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  #1  
Old 05-30-2014, 12:10 PM
2toss 2toss is offline
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Default Cordoba 55FCE

Any thoughts on this guitar? Played one at GC the other day and seemed pretty nice, but not sure I'm good enough yet to know good from bad. Seemed to have pretty good sound without the electronics
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Old 05-31-2014, 01:09 AM
JayFreddy JayFreddy is offline
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I liked mine so much, I bought another one! lol

I've owned both of mine for about 5 years now. No, they're not perfect, but they get very close to the natural sound of a mic'd classical guitar. Great for playing with a band or restaurant gigs.

I just posted this video in another thread... It's in German, but the sound samples are more accurate than the other samples posted by Cordoba...

http://youtu.be/vH3_M-iptdg?t=4m48s

I had a problem with the preamp in one of mine. One day it just stopped working. Fortunately it was still under warranty, and Fishman replaced the faulty part... I did end up paying a few dollars for a set up to the tech who did the warranty work, but he also lowered the bridge saddle and compensated the G for me.

In my opinion, these are very nice guitars. They're not cheap at around $1400 USD, but that's less than the price of a USA Deluxe Telecaster, and arguably, there is a lot more workmanship in the 55FCE than in a Tele...
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Old 06-02-2014, 05:39 PM
2toss 2toss is offline
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Thanks.....was at GC again this weekend and played it again. I think it has hard tension strings which I'm not used to, but assume the normal tension strings would sound just as good or better.
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Old 06-03-2014, 04:30 AM
JayFreddy JayFreddy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2toss View Post
Thanks.....was at GC again this weekend and played it again. I think it has hard tension strings which I'm not used to, but assume the normal tension strings would sound just as good or better.
My understanding is that these guitars are NOT intended for high tension strings, as the high tension puts too much pressure on the under-saddle piezo pickup. Not enough to damage it, but it won't sound right through the amp.

Mine did not come with high tension strings. I use normal tension Pro Arte, or low tension Augustine (black label).

I'm not a GC basher, but I have found that the level of product knowledge varies widely from one store to the next, and from one employee to another. I wouldn't be surprised if someone mistakenly restrung that 55FCE with high tension strings.

My first 55FCE played super-easy straight from the factory. My second one needed to have the bridge saddle lowered a bit, but both came with regular tension strings.

Also, you might want to read the manual for the Fishman Problend Pickup...

The Contour slider is kind of like a parametric EQ for the mids, and makes a big difference in the sound.

http://www.fishman.com/files/prefix_...user_guide.pdf
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Old 06-23-2014, 04:06 PM
Red_Label Red_Label is offline
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I owned and gigged a 55FCE (as well as an FCWE Reissue, GK Pro, and GK Studio) last year. I use strictly D'Addario EJ44C Extra Hard Tension strings. I played through either my Fishman Loudbox Mini, or my Fishman SA220 ("Fishstick"). They all sounded very natural and were all great guitars. I only own the FCWE now, but that's because the others sold first and I only wanted to keep one after I went back to gigging electric solid body. I would have been happy keeping any of them, including the 55. Great guitar!
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