Cordoba Mini O Review – The Ultimate On-The-Road Classical

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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Who says steel-string players should have all the fun when it comes to travelling around? The choice of travel guitars is a bit limited when it comes to nylon-stringed models, but Cordoba’s delightful Mini O is out to give classical players a go-to choice when it comes to a partner for the road. Let’s see what it’s all about.

Body & Neck

Despite its ukulele appearance, this is a bonafide classical nylon-stringed guitar, which features a drastically reduced 20.07” scale length, with a total length of just 30.5”. With such a compact size, it’s superb for travel – easy to carry on to a plane, train or car. There’s no skimping in the quality of the guitar either, and Cordoba produce a typically smooth instrument. The entire body is made with satin-finished ovangkol, which offers an exotic, eye-catching grain.

The back and sides feature a laminated version of the wood, although the top is solid ovangkol, meaning a good balanced of tone and stability. The Mini O features a mahogany neck, which is very playable and features a comfortable slim U shape and a full-size 1.96” nut width. There’s also a rosewood fretboard with 18 frets. For the cute but striking design and all-round quality craftsmanship, the Mini O is hard to fault in terms of design.

Hardware

There are no electronics on this model, but the hardware it comes with keeps it performing well on the road. There’s no slotted headstock, but the satin nickel tuning machines are open-geared, with black buttons for a refined look and good tuning stability (although the guitar always feels in need of a tweak after it’s been on the road for a bit). There’s a rosewood bridge, a bone nut and saddle, and it comes strung with Cordoba’s Mini Strings. The final addition is one of the most essential of them all – a durable Cordoba-branded padded gig bag, with a zippered pocket.

Sound

Sure, the sound of the Mini O isn’t going to blow anyone away with its projection, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that it offers a good tone that’s more than ample for practice and impromptu performances. The overall sound is more or less what you’d expect from a sub-$300 Cordoba, with good articulation and a nice warmth offered by the ovangkol – slightly more mellow than the Mini M and Mini R models, which are made with spruce tops.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a classical guitar to travel the world with, you aren’t going to go far wrong with Cordoba’s Mini O. The warm tone, exotic appearance and surprising ease of play is matched by the excellent portability and overall feeling of good value.

For more info about the Cordoba Mini O, click here.
For more travel acoustic guitars you might like, click here.