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  #1  
Old 06-24-2017, 08:44 PM
tkoehler1 tkoehler1 is offline
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Default NCGD - Cordoba C12 hot rod!

I'm quite pumped about this guitar so I thought I'd share.

I bought this C12 as B stock from Evil Bay. Guitar looked just fine (I can't see any blemishes or anything) and sounded great. So great I decided to keep it. I sent it to luthier Eric Reid in California to have him mod it. It just arrived back.





First thing he did was to pull the old frets off and refret with the biggest jumbos. He installed nickel jumbos except for frets 5,7,9,12,15,17 and 19, where he installed the same size EVO frets. Kinda like built in fret markers.

It's not as obvious as I thought I would be (likely a good thing) and it still serves it's purpose.





I had him do a radius on the fret board to help my old fingers.





Aaaannd while I'm at it I had two Ruck style ports added.





Still not finished I had him make an arm rest. It's removable and held on by rare earth magnets. I think he did a great job matching the wood on the side of the guitar.





Last but not least I had him remove the poly urethane finish on the top. I wanted to free it up so he replaced that finish with French polish.





So here it is ready to go. It sounds absolutely great. Loud, balanced, easy to play. It has really great note separation that I appreciate. Did I mention it was loud? lol

Eric did a flawless job and I would recommend him to anyone. He's at http://ericreidguitars.yolasite.com/

Some traditionalists may be shaking their head please forgive me!


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  #2  
Old 06-24-2017, 10:07 PM
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TBman TBman is offline
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Nice, enjoy it!
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Old 06-24-2017, 10:10 PM
hesson11 hesson11 is offline
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Beautiful guitar and beautiful work. Hope you enjoy it. Sounds like you darn near turned it into a Kenny Hill Performance guitar!
-Bob
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Old 06-25-2017, 12:20 AM
sirwhale sirwhale is offline
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Wow, that is some modification! I'm impressed.

I'd never thought of the fret markers idea before, I like it. You now have the perfect experiment, which frets will wear down the quickest? I'm sure you'll let us know.
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Last edited by sirwhale; 06-25-2017 at 08:23 AM.
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Old 06-25-2017, 05:28 AM
dkstott dkstott is offline
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Wow. So happy to hear that you are enjoying this guitar.


If I had the opportunity, I'd probably do everything but the French polish. My body sweat wreaks havoc with French polish.

Awesomeness

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Old 06-26-2017, 07:47 AM
Dave T Dave T is offline
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I would have left it as you bought it, but it's not my guitar so I'm not condemning anything you did, just stating my own preference. Glad you are happy with your newish, modified guitar. (smile)

Dave
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Old 06-27-2017, 07:30 AM
Red_Label Red_Label is offline
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Very cool! I dig the Ruck ports. I would have had Eric put a sloped, built-in arm rest (if possible).

I had a C12 and it was a wonderful instrument. The only reason I sold it is because I'm more into my Cordoba flamencos. But you've got a great guitar there and I think you did well.
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Old 06-27-2017, 12:10 PM
markrj markrj is offline
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It's beautiful!

Just for sake of curiosity, how much did all those mods cost?

I love the armrest. Looks so much nicer then the JP armrest. Will he sell me a couple of them for my C9 and Larrivee L-35? Does he actually need to have the guitar to make the armrest?
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Old 06-27-2017, 05:15 PM
tkoehler1 tkoehler1 is offline
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Thanks for all the comments guys (and/or gals) I am really happy with this guitar.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hesson11 View Post
Beautiful guitar and beautiful work. Hope you enjoy it. Sounds like you darn near turned it into a Kenny Hill Performance guitar!
-Bob
Yes that’s where I got the idea. Eric sold me my Hill performance 630, and when we were talking it turned out he was a luthier. So I had him add jumbo frets and an armrest before he sent it to me. I liked it so much I had him do the same (and more) to the Cordoba.

[IMG][/IMG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sirwhale View Post
You now have the perfect experiment, which frets will wear down the quickest? I'm sure you'll let us know.
We’ll see, I suspect that with nylon strings it won’t make much difference. Steel strings are a different story.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dkstott View Post
If I had the opportunity, I'd probably do everything but the French polish. My body sweat wreaks havoc with French polish.

Dave
That’s where the armrest comes in my friend!

