I’m a classical guitarist and have been pining for a 7-string classical guitar for years. There are mid-priced 7-string classical guitars sitting in music stores in Japan, Brazil and Europe but these instruments are a rarity in the United States. Thus, my mouth watered at the sight of the Kremona Fiesta CW-7 as it came ashore stateside.
Kremona Fiesta CW-7 | Photo courtesy Kremona
Why a 7th string? Bass extension: an extra D, C and B below the E of the 6th string. Most 6-string players don't realize the legacy of the 7-string guitar reaches deep into the 19th century and boasts an extensive Russian and European classical repertoire in addition to gypsy associations. Even Mertz and Coste wrote for the 7-string guitar. Plus, having more bass notes is ideal for guitar ensembles, keyboard transcriptions and lute music. Finally, if you're into Brazilian samba and jazz, the 7-string classical guitar is a staple of those styles.
Design and Build Quality
The Kremona Fiesta CW-7 is marketed as a Russian classical guitar modeled after Russian Romany guitars. However, it doesn't resemble any 7-string Russian Gypsy guitars I've seen: they had metal strings and a quasi-jumbo body contour. The CW-7 is basically a classical guitar with an extra course. It more closely resembles the Brazilian and Japanese 7-string classical guitars I've lusted after for years.
Kremona specifications indicate that the back is solid Indian rosewood while sides are merely Indian rosewood, i.e., industry code for plywood. The book matched rosewood back and sides are attractively figured, exhibiting straight and consistent stripes of light and dark colors. Interior figure of the sides match the exterior perfectly, so I wonder if the sides are actually solid? Seems like too much extra work to use matching veneer on both the inside and outside of the sides. No way to know for certain save for drilling a hole and that ain't happening!
The body finish is smooth and glossy with no apparent defects or polishing burns on binding. In fact, so highly polished the suction cups on my Tenor guitar lifter drift and slide! Many guitars use plastic binding and heel cap but Kremona ups the ante with real rosewood binding and heel cap.
The cedar soundboard doesn't have the tightest or straightest grain I’ve seen. However, in my experience, wider grain cedar tops seem to play-in and open up faster than tight dense grain. The soundboard's interior bracing is sanded smooth and glue joints are clean.
Rosette Detail | This rosette design is more evocative of Santa Fe, New Mexico than Russia. The black tab on the right is a D'Addario NS Micro sound-hole tuner.
Most classical guitars have rosewood bridges. Thus, the ebony bridge is one of the few nontraditional features of the CW-7. When I removed the strings from the tie block I noticed they hadn't cut into the wood as is common with rosewood bridges, so the durability of ebony over rosewood was apparent. Plus, the matte black ebony bridge is matched with the ebony fingerboard and ebony veneer of the head stock.
Kremona Bridge | The matte black ebony bridge is tough | The black doodads hanging off the tieblock are Rosette Guitar Products BridgeBeads. When Kent at Rosette noticed I was lacking a 7th bead he sent me a spare set!
Kremona fretwork is excellent and puts to shame some of my more expensive Spanish guitars. The silky smooth and flat ebony 19-fret fingerboard is a treat to play on. With that said, the lack of a 20th fret to accommodate a high C on the first string is puzzling, especially considering the excellent upper fret access afforded by the cutaway. So I'll have to glue on an extra fret to play Barrio's Un Sueno en La Foresta.
All in all I'm impressed with Kremona workmanship and materials, especially considering the price point. CW-7 build quality warrants an A.
Tuning Heads
The stock tuning heads felt a bit cheap but hold pitch okay. They are not particularly handsome, especially the glossy black enamel finish. I spend a lot of time tuning, I keep fresh strings on my guitars, so I replaced the stock heads with Swiss made Schertler heads (TUN-GO-CL-E). I choose the Schertlers because the design of this guitar requires individually mounted tuners and, well, standard three a side tuners do not fit. The install was exceptionally easy, even the old screw holes aligned perfectly. Plus, the Schertlers feature ebony knobs, butter smooth rotation and extra fine 18:1 gear ratio. And, although on the plain side—no engravings—they're handsome. They're normally only sold in sets of six for $125 in the USA but an email to Schertler resulted in a custom 7-string set with only a $25 up-charge and free shipping. They also come in matte black and silver finishes.
