Cordoba Mini II, Nylon String Review

Great Small & Sweet guitar

I loved it from the day I saw it, its appearance is magnificent, when I tried it I was surprised at how good it sounded, but I have too many guitars in my collection until one appeared on sale and there I did not doubt it, it is a beautiful instrument, both aesthetically and sonically very light and simple to play very comfortable I recommend it for those beginners who are self-conscious… read more with a normal size it is like a toy but it really sounds like a real guitar.

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Great Travel Guitar

This guitar sounds absolutely beautiful...quite shocking for the size and price tag. The flamed mahogany look is sharp, and the build quality of the instrument feels solid. Overall great instrument for what it is.

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Travel Case for Mini II

I've had this guitar for a while and still love it. Of my three "travel" guitars, this gets the most use. When I bought it I'd wanted a nice case, but found it hard to fit in what was available, so I got the Cordoba 1/4 size gig bag. Nice enough,OK, but... I just found and bought the SKB SC300 Baby Taylor case (from Sweetwater, of course!) and it works GREAT for the Cordoba Mini… read more II. And a BIG shout out to Sweetwater for sponsoring the latest Leonid and Friends tour. THANK YOU!! Saw them in Northfield, Ohio last month (October 2021). Awesome band. No fancy lights, special effects, backup dancers; just world-class musicians practicing their craft.

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Exceded my expectations

I just wanted a small guitar for my 4yo child to start learning. I ended up having a lot of fun playing this guitar while the kid is at school! The sound is amazing, the fret ends are smooth, the action is good for a nylon guitar, the strings are very well put and it holds everything in tune. Now it's the kid's new guitar and daddy's travel guitar for sure!

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Big fan

I receive weekly compliments on my Mini's tone, by folks who are much more tone obsessed than I am. It's comfortable and easy to play, and is remarkably durable (my kids play it sometimes). The only regret I have is not paying extra for onboard electronics. Looks like I'll be buying another soon.

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Sweet companion

Having a full-size guitar, I recently decided to try ukuleles. I really enjoyed beginning to learn to play the uke. But I didn't want to leave the guitar behind. But carrying the full-size around Was a bit cumbersome and I really liked the Cordoba ukes. I am thrilled with the quality and sound and size of the mini Cordoba. A great companion.

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TV guitar

I use it to practice arpeggios while watching TV. Tuning up to F# feels good.

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Impressive Cordoba (again!)

The Cordoba Mini II is a miniature guitar. I love the size of the body and the neck. The slightly shorter scale makes for ease of play and the string spacing is perfect for classical / fingerpicking. The tone woods do make this small guitar sound as rich and wonderful as physics allow. Cordoba did an impressive job of delivering a great sounding, well balanced, versatile guitar… read more that is SETUP beautifully. Many instruments in this price range are poorly set up. The playability right out of the box is amazing. The action is low set and the intonation is superb even in the higher registers. Volume is amazing for the setup. The strings that come with the guitar are very good. I also bought the Cordoba Mini M, which is like a tiny 6 string Ukulele. That too is well set up and plays and sounds great. This review and that review are very similar in praise of Cordoba. Craftmanship is SUPERB. The fit and finish, and quality of materials, is just amazing. Fretwork is excellent for both guitars. This is definitely NOT a toy guitar. I would feel proud to bring this up on stage, it looks so incredible, especially with the flamed top. Don't hesitate, this is a fun little guitar, and is offered at a fantastic price, and represents true value for the money. RECOMMENDED. I wasn't familiar with the Cordoba line of guitars, but after seeing these offerings, I feel confident that their premium guitars are also just as carefully made, and I will consider more purchases of the Cordoba brand.

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Finally the size I actually need!

I have the original Mini-M for a few years now, and been so curious and excited about the Mini II since it came out. I also have a big Cordoba GK Studio and it's fantastic, but ever since switching to the uke as my main stringed instrument, the GK Studio feels humongous. So i've been wanting a scaled down nylon stringed guitar WITH a cutaway, AND a solid top AND plug in capability.… read more As far as I've searched, this Cordoba Mini II is the only guitar of this size for the specs I need and after a couple years of holding off, and a few months of waiting for stock to arrive at SweetWater...I finally have one! And it's everything I hoped it to be. Very comfortable size to play, looks really classy with the spruce top contrasting with the really beautiful striped ebony grain on the sides and back. Now that i have the original Mini-M and the GK Studio to compare to the new Mini II...I can definitely say THIS sounds like a guitar. Even stringing the original Mini to E-E tuning, it was still very thin plonky sounding, but THIS mini II EB-CE sounds pretty darn deep and full for a guitar of this size! The strings it comes with sounds very mellow and round (probably due to the combination of Spruce and Ebony), which i like! BUT...as the other reviewers mentioned, there's still some floppiness and intonation issues with this short scale and not quite enough tension, so I am experiencing some buzzing and off notes. But I love this instrument so much, that i'm willing to see if a simple string swap would fix it. So thank you other reviewers for recommendations of strings. I will try on it next the Savarez Cantiga high tensions as well as the D'Addario polished bases and HT strings. I hope this will solve the issue. I have not tested the electronics yet in an amp. One other thing, i also got the Cordoba 1/4 size deluxe gig bag, and it fits the Mini II perfectly. Very good padded bag with straps. Cordoba should make this bag come with the Mini II, like they did give a bag with the original Mini-M. But anyway this is my 2nd Cordoba deluxe padded bag in my arsenal as the tenor ukulele one is also fantastic. Anyway, 4 stars for the instrument for size, comfort, uniqueness, coolness, sound. Knock 1 star off for intonation and buzzing. But still a tremendously fun instrument that i hope to keep for years and years. Cordoba if you're listening...good job! Now please make a solid cedar top, rosewood back and sides version of this plus some gloss options! thank you! and 5 stars go to Sweetwater for a very good deal, good service as always, and the BEST packing job of any large music retailer store. Came in a nice thick box with molded foam protection! Even guitar center doesn't pack like this. kudos SweetWater!

