Cordoba Solista CD, Nylon String - Cedar Review

Very impressive sound for the price - the case is amazing

This guitar is something else. Solista means soloist in Spanish (fairly obvious), so it is no surprise that this guitar shines playing solo pieces like Tarrega, Sor, Coste, etc. For the price, it has exceeded my expectations. This guitar has the larger body style I prefer, and being hand-made in Spain adds a special feeling to playing the guitar. This is a full size concert… read more style guitar. It is very loud and warm compared to other guitars I have played in the same price range. Classical guitar is one of my hobbies, so I am not a professional, nor do i perform in public. I have played and been around people playing high end luthier guitars and if i didn't say anything,, this guitar would fit in with most of them as far as tone and appearance. After a week or so, I switched the Savarez hard tension strings for D'Addario Titanium Trebles in normal tension and the guitar sounds a bit more dynamic, but not as loud and stable. I would suggest experimenting with various strings and tensions before settling on a certain set as I have found different strings have various effects depending on the guitar itself. I would definitely recommend this guitar to anyone looking to play advanced level pieces, but not someone who performs professionally. A student would be a good fit for this guitar, but I would recommend light tension strings until you are used to the higher action and strength required to play a full size concert guitar. The included hard tension strings could be a bit much for even advanced players, especially those with smaller hands. The cedar top and neck combined with the rosewood back and sides creates a very warm tone, and the cordoba fan bracing pattern allows the guitar to project when you play hard, but still resonates when playing softly. The build quality is decent, though it does have a small run in the paint on the side of the fretboard, but it is hardly noticeable. Overall, very impressive.

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Took a little time to open up

At first I was super worried that I had blown my money, but after the guitar acclimated to my house and I acclimated to the guitar, it really started to sing. The only thing I think I would ask for to make this guitar even better would be a nitro finish, but hey.. I can't have everything. Intonation is decent, and I haven't even had it set up properly yet. For the money, I think… read more this is a fantastic guitar. Quite a bargain for the tone woods and craftsmanship.

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Best guitar I have ever played

I knew I had something in the store when the strings felt too loose. It took two days to get used to it, then major sounds coming out from barely touching the strings

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Córdoba Salista : A Truly Great Buy

For those who can afford the price, it is hand made, I recommend this as a fabulous starter classical nylon string. Easy to play and beautiful to look at. And for a small body guitar it has an incredible sound that fills a room. The thing I look for in a possible purchase, is the craftsmanship of the construction. This I find is most easily determined in the finger board. The… read more setting of the frets and action height of the strings, give a good measure of the craftsman's skill. The fingerboard is fabulous. The fret height uniformity is excellent and all played clean with no buzzing at any position. The action is set well with the nut and saddle heights making it easy to play Barr cords up to the seventh fret witha, rather, light pressure. And further up, with just a little additional pressure. Close inspection of the frets showed all were set parallel to the "flat" fingerboard. The ends were finished properly to the edge of the neck and fingerboard, and the filed angle of the ends is perfect for play and comfort. Again showing the skill and time spent by the builder of this guitar. The intonation is the second measure. This guitar has its sadle set exactly for proper intonation. Showing again the skill of the craftsman. These points give confidence that the rest of the construction is sound and will give the expected value for the cost of the instrument. Of course the sound is most greatly influenced by the tone woods. Here, the choices, Canadian Cedar and Indian Rosewood, give incredible sound and projection. As expected. This guitar pushes a very stong bass, making it a great finger style instrument. Córdoba Craftsmanship, Materials , and Sound... all produced a fabulous guitar. Final note: I made the trek to Sweetwater to see the store/headquarters in person, and chose this guitar after playing it and several others over the span of three hours. I recommend, if you can find the time and the distance of travel is not too great... to put it on your bucket list.

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Very nice tone

If you are looking for a high quality classical guitar with very nice tone, solid top and solid rosewood back and sides in the $1500-$2000 price range, then the Cordoba Solista is very worthy of consideration.The basses and trebles are very evenly balanced, very good note separation, nice warm Spanish tone and superb intonation all over the fretboard. The Solista competes very well… read more with other well known Luthier-made guitars I have in the collection that are in the $2500-$4500 range.I've had a hard time putting the guitar down for the past week :-)The included Humicase is very solid and high quality with built-in climate control, its better than the original cases I received with my past Luthier commissioned guitars.

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