Cordoba 21T tenor review

dcuttler

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I recently purchased my first ukulele, a Cordoba 21T tenor. It has a solid spruce top, and laminated ebony sides and back. Having played some guitar, but never a ukulele, I was unsure of what to expect.

I should qualify my impressions by stating that my main interest is baroque and early music, not just strumming songs.

It was purchased from Butler Music, an online dealer as new but blemished for $130.00. At that price I didn't expect them to do anything other than ship it to me, which they did in record time. As it came from the factory, the action was too high, and difficult to finger on the higher frets, so I got out my files and sandpaper, and went to work on the nut, and bridge. That made playing it more enjoyable, but the sound was still lacking. It needed more help.

I had purchased a set of Fremont Blackline fluorocarbon strings as a backup to the supplied Aquila strings, and even though the ukulele was only a few weeks old I decided to just go ahead an put them on. The difference was amazing; a total transformation. These strings really brought the ukulele to life. It's now much louder, has a richer tone, great sustain, and due to the thinner strings is easier to play. I also have rather large hands, and the 1.5 inch wide fingerboard at the nut helps.

Some credit for the sound revealed by the new strings has to go to the minimal satin finish. This ukulele unlike many others is not entombed in thick polyurethane.

I think Cordoba should pay a little more attention to the action, and reconsider their initial choice of strings, because you only get one chance to make a first impression. Had I picked it up in a store, and tried it as built, I might not have bought it.

If you are looking for a good budget ukulele, are willing to do a little work on the action, and replace the strings, the Cordoba 21T will be transformed into a stellar instrument that is both easy to play, and a joy to listen to.

If you mostly strum chords lower on the neck, then leave the action alone, put on a good set of strings and enjoy.

I am now a happy camper, and cannot keep my hands off of it.
 
I have a 24T I've owned for over a year. I recently put a set of the Aquila sugar strings on which brought the uke back to life. Last week I replaced the C string which sounded a little boomy for my taste with a Thomastik-Infeld C27. I wasn't quite sure about it at first, but I'm really liking this combination of strings after playing with them this past week. Very nice sounding, and it's become a joy to play again.
 
I have a Córdoba 20TM, replaced the factory tuners with Gotohs, added fluorocarbon strings and a zero fret nut, sounds amazing. This model has a solid mahogany top and ply sides/back, so I’ve never worried about humidifing it. High G tuned.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences with your uke... you gotta love a solid spruce tenor you can get for $130! I'm glad you persevered and dialled it in to your liking.

I've got two Cordoba 24 series ukes, a baritone and a tenor. They have solid cedar tops, laminated spalted maple B&S and paduak binding.

The tenor I bought brand new without any setup work having been done to it.

To be honest, even as an avid tinkerer with the proper tools to do the work, I haven't felt the urge to do a setup on it or even to change the strings (yet). It's easily in the top 3 of my favorite ukes. Light as a feather, plenty of volume, great tone and a fast and easy to play setup, neck profile and comfortable 1.5" nut width.

I've played a few other 24Ts in Guitar Centers and they, too, were wonderful players right out of the box.

Regardless of the partially laminated construction, however, I do humidify my Cordobas. The top can still split, and with a neck bound in paduak, I don't want the neck to shrink and the fret ends to mess up the binding. I suppose it doesn't help that my house is around 21% RH or lower from December to March :/
 
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