Gothic Black Stock Tuning Heads | They're okay but not pretty
Schertler TUN-GO-CL-E Tuning Heads | Nice upgrade in terms of smoothness, ease of tuning and appearance.
Playability
Like most classical guitars, the scale length is 650 mm (25 19/32"), albeit the 7th string would probably benefit from a little longer scale. Strings are set exactly 5/32" above the 12th fret on the 7th string and 3/32" for the 1st string (sorry, I only have an inch ruler). There’s slight neck relief at the 7th fret: I fretted the 1st and 14th frets and observed an almost invisible amount of relief at the 7th fret. So perfect “textbook” setup and the way I like it.
The neck feels comfortably slender between the thumb and fingers of my left hand. Nut width is 55 mm, very narrow for a 7-string neck. Most classical guitars are 50 to 54 mm at the nut whereas 7-string instruments are 60mm or larger to match 6-string nut spacing. If you’re used to a standard classical neck, the CW-7 will take time to get used to. The 55mm nut for 7 strings works out to just under 48mm 6-string equivalent spacing, i.e., crossover spacing. It took me four or five weeks to adjust to the spacing. I also play ukulele, requinto, electric guitar and bass so I understand differing fingerboard spacing ceases to be an issue once my brain rewires. But, yes, the transition is frustrating, especially on the first few frets where string spacing is at its most narrow.
Neck feel, string resistance and setup are excellent. The CW-7 is one of the few guitars I've owned I didn't need to adjust the action. Setup and playability: A-.
Goth Head Stock | The stock Kremona tuning heads.
Sound Quality
While the influence of Romany guitars may hint at the tone of a flamenco guitar, such is not the case here. The CW-7 has a round sweet voice one would expect from a cedar and rosewood classical guitar. Volume, dynamic response, sustain and clarity are excellent. Of course you can't dig into the strings as much as a Ramirez 1-A, a ten times more expensive instrument, but volume and projection are surprisingly good. Moreover, I can play with a light touch and the CW-7 renders a singing tone with plenty of sustain and beautiful overtones. In some ways I prefer the Kremona's delicate tone over the more rambunctious and macho voice of my Ramirez.
Natural and artificial harmonics sparkle with defined clarity. Vibrato response is excellent, as is the balance between bass and treble. I don't have to struggle to bring out a salient voice or remember to hold back on a wolf tone. Timbre and volume are pleasingly even up and down the neck, but like most guitars, exhibits a little volume drop-off above the 14th fret. This even response makes it an excellent instrument for multi-track recording. I can track without compression and not worry about stray notes cutting out or popping out. Now is the Month of Maying is my first test recording with the CW-7 and I'm extremely pleased!
Now is the Month of Maying | Tascam US 2x2, Neumann TLM 102 and Logic Pro X | Kremona Fiesta CW-7
The 7th string blends well with the upper notes and imparts a nice bottom end to harmony. For my playing style, the 7th string sounds best with thumb flesh strokes rather than nail, i.e., flesh emphasizes the fundamental tone. Thus, I get a fat bass guitar like tone when tuned to low C or B.
Finally, the extended range of the CW-7 would fill out the bottom range of a guitar or ukulele ensemble nicely and makes for a decent bass guitar in a pitch. Here I tuned the 7th string to low A and played a bassline:
Sleepers Awake | Tascam US 2x2, Neumann TLM 102 and Logic Pro X | Grace Frary on guitar and Peter Frary playing a Kremona Fiesta CW-7 on the bassline.
Of course, tone is evolving with use and the CW-7 sounded more resonant and full after only a month of playing. A few years of break-in will bring even better tone. Sound quality earns an A.
Strings
Kremona Arete Russian 7 String Nylon Guitar Strings were factory installed. They sound good but are pricey at $20 so I considered other options. The Kremona Arete 7th string is 1.47mm (.058") while the other strings are gauged like a normal tension 6-string set. So I use my favorite 6-string sets—D'Addario EXL and Dynacore—and buy low bass singles as needed. The 7th string lasts twice as long as the other basses since it's used less. Thus, I buy singles of D'Addario Pro Arté Classical Nylon Silverwound in .054 and .058 sizes. The heavier gauge is better if you mainly use low B. I'm mostly tuned to C so .054 is okay. Buying 6-string sets and 7th string singles is less expensive than buying dedicated 7-string sets. More importantly, there are a lot more string choices.
