Cordoba Luthier C9-CED Classical Nylon Guitar

I'm very happy with this guitar. It arrived just a few days ago. I've been playing a long time but mostly steel string acoustics. This guitar is light and even with the Cristal Corum high tension strings feels very easy on the fingertips I suppose that's part of the allure of nylon. This guitar is beautiful. It shines like glass. The strings were already in tune right out of the case. It's a nice case, form fitting and also light but more protective than a gig bag. This guitar has been sounding better by the day as I acclimate to it. Artificial harmonics are easy to get on this instrument with these strings. Tunes by Sor and Tarrega sound better on this guitar than on acoustic. I would describe this guitar's sound as full, almost chorusy in nature as opposed to super clear. It's a matter of taste and I'm just going with it. You can do things to clarify the sound if you want but sometimes a big wall of sound is what you want. If you have Bridgett Memikides Compendium, the first two studies sound fantastic on this guitar as does the 3rd 'The Guiliani Allegro' which she plays at 100bpm. I play it at something like 55bpm. To me 100bpm shouldn't be humanly possible ! The action was set fairly low but the guitar comes with instructions on how to adjust the truss rod. I won't be doing that any time soon. The guitar should be kept in the case when not in use and at 45-55% humidity and 60-85 degrees Fahrenheit. I've set up a small room humidifier in the room the guitar is stored in to rectify the situation. I turn the humidifier off at night and close the case and the humidity is preserved overnight. I will not zip and unzip the case because eventually the zipper will fail that way. When I need to actually move the guitar I'll be assured of quality transport. I use high heat canola oil to revitalize the fret board and a little Murphy's oil soap solution for the painted waxed sections. Winters are hard on guitars with the low humidity's and fast temperature changes so don't expect your fine solid wood guitar to stay in perfect tune under those extreme conditions. This is a living piece of wood and will expand and contract accordingly. I keep a vibration head stock tuner handy and generally stop playing when the furnace comes on. Once the temperature stabilizes I re-tune and start again. The guitar doesn't fall out by much but by enough and spring will come soon enough and this will then be unnecessary. If anything changes I'll come back and amend but for now I'm living in a fool's paradise over this purchase. Thanks for reading !

The guitar approaches the perfection. It has a high volume, nice tone, a surprising light weight, a really nice look, a nice finish (but I would prefer semi-gloss than gloss). The strings are perfectly adjusted, not too high at the 12th fret, not too low. It comes with a nice case, with a comportement inside for capot and strings (It would be a good idea an outside small comportement for a footrest, little more room for music sheet, and why not, a comportment for a stand. That would be the perfect guitar case !). I am really satisfied. The packing lacked some protection: only a cartoon box over the guitar case. The pack received a shock during transportation which did affect the case (not apparent as the outside case surface is hessian), but the case did protect efficiently the guitar, a real good case. An extra protection over the nice guitar case would be indicated.

This review is for anyone thinking about ordering the Cordoba guitars online from Amazon. My wife ordered the Cordoba C9 for me as a reward for passing my Cisco exams. I had it in my wish list but what a shock when I picked it up at the PO. The guitar shipped the same day it was ordered and arrived here in Seoul Korea in about 10 days. The packing box and materials perfectly the foam case and the C9. There are two variations of the CP - cedar vs. spruce tops. I have the cedar topped version. If you are thinking of learning any Spanish/Romantic music this would be the guitar for you. This cedar top gives it a nice warm, round sound - great lows without sacrificing the highs. I could find no flaws in the fit and finish of this guitar. The top is a beautifully colored cedar. The fretboard is ebony which has a very nice feel compared to rosewood. The tuning machines are gold-toned with black buttons. The rosette is looks like something from the 1920's. The finish is applied evenly and not too thick. The finish on the back and sides has a three-dimension depth that you can't see in any photographs. Up and down the neck the guitar plays flawlessly and is a joy to play. If you are looking for a student model under $2,000, then this is the one. The only other advice I'd give you is to buy the Humidicase at the same time you order the guitar for the lifetime warantee.

I have been playing this Cordoba for about six months and I have to say it has a lovely, warm tone and is very easy to play. For beginning and intermediate players this model is slightly smaller than the typical classical guitar at 7/8 size but for those of us with a shorter finger reach, this makes a big difference. You will still have to stretch, but I have found it to be within my reach with just a little practice. The strings it is shipped with are fine, but I just changed mine to Augustine Imperial medium tension and love the sound even more.

I really can not believe it. I noticed that one wood frame inside the guitar is broken when I took the guitar out of the nice looking hard case. This guitar looks beautiful, but the quality control is poor. Another problem found in the morning, there is a 3 inch long crack in the wood at the back of guitar. The beautifully looking guitar will go back to Amazon today. Update: I ordered another one. Will update the review later.