Cordoba uke buyers: You may have been HAD!

GVlog

GVlog

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I just received a Cordoba 20BM ukulele today. As of this morning, the specs on Cordoba's website read as follows:

  • Top: Solid Mahogany
  • Back & Sides: Mahogany
  • Bridge: Rosewood
  • Rosette: All-natural wood inlay rosette
  • Finish: Natural (satin)
  • Neck/Fingerboard: Mahogany neck, Rosewood Fingerboard
  • Nut/Saddle: Bone, 38mm nut width
  • Fingerboard Inlays: Pearl inlays on the 5,7,10
  • Number of Frets: 14 to body, 19 total
  • Body Width & Length: 190mm (7.48") at upper bout/254mm (10") at lower bout
  • Body Depth: 70mm (2.75") at upper bout/77mm (3.03") at lower bout
  • Tuning Machines: Silver tuners with pearl buttons
  • Strings: Aquila Nylgut
  • Electronics: NA
  • Tap Plate/Pick Guard: NA
  • Case: Includes Cordoba Gig Bag
  • Options: Available in Soprano, Concert, or Tenor size

After taking out and examining the saddle, it was obvious that it wasn't bone. Neither was the nut. I emailed Cordoba and called them. Kim, in customer service was investigating the matter but the information she collected does suggest that the nut and saddles are NOT bone.

As of this afternoon, the website has been updated to read that the nut and saddle are of a composite material. It looks like ALL the other ukulele specs have been also updated.
:p

Cordoba does not have bone nut/saddle blanks so the best they could do was to direct me to a website where I could buy blanks on my own. They did not offer monetary compensation for the purchase.

Sheesh!

I may still decide to keep the ukulele and upgrade the nut and saddle myself. Still, I think this was a very bad oversight on Cordoba's part and very poor customer service. One of the reasons I chose to buy the 20BM was because they claimed the nut and saddle were made of bone.

If somebody accidentally breaks one of their solid-topped Cordoba ukes, examine the material and let us know if the top is really solid mahogany.
 
Thanks for the info. I have a Cordoba, but I got mine used at a fabulous price, even so I'd be pissed too. If it's not, guess I'll get some practice at installing new ones. It still sounds nice,. I examined top under strong light and I'm fairly sure the top is solid.

It's 6:12 AM on 4/19. Hmmmm, unable to access Cordoba's website for some reason.

took out my scalpel, shaved a little from the end of the saddle without effort. Too soft to be anything but plastic. Even under 10x maginification, top appears solid mahogany. I bought mine to upgrade anyway...making a "blues uke." Want new tuners, now new bridge/nut, and Worth Browns low G. for starters, maybe a strap of some kind.
 
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I called just a few hours after emailing them in the hope of getting a status on my inquiry. I think I would have cut them some slack if they offered to make it right even just by mailing me bone blanks for free. But it seemed that their first action wasn't to respond to my email but to change the data on their website.

Sure, they wanted to make sure the data on their website reflected the "latest data" but it also felt like a sneaky "cover-your-a**" maneuver. That rubbed me the wrong way.
:mad:
 
Aloha GVlog,
I hear you well...You got deceived and then when you called them on it, they didn't offer you any ammends...it's somebody's oversight and a$$ over there..probally they are trying to cover it up...so the boss doesn't know..Not Good business practices guys...fess up ...Good luck!!:)
 
mm stan said:
I hear you well...You got deceived and then when you called them on it, they didn't offer you any ammends...it's somebody's oversight and a$$ over there..probally they are trying to cover it up...so the boss doesn't know..Not Good business practices guys...fess up
Click to expand...

Especially given that the specs were replicated elsewhere like Guitar Center:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Cordoba...i1629223.gc?source=4WFRWXX&CAWELAID=849676888

Cordoba 20BM Baritone Ukulele Features:

Top: solid mahogany
Back & sides: solid mahogany
Neck: mahogany
Nut: bone
Fingerboard: rosewood
Fingerboard inlays: pearl inlays on the 5,7,10
Rosette: natural wood pattern
Saddle: bone
Bridge: rosewood
Tuning machines: silver with pearl buttons
Finish: natural satin
Strings: Aquila Nylgut
Case: Cordoba gig bag
 
I don't care, I slapped down $99 at Git Center and got a uke I'm very happy with. Quality is very good, I'm planning to BUSK with the dang thing, I don't expect it to be a $1000 Kamaka. Good sound. Stays in tune. Got a strap installed (drilled a hole) and may drill another in the headstock to put a lil' loop of something to hang it up by. I'll use it, abuse it, and I'll still choose it (when it's worn out and I need anodder one.)
 
