Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishy68
I own a Cordoba GK Studio Pro Negra Guitar. As is stated not only by Cordoba, but many on line websites etc, this guitar has been designed and built to suit the - so called " crossover " guitarists.
|
From Cordoba's own description of the GK Pro Negra:
"The GK Pro Negra is a flamenco guitar made for the stage, constructed with a slightly thinner body depth, neck, and nut width than a traditional Spanish guitar. The neck is designed to have little or no relief, offering low action for ease of comfort and quick playability."
From Cordoba's description of the GK Studio Negra:
"The GK Studio Negra is the ultimate gigging instrument. Built with a solid European spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, this nylon string guitar comes equipped with a soft cutaway and Fishman Presys Blend pickup. The GK Studio Negra is a flamenco guitar made for the stage, constructed with a slightly thinner body depth, neck, and nut width than a traditional Spanish guitar. The neck is designed to have little or no relief, offering low action for ease of comfort and quick playability."
I'm still working on finding any description anywhere of a GK Studio Pro Negra anywhere on the Internet, but when I do I'll post that too. In the meantime, it's worth noting that neither of these guitars claims to be anything even remotely like a crossover guitar. There are some hints at being a flamenco guitar in both cases (the 'negra' refers to dark wood used on the back and sides instead of the perhaps traditional 'blanca' in Flamenco circles), and the GK in the title refers to a group called the Gipsy (or Gypsy, if you prefer) Kings, who do dabble in something sort of like Flamenco much of the time. As has already been pointed out, these instruments do not claim to be thin-line in the Chet Atkins style, they are "thin" only by comparison with a traditional classical guitar. The necks are also thin or thick enough for people with the right technique to have more than enough space to fingerstyle to their heart's content (check out some Gipsy Kings performances and see if they have any difficulty with their fingerings on their own signature instrument, if they happen to be playing one). As for string tension, as has (again) already been mentioned, flamenco guitars tend to be strung with pretty high tension strings to achieve that percussive choppy sound in a crowded andalucian bodega.
I'd strongly advise Fishy to return that instrument ASAP and find something more to their liking, but I'd also recommend not posting more opinions that are so clearly not grounded in the actual evidence. If you don't like the pickup and find it difficult to play fingerstyle with a very-slightly-thinner neck than the traditional 52mm, then say that. But don't spend so much time criticizing an instrument for not doing what it doesn't claim to be trying to do. There are plenty of mediocre crossovers out there that claim to be really good, go pick on one of those. Like a Taylor NS series