Pickup System
I didn't need a pickup system in this guitar. I merely wanted that 7th string to experiment with and record. However, since the CW-7 has a Fishman Prefix PRO Blend pickup, I took it for a test drive.
The Prefix PRO Blend pickup system is a dual output design with under saddle piezo and internal mic. Either one of the two signals from the Prefix may be isolated or blended to taste. That's a grand concept but does it work?
Fishman Prefix PRO Blend Preamp | Works best in piezo mode.
I played the CW-7 through my Trace Acoustic and Genz Benz Shenandoah amps but couldn't find a blended mix that didn’t result in feedback. Even 20% mic resulted in howls at low volume. At 10% it sort of worked but sheesh. The notch filter reduced feedback but ate the tone. I could nix feedback if I stayed in piezo mode. Fortunately, I was able to coax a nice tone and significant volume in piezo mode with only minor tweaks of preamp controls.
I own a Fishman Aura Spectrum D.I. and jacked in the Prefix to see if I could get blend mode to work better. With the Aura Spectrum D.I. plugged into my Trace Acoustic, I was able to blend 20% mic and 80% piezo with good results. The Aura Spectrum had auto feedback control dialed in, a little compression and a nylon string image patch loaded. Any more than 20% mic and auto feedback control was unable to nix the resulting howl from hell. However, 20% mic adds a little air to highs and sounds oh so slightly better than pure piezo. Is it worth the extra diddling and gear for a typical wedding or coffee house gig? Nope. Simple is always better for me. I only drag out the Aura Spectrum if I need to use a direct box.
There's another amplification option I haven't tested. Prefix output is via a combo mono/stereo jack and, with use of a spilter cable, you could route the piezo and mic signals to separate amps or channels. Thus, one amp or channel could be optimized for piezo and the other for mic. I suspect such a setup would yield a better blend but, again, probably too much hoop jumping for the average gig.
I live near several transmitting towers and the Prefix didn't buzz, chirp or receive a certain classic rock station some pickup systems are plagued with. The Prefix is virtually RFI proof so a good choice for intercity and downtown gigs.
The Prefix PRO Blend system sounds wonderful in straight piezo mode but fails in blended mode with the internal mic. The lack of a built-in tuner is a puzzling omission in a modern preamp design. If I had a choice, I'd rather have a simpler Matrix pickup system without the internal mic and blending electronics. The Prefix earns a grade of C.
Kremona Case | The CW-7 fits like a glove in this case—have to insert tail first—and the latches are smooth as silk.
Carrying Case
This hardshell case is attractive and well made: snug fitting, black vinyl alligator hide, thick light brown interior padding, large interior stash pocket and silky smooth latches. The one glaring omission is the lack of strap hooks. Guitar cases need a shoulder strap since we guitarists need to preserve our hands for the gig. So a kickin' case for around the house use but not practical for carrying around town. The CW-7 fits a standard classical size gig bag and that's how I roll. Case grade: B.
Last Blurb
In my search for an affordable 7-string classical guitar, the choices were few. I found a few used Asturias 7-string classicals but they were shipping from Japan. I greatly regret selling mine in the 1990s as it was an excellent off the rack instrument. Here in the USA I only ran across roughly made Giannini samba guitars and the underwhelming Ibanez G207CWCNT. So I ended up purchasing the Kremona Fiesta CW-7 sight unseen, but was pretty sure it was a level or two above the Giannini and Ibanez. And my hunch was right. The Kremona rules these other 7-strings like a champ!
I love the CW-7 and am extremely happy with it: easy to play, sounds great, excellent fit and finish, beautiful and reasonably priced. It's not perfect—wish the neck was a few millimeters wider—but is close enough to perfection to earn an A grade in my grade book. And, yes, I love using the 7th string. I wish all my guitars had a 7th string!
Finally, this is my second CW-7. The first one was badly damaged by UPS (interior braces broken). Amazon overnighted a replacement, so happy ending!
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Design and Build Quality 
Tuning Heads
Playability
Sound Quality
Strings
Carrying Case
Last Blurb
Kremona CW-7 Specs