I purchased a 20TM around a month or so ago and was very impressed with the construction for such an inexpensive solid wood uke. The gig bag was pretty nice too. I actually bought one separately for another uke of mine. My only issues were that the tuners were very low quality and I really wasn't into the sound. I returned it and got something different for twice the cash but am much happier although I still swapped out the saddle and tuners ;) Perhaps a bone saddle may have helped with the sound quality a bit on the Cordoba. If you make the change let us know.

If you want to drop in a bone saddle, you can always go to the butcher shop and pick up a cow bone. Boil it for awhile and let it dry out for a few days. Otherwise you can get blanks from stewmac.com for around $6. They are easy enough to carve out on a belt sander.
 
hmmmm. I have been looking at the review of the 25CB and the 110 pack. They seemed like bone to me. Not a composite. they had the feel and density of bone. Funny thing is that right now all their sites are down.
 
I bought a 20TM after Thanksgiving. Both the nut and saddle are bone.

I'm wondering if the notation on the 20BM specs was the result of someone just doing a cut and paste from another set of specs, and not proofreading.

Not that that ever happens, of course....

-Kurt
 
mr moonlight said:
If you want to drop in a bone saddle, you can always go to the butcher shop and pick up a cow bone. Boil it for awhile and let it dry out for a few days.
Click to expand...

My Fluke has a cow skull on it.:stop:
 
ukeeku said:
Funny thing is that right now all their sites are down.
Click to expand...

ksiegel said:
I'm wondering if the notation on the 20BM specs was the result of someone just doing a cut and paste from another set of specs, and not proofreading.
Click to expand...

Yes, the site is still down. The proofreading has probably begun. I actually contacted them twice in the past year about errors in their online specs (nut widths) which they corrected. They need a better website manager.

As I recall, Kim (the Cordoba rep) told me that they were receiving indications that some of their ukuleles did not have bone nuts and saddles. If their China factory was recently sending them out-of-spec ukuleles in the Model 20-series without their knowledge, then they could at least offer affected customers with replacement parts. If it was a proofing error, they could still do the same for any buyers that had concerns and wanted a swap.

This stuff happens.

I think my biggest irritation was being told to go buy the parts on my own and on my own dime. I was pleasant and cordial over the phone, but after I hung-up I thought, "That was really shoddy treatment!".
 
Here's a follow-up.

I received an email and voicemail from Kim at Cordoba. She apologized for the misinformation regarding the specs for the 20BM and explained that she had consulted with her supervisor. They will be sending me this morning a set of shaped bone nut and saddle, the replacement tuning machines, and a set of Aquila strings.

So all's well. :)

Her email states that their product development team confirmed that all Cordoba ukuleles are fitted with nuts and saddles made from a composite material and that the website specs were incorrect. Their website, which is now back up, states however that the entire Koa series, the bamboo series, and the 20TM (Kurt's tenor model) have bone nuts/saddles. Not sure if these exceptions are correct or if they're still making last-minute edits.

I sent back an email thanking them. I'm hoping that the nut and saddle will be shaped a little larger so I can do a snug fitting with my tools and set the nut and saddle action to match the current settings. It's at 0.065" for the 4th string and 0.060" for the 1st with no buzzing. That's rather good, IMHO. I don't often see production ukes under $200 with that kind of playability out of the box.
 
I can't find a thing wrong with my Cordoba. The only problem with it is me.
 
I'm glad you all seem to be getting the mistake made up to you, but personally, I'd be so happy it wasn't bone! That's something I'll need to watch out for whenever I have money again for a new uke.
 
lovinforkful said:
I'm glad you all seem to be getting the mistake made up to you, but personally, I'd be so happy it wasn't bone! That's something I'll need to watch out for whenever I have money again for a new uke.
Click to expand...
Are you a vegan? Because I know many/most of them are anti-animal anything.

Now, I don't eat red meat, but once they've already killed a cow for meat (which is going to happen even if I never buy beef), I don't see a problem with the rest of the parts being used instead of wasted.

Not trying to start any kind of ethical/political debate here.
 
Nickie said:
I can't find a thing wrong with my Cordoba. The only problem with it is me.
Click to expand...

Haha! Yeah I'm very happy with mine, if I decide the tuners are "of very low quality" which for all I know they are, I'll just get some better ones. As for the bone or non-bone parts, I can get some bone and make replacements. Yes you can get bone from a butcher's shop etc but you can use an old bone knife handle etc and that's nice and cured, that old pocket knife with one "scale" missing that's bone, you got for 25c at a garage sale, may provide your new parts with a little work.
 
Eh, it doesn't matter to me. Bone or no bone I like the sound so eff it.
 
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