Alto Guitar Set for... Guilele? (Travel Guitar?)
Review by Kenny K. on 21 Aug 2017 review stating Alto Guitar Set for... Guilele? (Travel Guitar?) A few months after the Cordoba Mini came out, I had looked online and heard of the press releases, and visited my local neighborhood music shop on a whim to try guitars. I didn't expect to try one out, but I ended up loving the sound and buying one, being a classical guitarist at heart. However, the more I played it, the more I disliked the factory Nylgut strings that are standard for Minis. I experimented with different string sets and tunings, even to the point of creating custom rectified nylon sets from D'Addario (combining select singles from this website).
One day, upon opening my case in the morning and noticing the 1st string broken for the fifth time in a row, I decided to look into fractional guitar sets, and what might be better than me guessing away at string diameters. I chanced upon the EJ52 set (and the Savarez soprano set) and decided to try them out.
After about a year of trying other sets and putting the Mini down for a while, I restrung it recently and picked it back up. Now, I can't seem to put it back down- the chime and the surprisingly full tone (for its range) is what makes it stand out compared to my regular classicals, not to mention the smaller body and scale length. The tuning (B standard- the Mini's scale length is actually 30mm smaller than the 540mm alto guitar length, giving it a relaxed yet responsive touch) lends itself to more baroque/renaissance music, but I'm playing through all my pieces with this tuning. To compare the sound to an average classical, it's like hearing a piece sung by a solemn baritone, then by an avid child tenor or soprano. Not child as in "unexperienced" but "youthful, exuberant."
In short, if you are an aspiring classical guitarist and have a Cordoba Mini, you owe it to yourself (and your Mini) to try this set.
(Just double-tie your strings so they don't slip through the metal rings and bridge pins!)
On D'Addario EJ52 Pro Arte Alto Nylon Guitar Strings, Full Set