Fender CP60S Review – One of the Best Affordable Parlors?

The CP60S is a relatively new Fender parlor guitar, which takes the place of the brand’s popular CP-100 (which is no longer in production). Fear not, the CP60S is an excellent alternative and happily sits in our chart of the best parlor guitars on the market. With some upgraded features, it sports a surprisingly small price tag… so has Fender cut corners in other places? Only one way to find out!

Body & Neck

Starting with materials and the CP60S sports a solid spruce top, which is complemented by laminate mahogany back and sides. Not only does this create a guitar that looks the part – especially with a glossy finish and pearloid rosette – but it also delivers a well-balanced tone, as we discuss below. The guitar comes in either a natural finish (nicely showing off the wood pairing) or an attractive vintage-style sunburst. Joined at the 14th fret, the neck (with a slightly smaller scale length of 24.75”) is made of a gloss-finished mahogany with a rosewood fretboard, which is home to a total of 20 vintage frets. On that note, one of the highlights in terms of playability is the CP60S’s fretboard, which features Fender’s ‘easy-to-play’ rolled design, making for a smoother playing experience, whatever your level.

Hardware

On the Fender-branded headstock you will find a set of sealed chrome tuners, which do a good job of keeping tuning in check, while the rosewood bridge ensures stability at the other end. Note that it comes strung with a set of Fender’s Dura-Tone 80/20 Bronze coated strings. The only downfall is to find that the nut and saddle are made of plastic – otherwise it is a good offering from Fender.

Sound

The CP60S follows the trend of newer parlor guitars in providing an excellent tone that doesn’t fall into the ‘quiet and boxy’ description that many parlor guitars of yesteryear were labelled with. Sure, the CP60S is not quite on the same level as a dreadnought, but it certainly packs a punch for such a small guitar. There is a strong midrange, but the overall tone remains tight and focused, and versatile for many styles of playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5Nxht1wQ8

Conclusion

The iconic brand has impressed us with the CP60S, which we believe is much better than the old CP-100 in many ways. The playability, the design and the tone all combine into a very appealing package for beginners and intermediates – and that’s before you factor in the very attractive price tag. For more info about the Fender CP60S, click here. For more Parlor Guitar you might like, click here.