Last edited by tkoehler1; 07-14-2017 at 06:52 AM.
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Old 06-27-2017, 05:42 PM
tkoehler1 tkoehler1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markrj View Post
Just for sake of curiosity, how much did all those mods cost?
I love the armrest. Looks so much nicer then the JP armrest. Will he sell me a couple of them for my C9 and Larrivee L-35? Does he actually need to have the guitar to make the armrest?
Hey markrj, I’m not sure of the proper etiquette with a luthier’s pricing so I will PM it to you (if anyone else is curious just send me a PM).

The armrest is marvelous. I think he would need to have the guitar shipped to him or at least have a tracing to make the armrest. If he makes the armrest from a tracing and ships it to you, you’d have to install the rare earth magnets that go inside the guitar yourself. There are 3 of them and they have to be glued against the side inside the guitar through the sound hole. Not too difficult but you have to be somewhat handy to do it.

The other plus is that if you have a C9, I would imagine that the sides are exactly like my C12, in which case he already has the tracing to make the armrest. (Of course I’d hate to be wrong on that size part)

I should also say that, for myself, I think the magnets need to be stronger to hold the armrest more securely. I think they should be the same size as the magnets that come with the Barnett support (if you have seen these you know how incredibly strong they are).

I’ve had a few instances of it popping off while playing which is very annoying. I’m pretty sure my classical technique is unorthodox and I’m the cause of the problem. Oddly I haven’t had this problem with the Hill but I have with the Cordoba (maybe due to the curvier lower bout on the Hill grips the rest a little better?). I have already discussed this with Eric so he would know to beef up the magnet in the future.

In the meantime, I have added a little piece of two sided tape under the armrest to hold it more securely and that is doing the trick. I know that defeats the purpose of being able to easily take it on/off but for me that’s a non-issue as I always leave it on.

FYI here’s a video about the Barnett armrest that uses the exact same principal. Gives you a good idea of how it works. I believe Kris Barnett is still taking orders to make armrests. I do not know what his pricing is.

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Old 06-27-2017, 06:03 PM
hesson11 hesson11 is offline
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tkoehler1, so sometime, you'll have to give us your impressions of the C12 versus the Hill Performance 630!
-Bob
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Old 06-27-2017, 07:35 PM
markrj markrj is offline
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[QUOTE=tkoehler1;5389194]Hey markrj, I’m not sure of the proper etiquette with a luthier’s pricing so I will PM it to you (if anyone else is curious just send me a PM).

Thanks!
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Old 07-08-2017, 04:01 PM
tkoehler1 tkoehler1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hesson11 View Post
tkoehler1, so sometime, you'll have to give us your impressions of the C12 versus the Hill Performance 630!
-Bob
Bob I waited a bit to answer this question, playing each of the guitars back to back for the last week or two. That's because I really need to sell one of my classicals (I have 3 - the Cordoba, Hill Performance 630, and a Cordoba Torres). Three is a little excessive .

Cordoba C12 - I love love love the combination of a 20" radius and jumbo (.057" x .110") frets. I've never had a classical with a radiused board and for me it is much better, making difficult barres and partial barres possible. This guitar is louder than any of my steel strings and has the best sustain of my classicals.

For whatever reason, it is also very easy to get great tone on this guitar. This seems to have improved with the new French polish finish on the sound board. Though lattice braced it still has that traditional cedar sound to it (especially the trebles).

Hill Performance 630 - A great little cannon of a guitar. The light double top delivers sound instantly. It really is marvelous and I see why they are over 5k new. I read somewhere that Kenny thinks that his wood lattice braced double tops favor the sound of the top wood while delivering undertones of the bottom wood. I think this is absolutely correct, this is the most cedar-like spruce top I've experienced.

I do find the 630 scale a little tight now, and I do like the extra width on the C12. I also like the thinner neck on the C12.

So I think this is the guitar I'm going to sell. I'm shipping it to Tim McKnight next week to have him repair the French polish where it has worn.

All this being said, my long-term plan is now to eventually sell them all, and have a guitar commissioned that will have the perfect (for me) specs. Next dilemma - picking a builder. Maybe a Hill Signature, with a radiused 640 board, jumbo frets, mmm oh yes I can see it now!

Last edited by tkoehler1; 07-08-2017 at 04:02 PM. Reason: spelling
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