Córdoba Mini II EB-CE
 

A few years ago, I bought one of the Córdoba mini series, the “SM-CE” model.

This is the 20” scale model with cutaway and pickup. This is a nice little guitar, well suited for the chord-melody stuff I play and with the short scale and compatible nut width, easy on older hands.

A couple of shortcomings... The 20” scale is designed for tuning to “A”, and if you wanted to tune to “E” you needed a special string set. Also, the pickup furnished seemed to work well in “A” tuning but if you put on the “E” string set it was way overbalanced on the bass side and is essentially not useable.

So now we have the new, improved model, the Mini II EB-CE. This has a 22” scale, which (reportedly) tunes to “E” without needing special strings, and an improved pickup.
Also, it’s a bit cheaper than the original model that I have.

Tempted, but the problem I find is that these rather “niche” guitars have little re-sale interest.

Yes, I agree. I bought one of the first ones and in selling it took a major hit. Buy for keeps only! Fun little toys though. The new ones look enticing.

YES the resell on something like this is not great, but you aren't losing thousands of dollars on it. They are relatively inexpensive to begin with, around $250 new. Sell it a couple years later for $150 and you only paid $50.00 a year to rent it.

If you are like me I buy one take out coffee a day at about $1.50 each. Times 250 work days per year equals $375.00 in coffee that just goes right through me.

I bought both the SM-CE and rosewood original Minis back when they first came out. So I did the same with the Mini IIs in all mahogany and EB-CE. I had pre-ordered my EB-CE and received one of the first ones off the line. LOVE it-!!! In fact, I took the EB-CE and one of my beloved GK Pros (negra) to a crowded, high profile art museum gig shortly after I got it and I elected to play the EB-CE for all but two or three tunes. Plugged-in, it sounded every bit as magnificent as the GK Pro. I felt a bit silly playing this diminutive "child's guitar" at such a high-brow event. But I was enjoying it so much that I didn't want to go back to the fat/wide/long neck of the full size guitar.

The only thing that I do with my Minis is to shave the saddle WAY down. I find that all Cordobas come with a higher action than I prefer. It makes sense, because buyers can always sand the saddle down to suit their tastes, but can't add height without shimming. I. Also find that most of the Minis need some hydration when I get them. They don't have the benefit of having been shipped in a Humicase like their full sized brethren.

As mentioned, resale value is an issue. But I just donate small, inexpensive instruments to my sister's kids or local charities when I'm done with them. I get more reward from doing that than piddling around with shipping them off for paltry sums. My EB-CE and SM-CE aren't going anywhere though.