Havana Tres

Wanted a unique gift for my Cuban husband, and this fit the bill. Nicely made guitar for the price. We took it to a folk music store and had it properly set up for another $60, and now it is nearly perfect. This is a beautiful sounding tres. Would recommend swapping the strings for something of better quality.

I've had this tres for about a year. From the first time I tuned it I notice that one of the tuners didn't work right and would constantly slip out of tune. I just dealt with it figuring that and continued playing. I enjoyed it for about a year and then a few months ago it started buzzing any time I played notes on the top two frets. I looked down along the neck and found that the neck was now bowed backward so badly that holding down notes on those first two frets caused the string to hit the next fret, creating the buzzing sound. Today I took this tres to a very well known luthier in my area to see if it was repairable. He took one look down the neck and said there is no way it could be repaired. I realize that this is not a super expensive tres, however, it had problems from the very beginning and was only playable for 1 year. That is ridiculous. I know that it is hard a find a good tres in the US, however, I have to say that if you are in the market you should avoid this brand.

Love the sound But doesn’t stay tuned

My wife bought this Tres for me as a Christmas gift along with the 3 Tres instructional books available on Amazon (Mel Bay's Fun with the Cuban Tres, El Tres Cubano, and Mel Bay Tres Guitar Method). I also own the Cuban Masters Series: The Cuban Tres DVD also available on Amazon.This instrument is cheaply made, but it works.My biggest complaint is the saddle, which is plastic. Right out of the box, it clearly was bending under the string pressure and that drastically affected intonation.My next complaint are the cheap brass frets, which won't last long.Last complaint, it has no truss rod and there is no option to purchase a case.Ok, having said all that it was $239 so you get what you pay for.I live close to Nashville so I took my Tres to Manuel Delgado of Delgado guitars, [...] Manny did great work and installed a great pickup and bone nut. Problem solved. Intonation is now just fine.I'm now in a Salsa/Cuban/Latin jazz ensemble at the Nashville Jazz workshop, and the Tres works great. Amplifies just fine through an Acoustic Amp and is loud enough to be heard among all the Latin Perc instruments. All in all I put in about $550 into this Tres to get it gig ready. Not too bad a price, but I still need a case which will be an additional $100.Having said all that, if I were more serious I now know that I could have gone straight to Manny and purchased one of his Tres.However, if you're new to the Tres and want to experience what it's like to play it without breaking the bank, I'd recommend that you purchase this Tres and the El Tres Cubano book by Jon Griffin. That's a good start and it will only cost you about $250.Or you could do what I did and buy this Tres and all 3 available books on Amazon including the Cuban Masters DVD, and it still will only cost you around $300.$300 for learning a cool, little known instrument? That'll buy you an instrument, 3 books, and an instructional DVD? Not too bad at all.So go buy one and start learning some 2/3 clave Montunos! Those piano players stole them from us! Time to take them back!

I love music and musical instruments! I've taught myself many over the years. This Tres is well made and has a nice sound! It certainly fills my needs. (teach myself to play the Tres). I will be changing strings very soon! Pleased with the entire purchase. Amazon.com does it again!!!!!!

I got the instrument, tuned it, tried to use it in a recording session and it could not keep in tune while pressing on each fret. It was sharp every time I pressed on any note. I returned it, explained the issue to the seller several times and they did not care. Upon receiving back the instrument, they agued that the instrument is in perfect condition..."Thanks Music Buys, way to work with the client..."

Nicely made.. Decent sound and action

I bought a paracho cuban tresThis is a nice product, very good craftwork.I am very glad with my cuban tresthanks, vincent