Cordoba expands the 55FCE thinline guitar with a new limited edition “negra” variant and they refreshed the original design with a new finish.
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The 55FCE thinbody flamenco guitar continues to play a prominent role in the company’s catalog, and as such they are constantly trying out new finishes and tonewood variations.
Having been endorsed and played by the Gipsy Kings, the 55FCE is easily one of the more popular models from Cordoba. Its combination of solid European spruce top and flamed maple back and sides have become has proven to be a hit among flamenco players that are looking for stage-ready instruments. The original version sported honey amber tinted finish that follows traditional coloring of flamenco guitars.
This year, the same wood combination is available in a new Natural Blonde finish. This finish is selected for its ability to better showcase the grains of the flamed maple body. Other than the change in finish, everything else remains the same, so the guitar still produces the same bright and snappy tone that flamenco dancers will appreciate.
In addition to the new finish option, Cordoba is also releasing a 55FCE Limited “negra” edition that features exotic tonewood for the body. The top wood is still the same solid European spruce, but the back and sides feature Macassar ebony, a dense and dark wood with blonde streaks. This particular tonewood is known for its clear and balanced tone, as well as its loud projection. The new 55FCE will have a very limited run that caps off at approximately 30 instruments in 2015.
According to Cordoba: ““Negra” guitars have become more popular in recent years, and tend to offer a deeper, bassier tone in comparison with “blanca” guitars, which are built with lighter colored and brighter sounding woods like cypress and maple.”
For plugging in, Cordoba continues to equip the 55FCE models with Fishman Prefix Pro Blend pickup, a premium pickup system that lets you blend piezo pickup with a microphone. It comes with 3-band EQ for tone shaping.
Like the original version, the 55FCE Limited will have a soft cutaway body, along with the other specs that include Indian rosewood bridge and binding, gloss polyurethane finish, and it comes bundled with a HumiCase Thinbody Protégé case.
The 55FCE Natural Blonde is expected to retail for $1399.99, while the Limited 55FCE Negra with Macassar Ebony body will be a bit more expensive at $1699.99. For more information and other details, head over to Cordoba Guitars or visit their exhibit at Booth 910 during the 2015 Summer NAMM Show.
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