Cordoba Gk Pro vs GK Studio

[Twilo123]

fishy you are replying to this now over a year later? strange.

[zhunter]

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. By that, my best assumption is that
the ... " crossover " guitarist... MIGHT be described as such : Perhaps plays varying styles but more specifically, while maybe has some experience as a Classical guitarist, also plays, or would like to play Latin, Latin Jazz
( Jobim etc ) , even Earl Clugh style / influence mainstream and fusion Jazz,
but to play it on an electro / acoustic slim body, or even thinline ( thin body )
Nylon string guitar, either finger style, or even with a plectrum. He or she may also actually have more experience playing steel string acoustic guitars, hence the slightly narrower neck of the Cordoba GK Pro Negra Nylon at 50mm at the nut. Finally, the " crossover " guitarist likes the idea of on board Nylon acoustic PreAmp / under saddle Piezo amplification so that he / she can use it live in a trio, quartet , full band - whatever.
Let me enlighten you, remembering that the following is strictly, and only my own opinion :
1: The Cordoba CK Studio Pro Negra has the on board Fishman PreFix Pro Blend PreAmp / under saddle Piezo Pick up. I tried to sound check it live at sound check before a gig .... RUBBISH ! ! ! .
We ended up having to stage mic. it.
2. This guitar is a 12 fret at body / slim body guitar. Cordoba recommends high tension strings. .... Not good. The neck length too short. The body depth too shallow .
3. The neck width at nut 50mm. Not good for finger style guitarists. The right hand fingerpicking technique is too restricted with not enough headroom between strings. Nails keep hitting, knocking and buzzing adjacent strings. The classical 52mm neck width , while the difference may not sound like much,
would've been the way to go for this guitar - all guitarists.
You could ask - but is a 52mm neck width OK for plectrum style.
Well .. we are talking about this CORDOBA guitar. So fine, if you really want to spend the full new model price on it , just so that you can use your pick with Nylon strings - go right ahead. Anyway, you could also ask, just how many guitarists out there use a pick with Nylon strings. Take it or leave it, you're better off doing that with a good solid / chambered body Nylon Ac/Elec guitar.

..... Your call.

While I realize this post may not be designed to communicate facts, some clarifications may help others.

Cordoba does not state this guitar is designed as a crossover or designed and built to suit the crossover guitarist. They state it is a flamenco guitar designed for the stage.

As for thickness, it is the same thickness as my acoustic only flamenco specific concert level guitar. Flamencos are traditionally thinner bodies. Neither the GK or the GK pro is a thinline or thin body acoustic in the flamenco world. And yes some flamencos are thicker. I own some thicker flamenco guitars. Classicals will almost always be thicker than flamencos though there are a few exceptions.

As for the too short neck length, the scale length is a very conventional 650 mm. And 12 frets to body is also standard for flamencos and classicals. In the case of the GK, the cutaway renders this data point moot.

While the 50 mm width is not the standard full 52 mm width, it is greater than the 48 mm width associated with crossover guitars. Furthermore the fretboard is flat which is also not typical for crossovers. Beyond that it is personal taste and experience but I find the 50 plays a lot closer to my 52s than a 48 does. I do not play nylon with a pick and I manage to overcome the difference in width with only a little practice. And I run normal tension trebles on mine. Works fine.

As for the preamp pickup? Nothing special there. It is workable but mic'd will sound better if your gigging arrangement accommodates that. Mine does not so the pickup is very handy. And it sounds decent through my rig.

While the GKs would not fully qualify as flamenco guitars in my book, they are much closer to flamenco than to crossover. And while they are not concert level nylon string guitars, they are usable for performance. As an acoustic nylon, the GK is way down on my list but as a guitar I gig all the time in an ensemble context, it is at the top.

Maybe the poster is confused as to which guitar he owns.

hunter

[dosland]

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

[dkstott]

I currently own a C10 crossover as well as a GK Pro Negra... I owned a GK Studio Cypress.

FWIW - I also own a Froggy Bottom H-12.

I wanted a warmer sound than what the cypress provided and upgraded to the Pro Negra. There is no such thing as a Pro Studio model.

The GK STUDIO models have laminated sides and backs with a solid top. My GK Studio cypress had a golpeador on it.

The GK PRO models are all solid wood. My Negra Pro has Indian Rosewood sides and back. It does not have a golpeador on it.

I'm a big fan of the GK Pro model... It doesn't have the complete sound of a fine classical, but it's pretty darn close!

Dave

[rwhitney]

I just purchased a GK Studio from Guitar Center for recording eclectic instrumental music. I love the acoustic sound and easy playability, but I find the intonation to be pretty sketchy as I move up the neck. Is this the case with these types of guitars in general? Does the Pro have better intonation than the Studio?

Although I guess the buzzy, snappy first string is supposed to be like that for Flamenco, I’d prefer to not have it choke out like that for the more popular styles for which I’d like to use it. I suppose this could be remedied with a good setup — maybe a new saddle/nut?

Any recommendations for a guitar with this sound that has good intonation for recording (in combination with other instruments) would be greatly appreciated.

[Coolblueice]

Hi,

I also was considering these two guitars back in 2016. I was spending the summer in Berlin and found a guitar shop there that had one of each model (the GK Studio and the GK Pro), so I was able to play them side by side.

It took only minutes to hear/feel the difference. The Studio sounded and played "OK". It's really not a bad guitar.... But when I played the Pro, the superiority of the instrument was immediately obvious. Not only did the Pro sound much fuller and well-balanced, but it also played better (in terms of how the instrument felt in my hands... especially the left hand.)

Don't take my word for it... Find a shop near you that has one of each model (even if you decide to order it online somewhere else). "A graphic illustration is worth a thousand words".

Sure the GK Pro is twice the price... but (IMO) well worth the price difference. Think of it this way... You will probably have the guitar the rest of your life. If you spread that $700 price difference out over all of those years, the "yearly price difference" isn't all that much.

Oh... and the GK Pro comes with a nice humidified hard-shell case. I actually bought the guitar in China when I was working there. Upon leaving my job there I packed the guitar and case back into the original shipping box it came in... The guitar and case were subjected to no less than 5 flights with "ape like baggage handlers" throwing it around... It finally met up with me back here in Germany without a mark on either the case or the guitar.

The GK Studio comes only with a gig bag... It would have been firewood splinters had I sent it through the same airline torture test.

Again.... go with the GK Pro. I promise you won't regret it... (And as I said, compare them for yourself at a music store if you don't believe me.)

[4-string]

Happy to see the positive comments on the Pro, as I have ordered a Pro Negra. Due to production and CITES it won't be here until September, but I'm really looking forward to getting it.