Cordoba 20TM-CE Acoustic Electric Tenor Ukulele

Keep in mind that I am an advanced beginner ukulele player, not by any stretch an expert! The Cordoba 20CM ukulele is not flashy; no fancy bindings, high gloss finish, or elaborate inlays. It is, however, a very well made instrument. The neck is constructed of a single piece of wood (unlike some cheaper instruments which are pieced together). Fit and finish are very good; no extraneous glue, nice tight joints, even finish across the body and neck. Most importantly, it sounds quite nice and plays easily. I earlier owned a laminated concert uke that I thought sounded too bright and tinny. The Cordoba has a nice mellow tone, good sustain, and reasonable volume (I actually like that its not real loud, sounds more refined to me). It came set up very nicely, easy action on the fretboard and almost in tune. It stays in tune remarkably well for a new instrument. My only complaint (a small one) is that the open geared tuners seem a bit fiddly -- they feel loose somehow, and don't seem to tighten/loosen the strings smoothly. Instead nothing seems to happen as I slowly turn the peg, then the tone suddenly jumps up or down. Its not a big deal and I think it may just be me gaining familiarity with the uke. I also have a Gretsch tenor uke, and tuning it just feels different. I love the Gretsch, but after only a couple of days the Cordoba is threatening to replace it as my instrument of choice. Bottom line: very good value ukulele. Sounds sweet and plays easily. Well made and well finished.

I am a long time guitar player and have a collection of guitars. I own electric, acoustic, classical, bass but have never gotten into ukulele until recently. After doing a bit of research I decided on the Cordoba 20 TM-CE Acoustic Electric Tenor for my first ukulele. I am very happy with it. First off, it is a very nice looking ukulele, with a very solid feel to it. Nothing on this looks cheaply made. I was very pleasantly surprised with how nice it looks. I was really worried because this was the first time I have purchased an instrument online and without having spent some real time playing with it. Plus, I realized I would be getting an instrument right out of the box without any kind of "setup" which is not the ideal way of making a perfect match. I would recommend always playing an instrument before buying it but I will say that I was lucky and it worked out for me this time. Admittedly, I am new to the ukulele and there is an adjustment to make from the guitar but so far it has been a pretty easy transition. I am loving this thing. The tone is nice and I couldn't be happier. There is a learning curve with the different tuning/fret size/action and I will probably switch out to a low G string but I am having a blast learning this thing. There are no strap buttons on this ukulele so if you are one to play with a strap you will have to improvise with that or install one. There are kits and they are easy to install if you want to wear a strap. If you are looking for a mid range ukulele, this to me feels like a great bang for your buck.

Been playing guitar for forty years, decided to pick up the ukulele about 10 years ago just for fun. Bought a $99 Luna Tattoo concert uke, thinking it was a decent beginner instrument. Played it a few years, then teenage son got interested, and adopted the Luna as his own. Decided to replace it with something slightly better. Did some research, decided on the Cordoba 20CM since it had a solid top (as opposed to the Luna's all-laminate construction), a compensated bridge, a higher price tag and good reviews. The Cordoba is a beautiful little instrument, and immaculately constructed. The neck is thick and wide (making complex chords easy) and the fretwork is flawless. The compensated bridge seems to do its job, tuning and intonation are spot on. However, it seems that these more expensive features don't translate into sound quality. The Cordoba is much softer in volume than the Luna (they're the same size and dimensions, and they have the same strings) and its tone is heavy on the midrange, with very little bass. The Luna's tone is bigger, louder, bassier. You can feel the Luna's body vibrate as you play it, and it just projects sound. This is not the case with the Cordoba. If I had to do it again, I'd have saved some money and gotten another Luna. They're a little rougher around the edges and lacking some features, but there's something about the way they're put together that makes them sound fantastic. The Cordoba 20CM is a perfectly good little ukulele, very nicely made with a nice neck, and completely sufficient for entertaining yourself. But if you're looking for a great sounding uke with enough volume to have some friends singing along, you'll likely find it lacking.

When I first became obsessed with ukes, I purchased a Luna Tattoo tenor. It sounded reasonably well, but it felt cheap and was not a joy to play. Knowing I'd never pick up the instrument and play it often enough if I didn't feel passionately about it, I returned it and instead purchased a really nice KoAloha tenor for a considerable chunk of change. I've played that instrument every day since purchasing it and it's proved itself to be worth every penny of its price, even as my first instrument. I eventually decided I wanted a soprano uke as well, though, for the sake of the versatility of having two instruments with different tunings and portability factors and sounds. After poking around on Amazon for a while I saw that a couple of Cordobas, though low in price, had nearly flawless ratings from customers, unlike almost all of the other budget-oriented ukes around, so it was an easy purchase to make. As soon as I pulled the 20SM out of the packaging and held in my hands I knew it was a quality instrument: perfectly balance with a center of gravity where the neck meets the body (just like my tenor that cost more than four times as much), geared tuners that stay nice and tight, a perfectly straight neck with spot-on intonation all throughout the scale, and a richness that will make any listener grin with pleasure. No, no aficionado's going to mistake this for a hand-crafted work of art, but this uke feels and sounds and plays like models that cost twice as much. You could easily give this as a gift to a beginning musician and they're not going to run into the problem of being discouraged by a mediocre instrument.

terrible buzzing on the first and second fret. this often means a too-low nut, so i checked it out - and it had shims on it. shims under the nut, right out of the box?! and the nut was still crooked and misaligned... i can also see that some of the frets aren't the right height, as well as being sharp/unfiled on the edges. overall just bad quality. it's a shame because it's beautiful and the sound from the functioning parts is great. a lot of reviews also mention it becoming untuned sooo quickly and often. i am hesitant to agree because strings have to be broken in at first of course - but it does seem like the tuners loosen far more than any other quality ukulele.

I've never really played an instrument before, but I put a lot of time and care into researching my first ukulele purchase. The Lanikai LU-21 and the Kala KA-S are often recommended as the best beginner ukes, but I was put off by the Amazon reviews: the negative reviews mentioned extreme variations in quality from instrument to instrument, and even those who left positive reviews talked about how they bought another, nicer uke a couple of months later. I had read good things about Cordoba's ukuleles, so I decided to spend a little extra on the 20SM (it has a solid mahogany top, unlike the 15SM). I couldn't be happier. It's a gorgeous instrument and arrived in beautiful condition—not a blemish or bump on it. It sounds so lovely that I can't stop playing it, and it holds its tune very nicely. I only have to tune it up every couple days, and that's with daily practice sessions. Highly recommended for a serious-minded beginner.

I have been playing this model professionally for 10 years. Replacement instruments purchased a few times. The newest one in 2024 was lower quality, slightly different shape, bridge etc and not as good as older ones. Cordoba is shipping in Yamaha box so I suspect the brand was sold or just lower quality over time.

This little tenor has a very nice build quality. The finish is that of a much more expensive instrument. It has no binding, so the solid mahogany top just blends smoothly into the sides. The action is perfect right out of the box. The intonation is quite accurate. And, with the cutaway, you can play all the cool chords anywhere on the fret board. Plugged in, it has a lot of presence and is very balanced. I'm using it with a Fishman Loudbox Mini amp, and when you dial in a little reverb and chorus, you have an amazing sound. I was considering some tenors that cost twice as much and I was a little concerned about the OEM electronics on such an inexpensive unit. I needn't have worried. This guy sounds terrific. The battery compartment is right on top next to the controls, so changing a battery is a ten second deal. Unplugged, it has nice volume and a very sweet and balanced uke sound. The warmth of the mahogany really comes through. It's amazing what you get for the price.