Cordoba RCWE

When I unpacked it, I was surprized at how small it was. When they say thin body, it's like the body of a hollow bodied electric guitar. Think Gretsch 6120. Extremely comfortable and light weight. Extrememly comfortable to play. The neck has a slightly flat profile exactly in the middle. It may be slightly smaller than a traditional classic. The neck had a very thick slab of ebony for the fretboard. I examined it carefully and found no flaws. Had a nice spruce aroma. The Spruce top seemed eggshell thin--which may help to explain how they get such resonance out of such a small body. Came with a nice leather bound case.

The sound is very resonant, kind of woody, and fairly loud. Maybe its just that my expectations were set by it's small appearance. It almost reminds me of a parlour guitar. I have never played a truly upscale classical guitar, so I have little to compare with, but I was very impressed with the sustain, the resonance, and the tonal separation. Seem responsive to the touch. Haven't tried it with a pick, but finger style it was very responsive to attack, with a fairly wide color spectrum, tonally speaking.

The saddle seems a little high. The nut looks pretty good, but the action is too high up the neck. I am going to have to shave the saddle. Intonation seems pretty good, at least with the default strings. I plan to put high tension strings on immediately. other than that, it's a quality instrument. Frets are well dressed, the finish is flawless. Overall, very well done.

The guitar seems durable enough for performing, but I would want to treat it with care--its not an old Fender precision bass. I wouldn't want to have to use it to fight my way out of a bar.

No experience.

I have been playing for 42 years. I studied classical guitar for about a year, more than 30 years ago, but moved on to other instruments, the banjo, and piano before coming back to the guitar in '98. After all these recent years of playing electric, I saw Musicians Friend blowing these Cordoba's out, and figured, at this price, how can I go wrong? I wanted to use it to play Jazz, bossa nova, and nuevo flamenco, which just works better with nylon than steel, and anyway nylon takes you to places on the tonal map that just are a totally unique neighborhood. Something about finger picking without fingerpicks on nylon that is really intimate with the strings. This may not be the best choice for a pro, but for a serious amateur this is one sweet axe! Killer value!

My guitar was made in 2003, it is a work of art, the electric features are ajustable, recording, and on stage. We have just returned from a seven city tour with diffrent playing enviroments and the features this guitar made it work. The wood is beautiful the action is low and sweet, everything about this guitar was made topnotch.

I play diffrent styles onstage, I pick this one because of the sound and the play ability. It is one of the finest guitars I have ever owned and would highly recommend this to other guitarist who work most every night playing. For the price and quality, this Cordova is tops.

Sweet and easy working with this axe is wonderful

I have this guitar working sixity percent of the time and wouldn't trade it for the world.

I never had any problem with it, I take care of my equipment and never leave it

I have been playing for forty years, my other guitars are a six year old Martin HD/28, a gibson L5, Fender telecaster vintage 1966, a gretsch 6119, A hofner 1963/500 bass, a rickenbacker 360/12, a les paul, a guild D45, a fender twin reverb and a vox amp

My Cordoba was made in 2001. It has the standard 19 frets (standard for a classical guitar, at least), solid cedar top, Indian rosewood back and sides, Fishman pickup, mahogany neck (another reviewer said this was cedar, but I think it's mahogany) with an ebony center strip, cutaway thinline body, and an ebony neck. Great setup for playing jazz on a nylon string. For classical music, however, I prefer a more traditional style guitar (standard body thickness, no cutaway).

This guitar is great for jazz and latin (i.e., bossa nova) music. The Fishman pickup is great. It has a good sound -- not as loud or balanced as top of the line guitars, but amazing for the price. I would give this guitar a 10 for the price, but only a 7 overall (when compared to Contreras and other guitars costing 10k plus). I have therefore given the guitar an eight as a compromise.

Very good fit and finish. There is some sloppiness in assembly inside the guitar (excess glue, etc.), but I am being picky, and you have to look through the pickup hole or through a luthier's mirror to see it. Not as clean as top-of-the-line guitars, but again, it only cost 10 to 20% as much.

This guitar is great as a daily player. I prefer it to my high-end guitars (Brazilian rosewood Contreras Anniversario and Brazilian Rosewood Ramirez vintage 1A) for daily playing because I don't have to worry about damaging it, and it sounds fine. I don't really play classical on it because the balance is not completely satisfying -- there are uneven overtones on some notes -- and the tone is not as round or full as a great guitar. But it's amazing for the price.

I have not used any customer support.

