Cordoba C7-CE Iberia

This is a really lovely guitar, badly let down by the finish, leaving one or two parts no better finished than the cheapest guitars one could find in a supermarket where I live.

My purchase was only just delivered to Thomann, then immediately shipped out to me, so it has not been played by customers in store, and yet it has a chip on the headstock, the finish on many parts of the binding around the body is dull as though it had been worn with a very fine steel wool. There is a cut in the neck on one side, which looks like someone cutting the slot for the nut has cut (2-3mm) too deep into the neck at the edge, but it's just been lacquered over.

Another disappointing part, is the way that the fretboard has been finished at the sound hole. I own a Cort ACC15F, a similar but much less expensive guitar, and it is finished beautifully around the sound hole, with a slightly angled edge to the fretboard where it meets the hole, which really makes the guitar look well made, as though someone really cared about their work.
The fretboard on the C7-CE however, has a straight vertical cut around the sound hole, (which most indeed do) which they also haven't bothered to finish properly below the fretboard, (almost out of sight, out of mind seems to be the attitude) and some awful looking black gloss paint, which matches nothing else on the guitar, and is poorly applied around the edge. Really makes it look cheap at that point.

So much has clearly been designed so beautifully with this guitar, the wood binding, the inlay work, the carving and lamination of the headstock, the heel cap, not to mention the beauty of the Rosewood on the back and sides, yet it has been let down so badly by poor craftsmanship, or I would say lazy craftsmanship, and obvious careless handling by the manufacturers when both giving it the final polish, and when packing it for shipment. It did not get chipped in the nicely padded case!

Probably the worst thing I've noticed since setting it up and putting new strings on, is that the bridge saddle is far too thin for the seat. Once the strings are tensioned, it is pulled over at an angle which leaves only the edge touching the pick up. I'm quite technical myself, and have carved many replacement saddles and nuts, so I will replace this myself.

The copper wire of the pick up however, although a brand new guitar, is broken and damaged where it bends into the body of the guitar. As I have not played it plugged in yet, I don't know if this will have a negative effect on the sound or quality of sound, but I'm sure it won't be positive!

I believe Cort have switched their production to China for the model I mentioned, so if they can produce a less expensive, but better finished guitar, where the people have actually taken a pride in their work, I don't understand why Cordoba would allow such poor work to reach the end user.

It does seem to play well enough, very nice tone, although I really had to set it up myself because the relief was also very poorly adjusted, if they bothered to adjust it at all. Of course there usually needs to be some adjustment on any guitar, but this one doesn't seem to have been given much attention at all.

I must say that this is not what I expected from the reputation I have read about Cordoba guitars. Perhaps they need to employ some better quality controllers in China. I know that the Chinese are more than capable of producing fine work, in fact most of the beautiful parts of this guitar I've mentioned prove that to be the case, but as I stated at the beginning, it is such a pity to go to such lengths, then let down all the good work with poor finishing, and careless handling.

Now, all that said, would I buy another one..?

Well, for the quality of tone, and the feel of the guitar to play, yes, I would still buy another.

I came across Cordoba guitar with reading web reviews, and I found C7-CE the right choice for me. The sound is not comparable with any of the guitars I have tried in this price range. This is most likely due to the solid cedar top and the rosewood back and sides. The pick-up works well, but the tuner could be a bit more accurate (which is normal for such built-in tuners). C7-CE is a prestigious guitar suitable even for stage playing. I ordered a B-Stock but I have not seen any traces of use and it looks just like new. In sum, I am super happy with my C7-CE. :)

Man muß sich im Klaren sein, dass es zu diesem Preis fast nur in Massen hergestellte Gitarren gibt. Daher dürfen die Erwartungen nicht zu hoch sein. Ich brauchte ein "Work Horse" für unterwegs, und habe mir die zugelegt. Mußte aber weitere fast 300 Euro reinstecken. Die Saitenlage war miserabel hoch, die Bundstäbchen mußten nachgeschliefen werden und sowohl Sattel als auch Steg mußten vom billigen Plastik befreit und durch Knochen ersetzt werden. Jetzt ist sie ungefähr das, was ich mir vorgestellt habe.