Kremona Romida Review – An Abundance of Elegance

You don’t have to spend long browsing the higher-end classical guitar market, to stumble across a Kremona. The historic Bulgarian brand are among the leaders when it comes to building a quality premium acoustic and the rollcall of professional artists using their instruments speaks for itself. The Romida is one of their superior offerings – a traditional, non-electro-acoustic that wins constant praise. Now it’s our turn!

Body & Neck

First impressions of the Romida are that it’s a simple, elegant classical guitar, although it certainly has a few touches that boost it into the premium category. The body features a solid European spruce top, which is light, creamy and quite distinctive in its color. This is paired with dark solid Indian rosewood used for the back and sides, offering a lovely aesthetic contrast. Kremona adds some lovely detailing to enhance the sophistication of this model, such as a thin gloss finish, birch edging, rosewood purfling and a striking ebony cap on both sides of the slotted headstock, while the soundhole rosette is a simple yet eye-catching inlaid wooden pattern. The neck of this classical model is what you may expect from Kremona – it just gets out of your way and allows you to play. Joined at the 12th fret, it’s made from a glossy Honduran cedar, with an Indian ebony fretboard, 19 frets and a traditional 2” nut width. Built in Bulgaria, the craftsmanship on the Romida is flawless – the Kremona luthiers clearly take pride in the instruments they release.

Hardware

Kremona do not skimp in the hardware department and the overall high-end feeling continues as you notice things like the tuners. These are brass open-gear tuning machines fitted with elegant handcrafted black buttons that complement the light/dark theme this guitar is flaunting. Like the fretboard, the bridge is also made from Indian ebony, and features a genuine bone saddle (the nut is also bone). It comes fitted with a set of Kremona’s Arete medium-high tension strings and is shipped in its own hardshell case which fits the Romida like a glove.

Sound

There’s something magical about the Romida’s rich sound. The combination of spruce and rosewood delivers a balanced tone with good projection. The bass is dark, deep and punchy, but not overpowering, while the trebles really sing. The rosewood body offers complex overtones and extended sustain – in short, it’s warm, mellow and lingering. Plus, being made from solid wood, this is one guitar that will eventually ‘break in’ and get even better with time (and yes, it’s ok to be jealous of future you!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_tW9tBcdTM

The Verdict

The price probably puts it out of reach of most beginners and casual players – ultimately you want to be serious about your classical guitar playing to drop $1.5k on a nylon-stringed model. Yet those who do spend the cash will be rewarded with a guitar of incredible elegance in both style and tone. For more info about the Kremona Romida, click here. For more acoustic guitars under $1,500, click here.