Altamira N300FE+ Fretless Nylon-String Guitar — Like New, with Case

Beautiful Altamira N300FE+ fretless nylon-string guitar in pristine, like-new condition. This is a distinctive, well-made instrument with beautiful woods, an elegant gloss finish, and a lovely, expressive sound. Includes the original Altamira padded case.

Specifications

• Solid spruce top
• Spanish cypress back and sides
• African mahogany neck with dovetail joint
• Ebony fretless fingerboard
• Fishman Clasico III pickup and preamp
• 650 mm scale length
• 52 mm nut width
• Gloss finish and adjustable truss rod

A Unique Instrument with a World of Expressive Possibilities

A fretless nylon-string guitar offers a very different playing experience from a conventional classical guitar. Without fixed frets, you have complete freedom over pitch, allowing smooth, continuous slides, expressive vibrato, subtle pitch bends, and microtonal notes that fall between the notes of a standard Western scale.

This guitar is particularly well suited to:

• Middle Eastern and modal music: Explore maqam-inspired melodies, microtonal inflections, and expressive ornamentation.
• Jazz and improvisation: Experiment with flexible intonation, unusual intervals, and fresh harmonic colors.
• Contemporary and experimental music: Create fluid glissandos, unusual textures, and sounds that are difficult or impossible to reproduce on a fretted guitar.
• Expressive melodic playing: Enjoy smooth, vocal-like slides and a warm, rounded nylon-string sound.

The main trade-off is that playing in tune takes more precision and practice, since your fingers—not the frets—determine the pitch. Conventional chords and fast passages can also take some adjustment. For a player interested in exploring new sounds, however, that freedom is exactly what makes a fretless instrument so rewarding.

Condition

The guitar is in pristine, like-new condition, exactly as I received it. There are two minor details worth mentioning for full transparency:

• Saddle: The saddle has a very slight angle rather than sitting perfectly vertical. This is entirely cosmetic and does not affect playability. It came this way when I received it and has not been altered or damaged by me. As with many instruments, small individual details can vary from one instrument to another.
• Preamp cover: I noticed a minor buzz from the preamp cover when playing the open D string. I traced the source to the cover itself and resolved it by adding a tiny piece of foam.

Otherwise, the guitar is beautiful, sounds wonderful, and has been well cared for.

Price

Asking $950, including the case.

The guitar is available immediately, with no preorder or months-long wait for a new instrument to arrive. It's a great opportunity to acquire this distinctive instrument in essentially new condition while saving on the original shipping cost and getting it right away.

I'm selling simply because I own more guitars than I can realistically use, and I haven't had the opportunity to explore fretless playing as much as I'd hoped. I'd love for it to find a home with someone who will enjoy exploring its unique musical possibilities.

A beautiful opportunity for a guitarist looking to explore something genuinely different!