 77mm o.c.
@ fret 12 = 89 mm o.c.
@ bridge = 102mm o.c.
* NECK DEPTH
@ fret 1: 19mm
@ fret 7: 20mm
* ACTION
@ String 1 = 3.5 mm
@ String 10 =4.5 mm
* Dot markers @ 7
* Fishman Presys PU
9v battery
* Hardshell case
* Silk-Lined
* w/Hydrometer
* Made in China

SOUNDFILES
Here are 12 quick, 1-take MP3s of this guitar, tracked using a pair of Schoeps CMT541 microphones into a Presonus ADL 600 preamp with a Rosetta 200 A/D converter. This is straight, pure signal with no additional EQ or effects. This guitar is very easy to record, and would make an excellent classical 10-string guitar for a classical CD, or for recording nylon-string guitar tracks in any musical style:

1 | Resonance Test
(Showing Sympathetic Resonance)

2 | Intonation Test (Harmonic @
12th fret, followed by fretted note)

3 | Corn Yards (Scottish Renaissance,
Rowallen Lute Book, 1596-1657)

4 | Joy To the Person (Anon.,
English Renaissance)

5 | Scales

6 | Se A Mi Acorgo (Italian Renaissance)

7 | Packington's Pound (English
Renaissance, before 1596)

8 | The Third Tune (Thomas Tallis,
1505-1586, with improvisations)

9 | Pavan #1 (Luis Milan, 1500-1561
Spanish Renaissance)

10 | Timur's Song (Original composition)

11 | From The Beginning (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer)

12 | Bianca Fiore (Italian Renaissance)

In short, this guitar is a great concert and/or recording guitar for any intermediate to advanced-level player, and it would make a great guitar for classical concerts, recitals, local gigs, as well as recording studio projects. It is also the ideal guitar for first getting into the world of Multi-String guitars, as it is a relatively affordable, easy-to-play, and a great-sounding instrument.

“Its been about seven months since I purchased my first Bartolex SLS10CEL 10-string, and I still can't put it down. The craftsmanship is breathtaking, and the tone is amazing. As I am also a recording engineer, the direct input with a built-in EQ, phase button, and tuner make recording a breeze. I strongly recommend this guitar to anyone who's considering purchasing a 10-string. This guitar has added much enjoyment in my life!” -- Heath Hartfiel
Austin, Texas

FISHMAN PRESYS PICKUP
As great as the acoustic sound is on this guitar, the amplified sound is eaqually as good -- or perhaps even better! This guitar features the Fishman Presys pickup system, which consists of a microphone and undersaddle pickups, blended together. The controls feature a built-in tuner, volume knob and a blend wheel, which blends the undersaddle pickup together with the microphone. The amplified sound is very, very natural, and easy to control and adjust to fit the particular venue. It has no piezo quack whatsoever, but is very much the natural amplified sound of the guitar. For live gigs, I use this system with a Trace Acoustic TA-100R amp and a QSC K12 powered speaker (with no effects) and the amplified sound is very convincing. The unit uses a standard 9 Volt battery, and the battery can be easily installed at the preamp, so you don't even have to loosen the strings!!!

RESOURCES
My website Cathedral Guitar has a lot of info on multi-string guitars; I run an internet radio station on multi-string guitars and lutes, called 10-String Radio; I moderate a 300-member 10-String Yahoo Group on the subject, and am working on an instructional website, 10-string.com. Perf De Castro has a YouTube Multi-String Guitar channel on the instrument. James R. Smith has an excellent intoductory article to the world of multi-strings, here. Viktor van Niekerk also has a very informative website on the 10-string guitar, especially focused on Maestro Narciso Yepes, and the works composed for the 10-string in the Modern Tuning.

TEACHERS
If you need a teacher to help you adapt to the 10-string guitar, you can check this list here. Also, if you will be playing mostly lute music on the 10-string, I strongly recommend taking lessons from a lute player, if you can find one. If you want online lessons, I highly recommend the 10-String guitarist Perf De Castro, who is both an excellent musician and a wonderful teacher, and he offers private 10-string guitar lessons via the internet. Click Here for more details.

CLASSICAL HARP GUITAR
This guitar type is a relative of the Harp Guitar family also known as the Fretted Harp Guitar. It has one big advantage over the other harp guitar types in that the frets extend across the entire neck, and can be played with a capo -- and be quickly transposed into a variety of different keys, which is especially helpful when accompanying singers. This is, of course, impossible on a regular harp guitar with floating strings. Custom capos are made by Shubb (ask for the Pinnochio model), and also by Phill Elliott.

SHIPPING & TERMS
Insured USA and International FedEx Ground is FREE, and USA Fed-Ex 2nd Day Air is only $25. I do accept PayPal. Thanks for looking. Please ask questions before bidding. Satisfaction Guaranteed!!! This auction is for one Bartolex SPSC10CEL 10-string classical harp guitar and hardshell case. No other accessories are included.

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
If you are not happy with the guitar for any reason, simply return it within 3 days for a full refund (buyer pays shipping). So far, after dozens of eBay and direct internet sales of 10-string guitars, not a single customer has returned a guitar.

PLEASE CHECK OUT my other 10-strings by Lucio Nunez, Ramirez, and Cathedral Guitars in my Current eBay Auctions, and also see and hear several of my 10-string guitars that have Recently Sold on eBay.