Cordoba Ukes

Lots of Cordobas

My first ukulele was a cheerful laminate mahogany concert Cordoba 15CM from Elderly. Nice reasonably priced starter.

Next got a solid acacia 35T tenor from Elderly. Solid midrange with warm sustain in a variety of tunings. Love the 1.5" nut and thin (shallow) neck.

Was looking for a solid top tenor during COVID. Local store had a spruce/ebony 21T that sounded flat and lacked the typical understated appearance of Cordobas. Instead opted for a mahogany 20TM that rings like a bell.

I've had good experience with Cordobas out-of-the-box. Tenors have a nice light weight, feel and warm sustain at reasonable prices. Often string them with Freemont soloist wound low G and Worth browns.

Also enjoy my related spruce/rosewood Tiny Tenor and mahogany tenor Signature/Replica from Romero. All have beautiful warm sound/sustain and comfortable necks.
 
Last edited:
My first uke, way back in December 2020, was a Cordoba 15CM-E. I have never used the “E” part, but it was only a few dollars more than the the non-electric version at the time, so why not? At first, it would not stay in tune and that was frustrating. I went out and bought two other Ukes, a Koaloha Opio soprano and a Pono ATD tenor.

The Cordoba eventually settled in and I can’t say if the problem was the uke or the strings (Aquilla Nylgut). I haven’t changed the strings yet and the Cordoba has a nice sound and is easy to play now. My favorite, although the hardest one for me to play, is the Opio but, to be honest, it took a while for the Opio to stay in tune and I had to take a screwdriver to the tuners for that to happen. I think the Cordoba is a fine instrument and some songs I have been learning just sound better on it than the other two.Whether that is because it is a concert size or because of the quality of the uke itself, I cannot say. Either way, I think it was a great first uke and is still a great one to have in my uke “arsenal.”
 
My favorite uke is my Ohana Tenor TK20. But my first decent uke was a Cordoba concert laminate that I still have and I use to teach with. For a laminate instrument, it has a pretty decent sound and is really durable. I'll never sell it....
 
They're OK.
They don't excite me. But they are decent quality overall.

I don't expect a good setup for any inexpensive ukulele out of the box. I always do my own setups, so the factory setup isn't an issue.
I would do my own setup even on high end ukes to get it how I like.
 
My first uke, way back in December 2020, was a Cordoba 15CM-E. I have never used the “E” part, but it was only a few dollars more than the the non-electric version at the time, so why not? At first, it would not stay in tune and that was frustrating. I went out and bought two other Ukes, a Koaloha Opio soprano and a Pono ATD tenor.

The Cordoba eventually settled in and I can’t say if the problem was the uke or the strings (Aquilla Nylgut). I haven’t changed the strings yet and the Cordoba has a nice sound and is easy to play now. My favorite, although the hardest one for me to play, is the Opio but, to be honest, it took a while for the Opio to stay in tune and I had to take a screwdriver to the tuners for that to happen. I think the Cordoba is a fine instrument and some songs I have been learning just sound better on it than the other two.Whether that is because it is a concert size or because of the quality of the uke itself, I cannot say. Either way, I think it was a great first uke and is still a great one to have in my uke “arsenal.”

All strings take some time to settle in and stay in tune, because they stretch a bit. It's usually not the instrument or tuners.
 
My first uke was also the Cordoba 15CM, bought in May 2020. It's a great uke to learn on and I don't think I'll ever part with it. It sounds good, and its light weight and durability make it easy to grab it and practice a bit whenever I get a few spare minutes.

A string change made a world of difference for me in the sound and playability--I swapped the stock Aquila Super Nylguts for a set of Uke Logic soft-tension high G strings. Uke Logics are now my go-to strings; I just installed a soft-tension low G set on my Kala solid cedar top.
 
My first uke was also the Cordoba 15CM, bought in May 2020. It's a great uke to learn on and I don't think I'll ever part with it. It sounds good, and its light weight and durability make it easy to grab it and practice a bit whenever I get a few spare minutes.

A string change made a world of difference for me in the sound and playability--I swapped the stock Aquila Super Nylguts for a set of Uke Logic soft-tension high G strings. Uke Logics are now my go-to strings; I just installed a soft-tension low G set on my Kala solid cedar top.

I'm using the same string set on my Cordoba 15TM tenor. Just bought a low G set too. These are incredible strings.
 
Top Bottom