Cordoba Fusion 14 Maple Classical Guitar with Polyfoam case Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Beautiful guitar (see the customer pictures I've uploaded, above). High-quality dual-source pre-amp. It's packed with lots of features for mixing, and controlling other aspects of the amplified signal. There's even a tuner (though, it's not the be-all and end-all of tuners, it is very convenient). Generally, the fit and finish is excellent. Much better than expected for the price. Nice tone, particularly when amplified. As an instrument for gigging, where rough handling and abuse--as well as price (risk)--are factors, the plywood back and sides are actually a plus, being sturdy, and in lowering its price. Very nice Spruce top, as well.
When I bought this from Amazon.com, it came with a good quality, hard-shell case.
If you want to record and mic a classical guitar, striving to capture a great classical acoustic tone, then you may consider spending 2x, 3x, or much more. Solid back and sides, as well as other high-end construction details, could make a difference in tonal quality within such a setting. But for the price, the guitar is well worth it, if your objectives are amplified sound and/or live playing. And you want a true crossover-classical guitar.
The cons: Some important setup steps were skipped in the final stages of construction. The fret-wire ends were not dressed (smoothed) at all. Very sharp and pointy all along both edges of the fretboard. You will have to (if yours comes to you like mine did) spend some time and money on either dressing them yourself, or on having a shop do it. Mine was virtually unplayable as delivered, because of the sharp fret-ends, that also ran slightly long in some cases. Much less of an issue, but worth noting, the truss rod was not adjusted at the factory. So an adjustment to straighten the neck and prevent string buzzes was necessary, as well. But after the guitar was properly setup, the neck is straight, flat and true (a truss rod is a definite plus for this guitar's 14-fret-to the-body neck). And, otherwise, the fretwork was good.
After these issues are addressed, the playability is very good, and tone is decent--and very good when amplified. I think the designers at Cordoba nailed the crossover configuration (14 frets to the body, narrower neck, radius fretboard). Don't confuse this with a true classical guitar; although, it produces a reasonable "Spanish" classical tone--unlike a Taylor, Nylon-Series guitar.
Taylor, instead of coming from a classical design and morphing it a bit to feel more playable to steel-string players, like Cordoba, basically took an existing Taylor, steel-string guitar design, put nylon string on it, and made some adjustments in the construction for the lighter resonance delivered by nylon strings. It produces a different class of guitar, which some like, but it doesn't deliver on being a true classical-crossover guitar, in terms of tone.
Even with the setup issues, if you want a good amplified classical-guitar tone, don't want too much to worry about it when gigging, and want something that plays easily--particularly; if you're a steel-string player--this guitar is a great choice.

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Cordoba Fusion 14 "Maple" nylon string crossover guitar. Solid German Spruce top with Flamed Maple back/sides. 14 frets to body with a radiused fingerboard and thin steel string style neck. Natural lacquer finish with amber stain. Cutaway electric with Fishman Presys Blend electronics. 650 mm scale length, 47 mm nut (1.85 inches) Includes Polyfoam case.

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