Which one?

A friend and band member has embarked on a search for a guitelele, or guitarlele. Not the 6 string uke that doubles them at C and G.
Which one to buy, not over $500, with electrics, please. Tenor size.

Gretch makes a very nice one. You can get them from Sweetwater for $159 and they could add the electronics of your choice for an additional amount.

Why only tenor size? IMO the cordoba mini is much better than the islander, yahama, gretsch guitaleles that i have tried. It’s not perfect, but pretty good for the money.

Adam

Alytw said:

Why only tenor size? IMO the cordoba mini is much better than the islander, yahama, gretsch guitaleles that i have tried. It’s not perfect, but pretty good for the money.

Adam

Click to expand...

+1 for the Cordoba Mini. I have the Mini SM-CE, with the solid cedar top and spalted maple back and sides, with the preamp/pickup built-in.

Worlds apart better construction, playability, tone and looks compared to the Yamaha GL-1 that I had purchased previously.

Also the 52mm nut width in the mini is WAY more comfortable than the 45mm nut width on the GL-1, especially for when you have your fingers on many strings but all stacked at the same fret, for example any A Maj chord shape.

Additionally, Cordoba has released a cheaper model to go with the Disney movie 'Coco' that sells for only $129 NEW.
(I've not played this specific model myself yet, so cant comment on quality)



See here for more info:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/search?...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

If your friend is set on the tenor size, along with electronics and a budget limited to $500 USD, then I'd suggest having a look at the Kala KA-GL-KOA-E:


https://vimeo.com/116965878

I'd assume it's superior to the Yamaha, Gretsch, and the older, tenor sized Cordoba guilele.

Other than that, I'd opt for the Cordoba Mini as well. As for its quality, however, I'm not totally convinced that it is that much superior to the Islander. If you compare the two of them, they share so many specs (scale length, nut width) and similar looking features (look at the fretboard, the markers, the way the frets are installed, the nut, the bridge, the pins, the tuner machines, the back of the headstock, the heel and joint of the neck) that I get the impression they might come from the same factory, just with an adapted body shape and different wood options.