Cordoba Mini II EB-CE Natural

Disappointing.

Packed this back into its box within 5 mins. Frets are so unlevel and not properly finished they cause buzz. I previously had to send the Mahogany version back to Guitar Village in the UK for the same reason. They since offered me a replacement and after I agreed to it on the condition their tech check it over first, it too had bad high/low frets all over it. So that's 3 unusable guitars out of 3. I have written to Cordoba expressing my disappointment and dissatisfaction about these guitars and the back story, having been a happy owner of the gk Pro Luthier series for many years which is a pleasure to play, and the original mini oc which has no issues. Quality control with this model regarding the fret work is zero imo. The general guitar finish and build I have no complaints about and the intonation seemed fine. But who wants to play a guitar with fret buzz. Frets are too small to overcome with a fret dress, just not enough 'meat' on them to correct this issue. And you shouldn't have to anyway. Not their most expensive guitar I know, but they aren't cheap either, so I do expect it to play properly for the price point... Avoid until the quality control is better if I were you...

Unbelievably cute but seriously good

I pre-ordered this guitar as I wanted a travel nylon string which wasn't a guitalele and it seemed Cordoba had made the very thing. The first thing that strikes you is how cute it is - great detailing and overall build. Although the body is half size - the neck is full width. This makes it good for fast fingerpicking and with quiet, but rather sweet voicing - although even with high tension strings the bottom E is a wee bit looser that I'd like. As in some reviews the edges of the frets aren't quite finished and you can feel them as you run up and down - this is fixed with a bit of care and a metal nail file. The saddle is quite high as you'd expect with a new acoustic - taking a few mm off this and a little truss adjustment give a comfortable even action (the frets are actually very well leveled) - even hard playing with a capo leads to very little buzz. As for the pickup - I haven't gigged with it yet but seems good on first tests - I've bought an 85mm soundhole plug as there's no feedback protection.

Overall - it's great value at the price and a superb, rather unique little thing which now sits next to the sofa for quick play when the fancy takes me.