Cordoba C5-CE SP Classical Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Very good guitar

You have to get use to everyone calling it an entry level guitar. I am not a beginner or a pro and I think it is a much better guitar than that

Bonne guitare, tarif correct

Don’t be misled about it’s price point in thinking it’s just a “beginner’s guitar” – this is such an incredible sounding guitar for the money, and plays great for all experience levels. I’ve been playing for 20 years, and for the money, this beats 90% of the classical guitars, and many of just acoustic guitars in general.

Build quality is fantastic – neck / frets smooth (not cutting up the fingers), finish is perfectly consistent and smooth, playable right out of the box with a little tune up. Quality tuners.

Well-matched woods too – you just hear a certain level of sound when you strum a guitar in tune. Listen for it. The guitar resonates, the sound begins to open up, and conducts a tone that’s more than just being in pitch, but “plays” with each other. It’s quite exciting to hear, and THIS guitar does that.

Amazon is great because the first one I got DID have quality issues, but quick exchanged for another, and all is well. It’s expected when made in China, but NOT because the factory or craftsmanship is bad (it’s really good), but heck man, an instrument made of wood is shipping over seas to get to you! :]

Can’t say enough about this guitar, and would highly recommend to anyone at all levels – even experienced players (don’t be fooled by their non-5 star reviews, you just acquire certain tastes after playing for so long).

Did a side-by-side comparison with 4 others:
– a 70’s cedar top La Paterie (Cordoba sounded better for money and availability)
– 90’s comparable Taiwan-made Yamaha G225 (which had better balance, but didn’t project as much as the C5)
– Cordoba C5 SP (spruce top version) – spruce top version projects more with crisper highs as expected. Here I personally chose the spruce top because I’m an acoustic guitar player, not a classical player. Cedar is a great tone wood for a more mellow balanced sound typical of classical music. Spruce is great for more separation in that sound and for more projection.
– Lucero LC200 – this was actually surprising because though the one I got out of the box was junk (cracked during manufacture shipping), it seemed like build quality was quite good. They pushed using higher end materials (bone-like type nut, better strings), but cutting through that, for the price (even cheaper) it’s an even better value, BUT crack not-withstanding, the sound was too green and didn’t open up like the Cordoba. I feel like even in perfect condition it wouldn’t have sounded as good as the C5.

I am left handed but learned on friends’ right handed guitars 20 years ago. I never switched over to actual left handed guitars until I had already been playing for many years, and since then I have systemically replaced my guitar collection with lefties.

I still string them right handed though, as I primarily play extremely complex technical metal, thrash, and death metal. I also have a thing for classical guitar, and I finally decided to buy an actual classical guitar instead of playing classical on the Ibanez acoustic that I use for non-distorted stuff.

After researching for quite awhile, I settled on this Cordoba. As with other reviews, I found it be a rather good value for the price tag. I am an expert guitarist and have come across very few guitarists in my 20 years of playing that can play classical guitar at my level, and I highly recommend this guitar.

The intonation is great, it has the timbre of a thousand dollar+ model, the tuners are stiff (which you want in a classical guitar), it is lightweight compared to a lot of models, the frets are well done (not too thick, not too thin), the action is a little high (which you want if you plan to play flamenco or any classical that involves aggressive hand strumming), and it just plain plays and sounds good.

My only complaint is that it has the standard coating on the back of the neck, whilst I prefer the non polished dry finish on my non-electrics. No big deal, as I’m accustomed to both.

I specifically titled this review Left handed upside down for a reason. As I am a lefty who plays upside down, and I have a lot of experience modifying lefty guitars for right handed stringing, I can offer unique information that others like me would really appreciate hearing:

This guitar requires NO modification. Both the saddle and the nut are designed in a way that makes switching up the stringing effortless. Unlike my Ibanez acoustic, which I had to buy a right handed saddle and nut for, this one requires no such thing. This is the first guitar in 13 years that I didn’t have to modify.

A win all around.