Thomann Classica Fusion 8 String

I was looking for an 8 string Classical for a while and wasn't able to find anything that was affordable; I'm not a professional guitarist by any means so purchasing an 8 string Classical was looking to cost me several thousand dollars. I couldn't justify the price, but I luckily found this. The guitar sounds amazing and plays wonderfully in your hands. Having the extra range is beautiful, though I'm playing with a tuning that isn't standard E+2 strings lower, I feel like 2 lower bass strings is more suited for someone looking to play Baroque and older but that isn't my forte. Anyway, I don't think any guitarist could complain about the extra range and possibilities it opens up for the instrument. The finish is a smooth matte/satin surface that feels a lot nicer than the usual high-gloss finish you find on most Classical Guitars.

There's two issues I've found, first is a manufacturing defect... on the bottom of the body the guitar has a pretty noticeable crack that it had right out of the box. Not the biggest deal and it doesn't impact playing but still, it's a shame that it's there and it doesn't look like shipping damage. I'm also surprised with how little protection the shipping had, just some cardboard boxes and paper padding. The second issue I see, and it's minor, but I'm not sure where to get strings for this thing or who even makes them. Each string seems to be a different gauge so I'm lost as to what my options are when buying new strings, and Thomann doesn't seem to list the strings that the guitar ships with on their site (unless I'm missing something).

Overall, you really cannot beat this price but don't let the seemingly low price fool you, while it sounds "too good to be true" it isn't, this is a wonderful instrument for any guitarist.

I wanted to explore the extended range that the 8-string offered; I'd played an 8-course Renaissance lute for years and this beastie could be tuned the same manner, so no real learning curve there.

Overall, I'm impressed — there are other 8-string guitars out that at 3 times (and more) the price, but before making that commitment, this is by far the most affordable way to make the leap into this world of extended range playing.

The finish is nice and while I'd prefer a satin finish on the neck, this one isn't so slick as to make me want to get out the steel wool and take some of the shine off of it. The frets were finished well, no snags on the ends, well seated and so on. The action was pretty much dead on. I found it imminently and immediately playable.

My only negative — and it's not really a negative, as it's kind of a condition of having this many strings — is that I found the neck a bit heavy and thick for a classical guitar.

But all in all, I am quite happy with it, feel that it was an excellent buy and would certainly recommend it unhesitatingly to anyone interested in getting in to the world of extended classical guitar playing.

I will leave an unbiased opinion as this is my very first impression considering I've just unboxed it on delivery today. I really loved how well packed the guitar came, but still the headstock is damaged, clearly from an accidental fall on the floor, which makes me think whether it's been like this from stock or if this was during delivery. In case it was like this from stock, that's quality control for you. Still something that didn't make me happy, since I paid the full price for the product and expected the instrument to be in mint quality.
Another downside of this instrument is that it came with 3 bottom E strings on the lows. I was expecting each and every string to have a different gauge. Who wants 3 E strings on the bottom lower ends? The "best" you can get out of it without getting frustrated with how muddy and flimsy the strings will become is to tune it as E D C on the bottom (e b g D A E D C) but like, seriously? I was really expecting to get the same tunings from my 8 string electric guitar, which are standard F# (e b g D A E B F#) or drop E (e b g D A E B E). I can't say I'm 100% happy with this purchase.
In all fairness, the string situation, I can even overlook by simply buying new strings with thicker gauges (still not happy as this costs me even more money, not to mention how painful it is to find strings for this instrument), but there's nothing more saddening than opening a package which was meant to be my birthday present and bump into a damaged instrument. Well, there you go.

The instrument itself plays well. No fret buzzing or sharp ends, which is a plus. A well built instrument for its price, so a win is still a win.

I'm ordering German Lute strings in hopes to get the lower pitches in place for the 7th and 8th strings and play the instrument the way I was expecting to be able to play it (the way it's actually meant to be, honestly).

I decided to dip my hands into extended range classical, primarily for playing later renaissance lute music as well as experimenting. The price for this instrument is really unbeatable.

The sound, even with stock strings, is very rich to my ears. Appearance-wise, I'm very happy with the lighter toned bridge and fretboard. The grains of the acacia neck really stand out. The sapele back and sides are quite beautiful as well. There were noticeable lines of rings left by a palm sander on the back, but this doesn't affect my opinion so much. Same for a chip out of the headstock.

Playability-wise, the neck is very thick and the action is a tad bit high for my liking. It's a bit strenuous to play full-fingered chords due to this combination. However, I'll be getting the height adjusted in the near future. The height of the strings at the nut need to be lowered as well as the height at the saddle. All that said, I'm still very satisfied with this instrument.

It's quite affordable and shipped amazingly fast to the states. :)

Let's talk about "bad things" first:
- Cogs in tuning mechanisms are very bad and break quickly - replace them ASAP.
- Saw cut of the top is "controversial" on my guitar instance - its veins are diagonal and top itself is a little thinner than usual and I don't know how long this top will endure. But for now (half a year of usage) there're now problems.
- Bottom saddle is not so ecstatically good looking if you take a closer look.

But that is all with cons and now with pros:
- Sound is phenomenal for that price. Basses are juicy and trebles can be melodious and bright. It might be because of thin but stable inner bracing.
- Initial Setup is also without any flaws. Frets are polished and well aligned, action is comfortable.
- Two additional strings open a new horizons of creativity. It might be a challenge at first, when You start with the wider neck, but after a month of practice I just can look back to 6-strings guitar. Now You can take already well-known pieces for classical 6-string guitar and add so much contrast to it with that bases. And I even not yet opened a "dedicated" repertoire for the 8-string guitar.
- Someone in comments said, that out-of-the-box this guitar comes with 3 E strings. Not true - basses are 6E, 7D, 8C. I played around with that configuration and for some people this will be a perfect fit, but I've decided that 6E, 7B, 8G is the best for me.
- Wood selection is very interesting and visually instrument looks very appealing.

So, summing up the most difficult rate here is quality - in some places it is excelsior that that price range, and some part are bad. I've picked 4, but interpret this as both 3 and 5.
Would definitely recommend this instrument.