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cosimojack -> RE: Luis Fernández de Córdoba (Nov. 9 2011 16:34:11)
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Hi Shawn -
Thanks for the reply.
My Castillo is #230, so pretty close to yours actually.
It’s 660 scale, pegs, with top of the line woods – Euro Spruce, Spanish Cypress. It’s really settled down over the last few years. Everyone who has played this guitar has had great things to say,
Including, “don’t ever sell that one, you won’t be able to replace it for anywhere near the money”, “the intonation is perfect on this guitar”, “wow, what a deep and authentic flamenco tone”…
I love it too!
It’s interesting to compare the guitars.
I could live with either and yet they are different enough that I plan to keep both.
Here’s how I’d compare them -
Sound:
The Castillo sounds more mature, which is to be expected as it’s 5 years older.
The sound is richer and a bit deeper, bassier perhaps.
The Cordoba is sweeter sounding as you say. Note separation is better, cleaner, crisper. It’s also more musical overall (romantic, slightly more versatile if you play music other than flamenco). There have been a few moments when I play this guitar that the sound has really surprised me and made me smile. It’s just so, so nice. It just needs to be played so it opens up more I think.
I guess overall it’s best to say that where the Castillo sounds sort of like a Conde, the Cordoba sounds sort of like a Santos. Both very good, just different.
Woods:
The Castillo has the edge here as the woods appear to be of higher quality with tighter grain. Luis makes his guitars in the spirit of the old masters (Torres, Santos) and prefers to use woods that they would have used…
With that, if you want him to upgrade the woods, I’m sure he would.
Construction:
The Castillo is made well.
The Cordoba is made extremely well. It’s obvious that more time was spent making this guitar and the attention to detail is just at a higher level.
Everything is cleaner, done better. Castillo bangs them out, Luis appears to really take his time. The rosette (hand cut), 12 hole tie bridge, and all hide glue construction are all great features on the Cordoba. The French Polish is a “true”/”deep” French Polish on the Cordoba. It really shines. When you hold the Cordoba, you feel like you are holding something high end $$$...
Value:
The Castillo is a great value. It’s well made and sounds better than the price would indicate. Castillo’s guitars also continue to rise in value. It’s a steady incline, a few hundred dollars/year. I don’t think you can go wrong with another Castillo.
The Cordoba with it’s workmanship and extra design features, nicer case is priced higher, but is also a great value. I don’t expect these guitars to slowly increase in value like Castillo’s… I expect them to rise much faster!!
The luthier who told me about Luis, said the prices were insanely low right now, but that it won’t stay that way for long as “Luis has the gift”… He also told me I was lucky to own one of his guitars and that they are pretty special.
Good luck! Let me know what direction you head in, you can’t go wrong as there are so many great guitar builders out there right now...
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