Inspired by the ‘doblo tapa’ construction technique pioneered and favoured by Manuel Contreras, The Antonio Picado Model 60DT takes the best of traditional Spanish building techniques and delivers a guitar with a largely traditional tone, with weight and depth of tone that’s unrivalled by similarly priced Spanish guitars.

Like all Antonio Picado guitars, the Model 60DT has been designed and built exclusively in Spain. Since Antonio Picado’s retirement in 2015, this model has been built by Senior craftsman turned owner, Ángel Genis; a luthier who has been building guitars with Antonio Picado for decades. Speaking to Ángel quickly reveals a man with great conceptual understanding and passion for the guitar, yet with a refeshing modesty. Afterall, ‘Antonio Picado’ guitars still bear his former masters name inside rather than his own, despite being the master craftsman at the workshop since 2015.

A Closer Look

So how does this guitar stack up against the competition? If you’re considering spending north of £2,000 on a guitar, you may have started to notice the term ‘concert guitar’ being cast around. In my experience, this often seems to be the case when makers start to charge more significant amounts of money for their instruments, but this does not always translate into a ‘professional’ quality instrument that could actually be used in concert. Although the guitars are almost always better than their lower priced siblings, it takes a special kind of guitar to earn that label in my eyes.

By contrast, the Model 60DT does not carry the ‘Concert ‘ label (reserved for the C-1 Model), but shares a lot of qualities with what I would call full blown concert guitars. It’s projects beautifully thanks to the ‘doblo tapa’ construction. In this case, a 1.9mm Indian Rosewood back with a 1.2mm internal veneer of Canadian cedar. Aesthetically this is a gorgeous touch for those who look close enough to peek inside, and something that bolsters the tone of this guitar too by firming up the body and directing more energy into the soundboard.

A choice of Spruce or Cedar atop Indian Rosewood back and sides is a tried and tested formula that has served classical guitarists well for years. Of course the quality of these woods varies from one maker to another, but it appears the particular sets used in the making of each Model 60DT is of excellent quality. I’ve observed consistently tight and straight grain on every higher end Antonio Picado guitar, with the Model 60DT being no different.

Antonio Picado do make a point of stressing that there are differences in the quality of woods being used throughout their range. There are no secrets or deception here. Model 60 and 62 guitars are built with what they called ‘first quality’ wood. An indication that there is a discernible difference, at least in their eyes, that the wood used for the 60DT is of better quality than their 53 or 54 models. Only the C-1, their flagship concert grade guitar, sports a higher grade soundboard in the entire Antonio Picado range.

Tone

If you’re considering upgrading your guitar and investing around £2,000 in an instrument there’s a good chance you’re doing so because your current guitar is under-delivering in the tonal department. I find this is often the case when it comes to expressive voicing. That’s not to say the quality of the guitars overall voice, but in it’s ability to present the melody, harmony and bass as separate voices or parts. If you’ve played classical guitar for any length of time, you’ll be quite familiar with the fact that it is a self accompanying instrument. The more complex the music becomes, the greater the importance for a guitar that can put some sonic space between these musical elements. There comes a point at which your average studio guitar just won’t cut it.

Both spruce and cedar versions of the Model 60DT do sublime job of creating space for multiple voices to breathe. I’ve found this to be true of all Antonio Picado guitars, but of course the higher up you go in their range, the finer this quality gets. By time you pick up the Model 60DT clarity has become an art form. Voices are not only presented with space, but have fine musical nuance too.

On a similar note, I’ve found the tonal weight of the trebles strings has a tendency to sustain well. In other words, each note volume has a decent length of decay meaning trebles melodies retain their ‘singing’ quality when played over bass/harmony. For me, this beautifully captures the essence of classical guitar music and is one of the reasons I’ve been so impressed by Antonio Picado guitars in general.

Tonally the 60DT offers punch and precision with plenty of body behind each note. Melodies will soar and depending on whether you opt for the cedar or the spruce, you’ll get a sweet and pure tone with plenty of weight (spruce), or a more vivacious, sparkly and excitable tone (cedar). Both variations come with hours of fun as standard. Don’t be surprised if you start practicing in the morning and realise you’ve missed your lunch!

Playability

Every Antonio Picado guitar comes set up with an action of 4mm / 3mm (bass/treble). This is about right for most players but there is plenty of meat on the saddle should you need a lower action. The neck shape feels comfortable in the hands with no obvious asymmetry or awkwardness to be felt. I found my accuracy was high whilst getting to know the guitar, so the shape is at least a natural fit for my hands. My video demo of this guitar only took two takes as opposed to the more typical 2,000, so I’m hopeful others will have a similar experience with regards playability!

The jury is still out on whether classical guitars should have adjustable truss rods. The general consensus is ‘no’ and being a traditionally made classical guitar, the Model 60DT does not come with a truss rod as standard (although this is a custom option). That being said, there is hardwood reinforcement of the neck for added peace of mind should you need it.

Conclusion

The Model 60DT is not quite a ‘concert’ grade instrument, nor does it claim to be. However, it does easily outperform large numbers of other Spanish guitars that claim to be of ‘concert’ quality in every conceivable way. Don’t be fooled by the labelling, this is a guitar of exceedingly high quality. No amount of premium labelling could convince me to part with hard earned cash for a so called ‘concert’ guitar over this fine guitar for the same amount of money.

Pound for pound, these guitars are unbeatable when pitted against other Spanish luthiers.

This guitar is ideal for guitarists who have outgrown their first or even second classical guitar and are on the lookout for an instrument that is highly capable with more than enough musical and dynamic potential for the rigours of Grade 8 and beyond. If you’re not planning to pursue a career as a concert guitarist, this guitar is likely to offer everything you’ll ever want or need in an instrument. An ideal match for players who prefer clarity of tone with sonic separation between voices and a large dynamic range that stops just short of the concert hall (and I do mean just).