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Tone-wise, the F7 was better than the old Yamaha CG171SF. Build-wise, the old Yamaha was the better guitar. The F7 costs $500 and the CG171SF sold for about $300. I got mine for $275.
The friend I mentioned in my post chose not to stick with flamenco. I think he wound-up returning or selling his F7.
Note that my blog entry is more than a year old now. They may have made some improvements in quality control since then. Prominent Critic is a dealer so he might be able to shed some light on this.
EDIT: BTW, I haven't updated my blog in a long time. It finally dawned on me that I was losing a good amount of practice time by blogging.
The Cordoba F7 is okay as a second guitar for knocking around. I have found the treble to be good, but the bass to be weak. It does have a good general flamenco look, feel, and sound. The overall finish has been improved, and looks fine to me.
I recently had a second chance to play the new Yamaha 172SF, which replaced the 171SF. Both are good, and I like the 172 a little better. Genuine flamenco sound. But the 172, like the 171 before it, is exactly the opposite of the Cordoba F7 – it has a great bass (for its category), but weak treble.
So all things being equal, it might depend on your preferences. In general, you would probably be better off with the Yamaha, and it costs around $200 less.
I do have one suggestion just to consider, which I have had a couple of my students do. For less than the cost of the Yamaha, you can get a Cordoba C5, which is a classical guitar, and put on static cling golpeadores (Oasis Armor – Strings by Mail) for six dollars, and use it as a negra. You don't even have to lower the action, though you can easily do that as well.
I feel that the Cordoba C5 is the best guitar on the market in its price range – about $300, or slightly less. It looks good, handles easily, has great bass and very good treble, and is just overall enjoyable to play - again, all this is considering its category, as a second all around guitar. You can usually find one to test out in a Guitar Center or Sam Ash.
I would try the Yamaha. I have the old model 171; it has great bass and with Savarez Alliance HT trebles, very clear and bright. It plays like a dream. It is my sit in front of the computer guitar. It is really a nicely made, good sounding guitar. Jack
I've played every guitar mentioned in this post and have owned most of them. Two alternatives that, IMO, are better are: Casa Montalvo student flamenco - you can find a used one in the $400.00 - $500.00 range, The rumor is Arturo Huipe makes them; Kremona Rosa Morena, list price is $495.00, I bought mine for $400.00 at the guitar center. Though the Rosa Morena has laminated b/s it's sound and volume is comparable to the all-solid-wood Casa Montalvo. Gounaro, since you are located in Greece the Kremona might be a better option as the Euro is strong against the Bulgarian Lev and, of course, Bulgaria is much closer to Greece than Mexico.
What do you guys think of the Cordoba GK Studio Negra?
I am looking for a stage guitar with a good pickup. It doesn't need to sound acoustically incredible, but I don't want a dog either. And in the past, I bought better guitars and then installed a pickup. But from that perspective, I found that the guitar didn't sound as good acoustically, and of what acoustic qualities were left, I was disappointed in my inability to get those good sounds to come out of the amplifier or PA.
So this time I'm thinking that rather than devalue/deface an otherwise good acoustic by drilling it, I'll get something like the GK Negra, so if nothing else, there's no "pre and post" pickup awareness.
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