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Fantastic!

An absolute masterpiece! Plays great, incredibly resonant, no fret issues, and stays in tune like no other guitar in this price range. Might get another one! And, as always, Sweetwater support and shipping was top notch!

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Fills a Need for the $$$

I already own a Cordoba Gypsy Kings Studio Negra and a Mini R, both from Sweetwater. The Mini R was my primary travel guitar until I got the Striped Ebony Mini II. It's a good guitar for the $$$; in my opinion MUCH better than the Martin Backpacker Nylon. I had one of those and ended up giving it to my Uncle who does a lot of camping. I like this Cordoba Mini II much better. The… read more truss rod and standard classical tie block bridge are nice upgrades on the Mini II over the Mini R. Nu-Bone saddle, that's nice. The MINI II, at least mine, was not without some minor issues, which on mine were easily dealt with. Out of the box it was 'playable' and I played it that way for months. Finally I pulled off the strings, sanded down the saddle a bit, tweaked the truss rod and put on new hard tension strings. Even better now. There were a couple of rough spots on the top finish. I could 'feel' them, but they weren't visible unless one really looked. But I do like the look of the Spruce top and the striped ebony back and sides, and it gives good projection and warmth for a smaller nylon string guitar. As good as my full size GK Negra? No, of course not, but good enough to sit around and play some Bossa Nova, Flamenco or So What or Nuages? Yea. Electronics/tuner and tuning machines work as advertised, no problem after months of use. And this guitar gets played a lot! It's a great couch guitar. I do wish it had a Golpeador; I play some Flamenco and I will order one from Cordoba and put it on at my next string change; I did the same with my Mini R. In my opinion, this guitar, with its shorter scale length and nylon strings, really benefits from hard tension strings. Right now I'm using Hard Tension Martin M160s (88.9 lbs.), just to play it in with the new adjustments to the saddle and truss rod. Once I get the action where I like it I will go with my favorite, and more expensive string choice, the D'Addario EJ51s (89.94 lbs.) with the polished basses (I hate string squeak!). D'Addario even has some "extra" hard tension strings (93 lbs) I might consider for this guitar. I bought the small Cordoba gig bag, from Sweetwater, and it works fine. But for my Mini R I have the gig bag and also one of the Cordoba hard foam baritone uke cases. That works great for traveling. I've had that thing on airplane overheads, cruise ships, cars, all over with NO problems. I'd really like to find a similar case like that for this Mini II. (Cordoba...hint, hint.) There have been NO problems with the standard Cordoba gig bag for the Mini II, but a hard foam case would be even better. So Now I have two nylon string travel guitars and like and use them both when traveling, depending on where I'm going and the situation. Is it worth the money? The one that I got? Yea, works for me.

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Great for travel and kids

Great tone and playability for an unbeatable price. I can't wait to pass this down to my son when he's old enough to start playing, and after I get a couple years out of it first. I had tried several short scale guitars, including the Ibanez Piccolo, the guitarlele, and others, and this has been my favorite so far. It's surprisingly loud, and for the size, the tone is excellent.… read more Another great piece by Córdoba.

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Cordoba mini II

It's a beautiful travel guitar that can tune to standard. I really wanted the flamed mahogany version but I decided to go with the cheapest version. Tone is lacking slightly compared to bigger full size guitars but that's almost unfair to pick on for the price and quality of the instrument. Cordoba really did a nice job with this series. I love playing jazz/ classical and bossa… read more Nova arrangements on the go now. Plus it's hard to beat the service Sweetwater offers compared to other guitar retailers. You really can't go wrong. I know i'll be coming back for more gear

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Ultimate travel instrument

wood quality is beautiful, but varies greatly easy to play, saddle too tall, easy fix with sand paper sounds phenomenal, but the default savarez strings kinda suck, easy fix aswell.

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Worth the Wait!

My Mini II Spruce/Striped Ebony w/Electronics finally arrived after a 6 mo wait (I ordered one as soon as they showed up on Sweetwater's site). It was well worth the wait. I play mostly flamenco and Spanish guitar, and own a few Cordobas including a GK Pro. I have a top of the line mini that I use as a travel guitar, but even with my preferred Bela 2001 hard tension Flamenco strings… read more it doesn't really sound like a flamenco or classical guitar. It sounds more like a guilele. This new Mini II is a completely different story. THIS is a guitar! It sounds like a really nice classical guitar with Savarez strings ,and with the Bela strings on it, it plays flamenco like a dream. The action and the neck are both extremely comfortable and the 14 frets to the body along with the cutaway make playing melodies way down the neck even easier than with my GK Pro. What a great travel nylon string guitar! At any price really. I cannot recommend it enough.

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