This is a great second guitar for a classical player that wants to play jazz. It's not a great guitar for a college-level or above classical player, because its tone will only take you so far. I played all the mid priced (i.e., $1500 to $5000) classical guitars at Guitar Center, and this Contreras was by far the best. It was better than their new Ramirezes (which, BTW, I think are overrated and are nowhere near as nice as Contreras, Ruck, or others). If this guitar was stolen, I would buy another.

Pretty clean sound, light, and easy action. It's a real beauty as far as the finished looks go. Thin body with the fishman electronics are super nice sound.

I was looking for the right sound for a classic guitar, I was had it in my mind to buy a Ramirez, and I was trying everything I could find. I was in the acoustic room at guitar center, where I first found this Cordoba RCWE and started to play for the first time. The tone, and the easy of playing, was so good I just had to buy it. I have to say I love this guitar!

Beautiful finish, clean and clear, all is very tight. Very nice indeed.

One 9 volt battery lasted for the last six months, and is still good.
It has just keep going and going. Very dependable, would use it if it was the only instrument I owned.

I have not had a problem with any part of this guitar, it is a good guitar as far as I am concerned.

I have played for the past thirty years, have own almost forty guitars in my lifetime. I now play in a small club, four nights a week. Playing light jazz. I like this guitar very much, would tell the world how wonderful it is. Thank You Cordoba for makeing such a fine and wonderful instrument.

My Cordoba RCWE (I think it stands for: Rosewood Cutaway w/Electronics) guitar was made in 2002 in Spain. It has 19 frets which is the usual amount for classical guitars. It is the "classical" version of the Cordoba FCWE Gypsy Kings guitar. It has a solid Spruce top with a high gloss lacquer finish. The sides and back are solid Indian Rosewood. It comes with a Fishman Pro-Blend pickup. The neck is Honduran Cedar. The body style is thin-bodied with cutaway. The brige style is string-thru body. The gold-plated tuners are really nice. The fingerboard is made of Ebony. My RCWE guitar came with an awesome custom-made case specifically designed for thin-bodied guitars. A really nice rosette completes the features list.

I play classical and Mexican folk music. This guitar has the right sound (amplified and acoustic) that I desire. It has a rich sound but due to the thinness of the guitar, it's not as loud as a full-size classical guitar would be. However, that's a small trade-off when you consider that awesome sound that you get in such a thin guitar.

Oh my gosh, this guitar has the best action I've ever played on a classical nylon-stringed guitar. The action is really low but not too low as to create buzzing. The top was bookmatched perfectly and I haven't spotted any flaws. Being a Spanish guitar, you can tell that it's been assembled in the best possible way by Spanish luthiers.

Yea, this guitar was made for live playing. It comes with a Fishman Pro-Blend pickup. The finish seems like it might last a few years until it needs to be re-lacquered. Since this will become my primary instrument, I will definitely depend on it for many years to come.

Cordoba Guitars are distributed here in the U.S. by Guitar Salon International. I've been personally contacted via e-mail a couple times by the company's CEO/President (no joke!) about various questions such as acquiring "tap plates" and other accessories. What a helpful guy he was! Cordoba Guitars have a three-year warranty but if you buy one of their full-size guitars, you can upgrade the warranty to Lifetime if you purchase their humicase guitar case with built-in humidifiers. I tried to buy one for the RCWE but they don't make them for thin-bodied guitars yet.

I've been playing for about four years and this is by far the best classical guitar (for me at least) I've ever played. It's narrow fingerboard and thinness are a major plus since I have small fingers. I can't do a natural B chord for the life of me on any other classical guitar except the RCWE. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another one without hesitation. My favorite feature is the narrow fingerboard and the cutaway. I compared it to other guitars but the other ones were made of laminated mahogany and were made in Korea. No way! This one at least is "solid" wood and is made in Spain, where classical guitar making originates. The only thing I wish it had is a "golpeador" like on flamenco guitars, so that the finish would be protected from my intense guitar playing.

Ok, I am NOT a salesman for Cordoba guitars! Although my review of the RCWE makes me sound like one, I first became aware of Cordoba guitars through a friend of mine who also owns the FCWE "Gypsy Kings" model. It's very similar to the RCWE but instead of Indian Rosewood sides and back, it has solid Cypress (used on flamenco guitars) sides and back. The RCWE guitar is awesome! The list price was $2,295 (w/case) and I saved about $915 (almost 40%) from buying it at the Guitar Center.

To anyone seriously considering a good quality Classical guitar, you should look into this guitar before you consider others. If I had a bigger budget, I would definitely consider Jose Ramirez guitars. However, the closest model that they have which is comparable to the Cordoba RCWE is the Ramirez 4CWE (with solid Indian Rosewood sides and back and a solid Red Cedar top) which cost about $4,300 or about 3 grand more than the RCWE.