Cordoba Guitar--Best Strings?
Greetings from the Seattle area. I have a Cordoba C9 Luthier Series. The recommended strings that came with the guitar are Savarez Cristal Corum High Tension 500CJ. (Recommended on the Cordoba Website for the C9 under product specs). I do like the strings overall. Great projection. BUT: 1. almost impossible to get a nice vibrato and 2. the basses start wearing out in a week or two. I would also like a bit warmer sound, not so bright. I keep replacing the strings with the Savarez CC High Tension 500 CJs out of habit. Do you have any suggestions on different types of Savarez strings and/or different brands to try out? I am thinking Knobloch, Augustine, D'Addario, but each brand has so many types of strings, I wasn't sure where to start. (FYI, for the kind of music I play, it is mostly Latin American guitar pieces in case that might influence your answer). There is a nice posting already on mixing and matching guitar strings, but I am hoping to keep things as simple as possible. Thank you!
-
Hi Todd! If you're having trouble with vibrato, it might be that the tension is too high. Try using normal tension strings as an experiment! I know the "paradox of choice" feeling you describe - too many options make it hard to decide. Just keep in mind that there are fundamentally only a couple of parameters to watch out for strings:
- tension (anywhere from extra soft to extra hard, I recommend staying in the normal-to-hard area)
- material (carbon vs nylon for example, or gold vs silver on the basses - go with silver)
- brand (each brand sounds slightly different, but I wouldn't be able to tell you how exactly they all sound and feel, as that depends quite a lot on your personal playing style.)
Everything else is either specialty strings (e.g. polished bass, gut, etc.) or just simple marketing on the string manufacturer's part.
For now, try a lower tension of the same brand you most like and see if that works! Let me know if you have other questions.
-
Mircea
Thank you for your answer. I will try normal tension Savarez brand strings first and get back to you on the results. On the carbon vs. nylon issue I will experiment with that a bit too.
-
I tried some normal tension Savarez strings as an experiment. The guitar's intonation sounded quite off and it almost sounded out of tune, especially the higher strings. The sound was so unusual that I couldn't use them. So I ended up going back to the strings recommended for this guitar by Cordoba, the Savarez High Tension 500 CJs for now. If I get different results with high tension strings from other brands, I will let you know. (I think Mircea's advice about going to the lower tension strings may work well for other types/brands of guitars though). I have been hearing about Knobloch strings, so I am hoping to try these out soon.
-
Hi … i own a CORDOBA GK Pro Negra…I tried a bunch of different strings over a few years…local luthier Jim Redgate had some KNOBLOCH CX actives Med High tension strings which he suggested …it really bought the guitar to life, it’s not my main guitar, more for live work ( Latin/Flamenco ) but always felt the guitar lacked tone and expression.... quite an amazing difference in all aspects, incredible longevity … as a personal thing I tend to prefer nylon as a top E string so went with a knobloch AT Nylon as a replacement…worth a look into…good luck
-
AlVal thank you for sharing your experiences! Will try them, too Todd W Babcock
-
-
Thank you for the input. I will be looking into Knobloch strings as you mentioned and the new Cordoba brand strings too. If I get any interesting results, I will post them here. Thanks again!
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
