Cordoba15CM Concert Ukulele - Hand Crafted With Mahogany Top, Back & Sides, Authentic Abalone Rosette & Satin Finish & Premium Italian Aquila Strings - For Beginners & Professionals

Sorry if this is long, but I wanted to share the information I look for when I buy...Craftsmanship and finish are very nice. The binding on the body and the fretboard are done very well. The binding on the neck makes the edges nice and smooth, plus the fret work is fantastic. The frets are all finished beautifully and the ends are smooth and rounded. A microfiber cloth slides up and down both sides without a single snag. Tuners work great, and after re-tuning a few times to break in the strings, it is holding tune nicely while I play.The description on Amazon did not give a measurement for the nut, so I went to the Cordoba site to check. I noted that on the Cordoba site, they claim the nut is 38 mm or 1-1/2 inches, which is what I really wanted. The instrument received has a 35mm or 1-3/8 inch nut. It does say on the Cordoba site that specifications are subject to change without notice. Perhaps this is one of the changes. I really wanted the wider nut for my larger hands, but the longer scale provides more space between the frets, so I think this will be OK. I am still a little disappointed.I did not expect too much from the pick-up at this price point. I do not have an acoustic amp, so I plugged it into my Electric guitar amp. I cranked the volume on the preamp as high as it would go and set the amplifier to about the halfway point. It actually sounded great. Pulled the treble and the bass down to a little over half and the middle to about 80% and it sounded nice. Just used a clean signal, boosting or distorting would probably create too much feedback with the piezo pickup and an electric guitar amp.I do not know why they make a big deal about this having "Premium Italian Aquila Strings" since most people I know change the strings within a few days of getting an instrument shipped. That being said... I do not like like the strings that came on it. The are really stiff, gritty and sound more "plinky" than the D'Addario strings I have on my concert Uke. Maybe it is the tone wood, Rosewood body on the Concert, Mahogany on this one, but I will be changing the strings out in a few days, once I get the D'Addarrios I ordered. Then I will know for sure.Other than the nut width disappointment, I have no real complaints about the Uke itself. It would have been nice if it came with a gig bag, but at this price I can afford to buy a decent, padded gig bag or an inexpensive hard case.As for the shipping. It was delayed and I assume that was due to the horrible weather the whole country is experiencing currently. It had to come to the Rockies all the way from New Jersey, so I am not complaining about having to wait a few extra days to get it. I was very disappointed by the packing for shipment and the packaging of the Uke itself. The Ukulele box, measuring 28 by 11 by 4 inches, was tossed in a box that was about 19 x 12 by 39 with NO additional padding or packing material. By the time it got to me, the tape on the outer box was coming undone, and the top flap was coming open (not enough for packing materials like paper or those air filled packing pillows to come out), there was a 5 inch gash in the bottom by a corner and the box had been squashed a little. Inside, the Uke box had come open, not taped shut at all, the lid had completely separated from the lower portion of the box and the is was torn in 3 different places. It had bounced around inside the larger box for almost a week, as it traveled to me. The Ukulele was wrapped in a .5mm thick, white foam bag, and had either stayed in the lower part of the box, or had returned to that place by the time I got it (seems unlikely it would go back into the bottom, so I assume it stayed) . I inspected the Uke carefully before I even turned a Tuning Key to make sure there was no damage. As far as I can tell the instrument is unscathed. Dare I say this is a statement of a well built instrument despite the crappy packaging and shipping prep.In a nutshell, based upon my first hours with the 15TM-CE, I would be pleased buy another Cordoba Ukulele, but I might just get it from a shop rather than risk the shipping issues.** Update - After 6 months the uke is holding steady. Changing the strings made the instrument sound a lot better and I am sticking with the D'Addarios, at least for the time being. Once the strings are done stretching the tuning is rock solid. I did switch out to a Low G tuning, just to check it out, and love the sound of this Uke with the Low G. After playing this for about 6 months I can state with confidence that this is a nice instrument, I would buy it again.

This was a little bit of an upgrade for me, from the ADM Concert Mahogany. I bought two of them, for me and a friend.I did have to return one of these, because there was very noticeable buzz on all 4 strings through the 1st 6 frets (no buzz with open strings), making it unplayable. I tried raising the saddle by a substantial amount, but still had unplayable buzz, and the action became so high that I did not want to raise it any more. I could have sanded down the frets, but did not want to make a permanent change on a uke that I just bought. Luckily, I bought this from Amazon! :-) I was able to return it, and got a replacement.The 1st uke on the 1st order sounds perfect, and the replacement sounds perfect as well. So I am very happy now. Make sure your uke does not buzz after tuning, esp with a uke that should be decent quality like this one..This is my 2nd concert size uke. I like the concert uke for the size and the tone. It has a warm tone, even more than my previous concert uke (ADM concert Mahogany, i have 2 as well). The ADM is also very good, and some may like the brighter sound, but I prefer the warmer sound that the Cordoba gives me. Construction is flawless (Cordoba is a very good guitar maker), and it is a very pretty uke.Comparing it to the concert ADM: Using lower frets they sound very similar and equally good. Like I said, the ADM has a brighter tone and the Cordoba a warmer tone. It's a matter of taste. Using higher frets, the quality of the Cordoba comes out more, because the strings are better in tune than when using the ADM (with action being equal on both). If you only strum on low frets, then this won't matter to you, and you can save money with the ADM. But the ADM flaws become noticeable after you have been playing a while, start using higher frets, and then get the urge to upgrade (like me). So the Cordoba may be more of an initial investment, but it will last you longer as you continue to grow with you new uke, as it is better quality. So after a year of playing, I'm ready for the next level, but don't want to dish out $200+ to upgrade my ADM to a much higher level that I don't need. If i had started with the Cordoba, that should be good for me for a lifetime (unless i miraculously turned pro),Please note (bc I read this complaint a lot), on this and all ukes, and all stringed instruments.... It will not be tuned when you get it. And when you tune it, it will instantly go out of tune again. It needs constant tuning at first, and is unplayable. This will gradually slow down to the point where you only need to tune it every couple of minutes. And then every 15 minutes, then every hour. And then every few hours, and then every day, etc.... Eventually you will get the strings stretched to the point where they settle and don't need tuning for about a week or two. More or less depending on how much you practice and how much you care. If you are giving a uke as a gift, please let them know that they will have to tune constantly for the first few days and need to play it to stretch the strings, but it will get better. After 1-2 weeks of daily playing, they should be settled. But will still require tuning once in a while whether due to temp or humiidty or time.

This is a solid instrument, well built and no obvious flaws, aesthetically or functionally. The neck and frets are good, intonation is better than expected. Action is a bit high but that's expected on most new ukes and is fixable. The sound is not awesome but very good, decent projection, good sustain and a very nice warm tone with good mids and lows. A bit weak on the highs but better strings might help. These are low-end Aquilas, and not brite enough for such a mellow mahogany uke. Cheap tuners, but I knew that, a bit rough but hold tune very well (so far). I already ordered some decent $25 Grovers. My only real gripe is this edge burst finish doesn't look so impressive. The spotty, dirty looking mahogany grain just doesn't do the burst justice. They should have done it darker. The picture here looks better than the real deal, but I should have known that. Oh well. Over all, I'm not disappointed. I don't expect anything great at this price point. This is a good uke for $130.