Valencia 3/4 Size Nylon String Student Guitar Blue

The verdict

The VC103 is for a player who needs less reach than a full-size classical asks for. Valencia's own size table puts this 3/4 at a 580 mm scale against 650 mm for its 4/4, so every fret sits closer together. It is a first nylon-string, bought to be played. It is not for you if you need to plug in — there is no pickup, preamp or onboard tuner — or if you assumed a bag, tuner or strap came in the box. This SKU is the guitar alone.

Worth stating plainly: Valencia publishes no weight, body dimensions, bracing pattern, fingerboard radius, string gauge or neck thickness for the VC103, so those numbers are not on this page.

How it compares

The instrument in our range worth weighing against this one is the Ibanez GA5TCE, if the player needs to plug in. Prices in the table are our live prices.

The VC103K kit is the same 3/4 guitar with an electronic tuner and a nylon carry bag added to the box. It is mentioned for context rather than as a recommendation. Two caveats: Valencia publishes no padding for that bag, so nobody should read "carry bag" as a case, and our own listing states a kit colour that Valencia does not publish, which is why you will not find one written here. If the kit is not available when you look, the VC103 plus a clip-on tuner and a bag gets you the same outcome.

Buy the Ibanez GA5TCE instead if the player needs to plug into an amp or a PA. It carries an Ibanez Undersaddle pickup and an AEQ-2T preamp with an onboard tuner that Ibanez states works unplugged, it has a cutaway for upper-fret access, and a 46 mm nut against this guitar's 48 mm. It costs more — both live prices are in the table above — and it ships free on its own. One caution: Ibanez publishes no fractional size for the GA5TCE, so do not assume it is a scaled-down instrument the way this Valencia is. → Ibanez GA5TCE

The detail

What 3/4 actually means here

The number that matters is scale length: 580 mm, against 650 mm for the 4/4 in Valencia's same size table. Because frets divide the string proportionally, every fret spacing shrinks by the same proportion — a stretch a small hand cannot make on a full-size neck can become reachable here.

The nut is 48 mm, against 52 mm on Valencia's full-size 4/4. Nylon-string guitars space the strings further apart than steel-strings do, because the technique assumes the right hand picks individual strings rather than strumming with a plectrum. A player coming off a narrow-necked steel-string will notice immediately.

Timbers, and a correction

Valencia publishes a Linden top, back and sides, a Nato neck, and ebonized maple for both the fingerboard and the bridge.

One thing to be clear about: older copy on our own listing described this model as having a basswood top, back and sides. Valencia publishes Linden. We follow the manufacturer, and we will not tell you the two names describe the same timber, because Valencia has not said so.

Linden and Nato are not tonewood-catalogue names, and at this price nobody should pretend otherwise. Valencia itself positions the 100 Series as entry level.

Neck, frets and the truss rod

Nineteen nickel frets on an ebonized maple fingerboard, side dots along the neck edge, and ABS black binding on the neck as well as the top and sides.

The two-way truss rod deserves a moment. Two-way means the neck adjusts in both directions, so relief can be added as well as taken out. If the action feels high after a season of Melbourne humidity, that is adjustable rather than permanent.

The bridge saddle is a Graph Tech NuBone XB — a specified, named part rather than a generic plastic blank.

Hardware and finish

Nickel-plated machine heads with white buttons, a traditional rope-design rosette, and a headstock veneer. The finish is gloss, in Valencia's Blue Sunburst — colour code BUS, which is the BUS on the end of our SKU. Our product title shortens that to "Blue"; the manufacturer's name is Blue Sunburst. It ships in Valencia's full-colour multilingual giftbox, which matters if this is going under a tree.

What it does not do

There is no pickup, preamp, onboard tuner, output jack or battery — Valencia publishes electronics on 4/4 models in the 100 Series only, never on a 3/4. There is no cutaway. And there is nothing in the box but the guitar: the carry bag and electronic tuner belong to the VC103K kit, and no strap, capo, picks, spare strings, footstool, book or lesson entitlement is published as included with either.

Valencia does publish a left-handed model, the VC103L, in natural and black gloss only. It is a separate code and we do not stock it.

What you'll also need

Nothing is supplied with this guitar except the guitar, so budget for the basics:

• A clip-on tuner. There is none on board — the electronic tuner belongs to the VC103K kit, not to this SKU. This is the accessory that decides whether week one is enjoyable. → Guitar & bass tuners
• A bag or case. Nothing is included, and a 3/4 that travels to a lesson needs something around it.
• Spare nylon classical strings. Valencia publishes no gauge for the factory set, so match the tension you like once you have played it in. → Classical guitar strings
• A stand. A guitar on a stand gets picked up; a guitar in a cupboard does not. → guitar stands
• A footstool or guitar support if classical posture is being taught. → Footstools & supports
• A method book if there is no teacher yet. → Classical guitar tuition books

Australian availability and delivery

Price: shown live in the buy box above.

Stock: shown live in the stock badge above. Stock moves, so if you want to see one in person, call us on 03 4151 5751 before making the trip.

Click & Collect: Free from Footscray, 284–288 Ballarat Rd, Footscray VIC.

Delivery: In-stock orders are dispatched the next business day. Standard shipping is a $7 flat rate — on its own this guitar sits under our $150 free-shipping threshold, so free delivery applies only if the rest of the order takes the basket past $150. Estimated delivery is 4–9 business days after dispatch. Express is $15, typically 1–3 business days. Orders over $30 are tracked and insured, which covers this one. Some rural or remote areas may incur additional charges or longer delivery times.

Australian stock: Valencia's 2023 catalogue lists Australasian Music Supplies Pty. Ltd. as its Australian distributor — the supplier recorded against this SKU in our system.

Scarlett Music is an independent Australian retailer at 284–288 Ballarat Rd, Footscray VIC, trading since 1997, with a physical showroom and in-house technicians.

Related reading

• Classical guitars
• guitar accessories
• Ibanez GA5TCE Classical Guitar w/ Cutaway & Pickup