Cordoba C5 Nylon String Acoustic Guitar - Spruce Reviews

The Cordoba C5 is a lovely instrument that beautifully supports an early or casual student of classical guitar. I was recently separated from my C9 for a few weeks and picked up a C5 so I could keep up with my studies. I was very pleasantly surprised at the sweetness and subtlety of the C5's tone. This is a great guitar for exploring classical music.

The Cordoba C5 Nylon-Spruce is a beautiful guitar. Mine came with Savarez New Cristal High Tension strings. My service Engineer Josh Strid assured me that they would not be any more difficult to play then the D'Addario light steel strings on my other another guitar, he was right. I am amazed by the quality, sound, tone, and resonance of this instrument. This guitar punches way above its price point and think in a blind test would easily surpass lower end Taylor, Martin and Gibson. Reviewed as a beginner/entry guitar, I think its without a doubt more in the intermediate range. In addition its playable "action" is very pleasing. I am more than happy with my purchase and the quality of service given to me by Sweetwater and its crew. Keep on truckin' compadres and keep up the good work.

Louie D from NYC

For the time I have had it, it sounds really beautiful and I always have fun playing it. Great value for the price.

Quite pleased with the guitar. Although I am a beginner, it should take me about 4 weeks to become a world renowned player using the new guitar. :):) The people at Sweetwater were helpful. The guitar was very thoroughly wrapped/boxed. It was a good thing too because the shipping company put a decent hole in the outer box. But, the inner box, the one with the guitar was undamaged and all is well. I will buy more stuff from these folks as time goes by.

Jerry Crabill

I ordered this guitar for my son as a reward for having a good grades and his been asking to get him one for the house since his a bit scared of taking home the guitar that the school provide since it said in the paper we damage we have to pay pretty much 3x of what it really worth . I guess they're way to make sure the student will take extra care . Anyway I came across in this website when I search the guitar name and read one of the review that got me to buy in this website. This is so far the one I found that ship where we at and do the inspections before shipping it . That was a big plus for me because who want the hassles of returning item you purchase after you open it and it's damage or not what you expected so if I can avoid that kind of trouble I would. Anyway they packed it really really well I'm so amazed how much stuff I need to throw after opening the box and it was shipped very fast we only waited for a week and to where we at that is fast. If anyone searching for a guitar I highly recommend this store. My son is so happy he loves this guitar I wanted to get him a classical guitar that between the beginner and intermediate and this is the perfect one by price and quality. I can't say much about the guitar since I'm not the one who is playing it.

Got my first C5 from GC, and was a bit disappointed. There was some warping aberrations from the spruce top, the neck was highly bowed and the frets were sharp. My guess is that the guitar was allowed to dry out some where down the line or was just a shotty make so I returned it. Switched over to sweetwater hoping they'd inspect it before it got shipped to me.

The guitar was in flawless condition.
Tone: The spruce top really brightens and adds definition to individual notes. Projection is ok, but that's to be expected. The more delicate you play, the more nuanced and sweet it sounds. Intonation and resonance were sufficient and then some, very musical, and very three dimensional, for the price.
Playability: The action was just right (for a classical guitar), no buzz, easy to fret, neck shape is comfortable and smooth.
Construction/Appointments: The gloss finish is impeccable and makes the mahogany back and sides look great. It does have that plasticy stink. And I wonder if it seeps into the tone, but meh, it seems to be the thing for all classical guitars I've come across. More importantly, this one stays in tune for at least two sittings. Overall, it's a good looking guitar.

Conclusion: I was looking for a no gimmicks, traditional spec, classical guitar, with the best tone for the money. At $... this fit the bill. For any layman, who wants a "real" classical guitar at the lowest price, but still cares about tone and want their improving technique flattered. I think this a great place to start.

First, a little about me so you know where I am coming from with this review. I have been playing for about 35 years on and off. Mostly bluegrass and Celtic with a flatpick and mostly on a Martin HD28. I also play a low priced gypsy jazz guitar and a low priced electric so I have some experience with the budget end of the guitar spectrum. This is my first classical guitar and I am rediscovering fingerpicking. I have had this guitar for about a week and a half now and play it daily. Ordered it on Thursday and received on Saturday about noon. The guitar was packed for shipping very well. It couldn't have been damaged unless the shipper was very negligent, which they weren't. So, 5 stars for great service. I looked over the photos on the website carefully and chose a specific guitar. I would recommend that you do that, too, if you are interested in this guitar. In terms of fit and finish this guitar is flawless. It just seems very well built, especially for the price. Frets are good, intonation is good. The tuners are "meh" but that is not a deal breaker and is what I would expect in a solid top guitar in this price range. They work. I would say the set up is on the high side, but I am used to a low set up on my Martin. I reduced the relief in the neck a bit. I may mess around with the set up some more as I gain more experience with this guitar. It is hot and humid around here lately and the guitar reacts to temperature and humidity, so I find I have to re-tune a lot as I move it into different environments to play. If I just stay in a coolish humidity controlled room the tuning is more stable. I would describe the sound as "classic" classical guitar. I really don't think I have been able to hear it at its best yet because the weather has been so humid and the operator is still learning how to get the best sound out of it. So far I am happy with this guitar.

I received the instrument a bit late, but the guitar arrived in good condition. The guitar itself is well-made and free of blemish as far as I can tell. The frets and fingerboard are well-finished and of good quality, though the fingerboard is dry as a bone (this seems to be a common issue with guitars nowadays) -- I'm going to hit it up with some lemon oil the next time I change the strings. Intonation seems good, though I suspect this guitar will require frequent tuning. The tuners aren't the best. But that's one of the concessions the manufacturer has to make for instruments at this price point, and they work well enough for my purposes. The finish is actually quite nice, though laid on a bit too heavily on the spruce top for my taste. The spruce top gives the guitar a brighter tone than cedar, but the finish seems to mute it just a bit. Still, visually, the guitar is very nice to look at.

This guitar is meant for beginners and students, and I'm sure it fills that role quite well, but it is surprisingly playable and with good tone so I think it will also work well for gigging guitarists who don't want to risk their high-end instruments with the rigors and dangers of travel.

Overall, I rate this guitar as an excellent buy at this price point. Recommended.