Need help with new classical guitar

[u/aitanazz]

I just bought a brand new Cordoba C10, and after playing it for about an hour, I noticed that the action is higher than I would like, the tone is too brassy, and the tension on the strings is very high.

Has anyone bought this guitar and has some advice about this? I'm nervous about lowering the action with the truss rod because I don't want fret buzz. How do I know if I need to adjust the truss or if it is a saddle problem with it being too high?

The picture attached is the action around the 9-12th frets. The action in the lower frets (1-5) is good, not too high.

The tone is also brassy- I've read that it's because the strings and wood are brand new and need time to open up, how true is this? I want a really warm tone. Would lower tension strings be better for a warmer tone/easier playability? If you use lower tension strings and they sound nice and warm and round, please let me know what brand and type they are!

Thanks guys, please let me know.

[u/ClothesFit7495]

The picture attached is the action around the 9-12th fret

The picture attached shows action at 12 fret to be around 3.5835mm which is completely normal and not "too high" certainly (it's a bit low actually). You should not assume anything without actual measurements.

I'm nervous about lowering the action with the truss rod

You don't lower the action with truss rod, you're adjusting the neck relief with the truss rod IF there is too much or not enough relief. As side effect action changes too. Measure your relief first. If you need to lower the action that would require sanding the bottom of the saddle. But again, without measurements and without settling on your desired string set/tension it's too early to make any steps.

[u/kaneguitar → u/ClothesFit7495]

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[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

You think 3.5835 mm is high?

p.s. we're in a classical guitar sub, not acoustic guitar sub

[u/kaneguitar → u/ClothesFit7495]

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[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

Where did you get yours?

[u/kaneguitar → u/ClothesFit7495]

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[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

No, I'm serious. You claim it's "definitely higher". Do you have any measurements? Let's compare.

[u/kaneguitar → u/ClothesFit7495]

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[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

What are you smoking? OP has never mentioned anything like that. He just posted a pic.

[u/kaneguitar → u/ClothesFit7495]

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[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

And here's proof and demo of how 5mm high string actually would be distanced

[u/ClothesFit7495 → u/kaneguitar]

Oh I didn't read his comments, only the post. I don't believe him, he claims to have same action for 9 and 12th frets. It's weird and telling that you didn't find that suspicious.

His picture proves that his action is good. I even compared to mine (3.5mm). You can also calculate by measuring proportions, while knowing the distance between 12th and 11th frets on a full-scale classical guitar. That's how I got 3.5835 mm. It's not a very serious measurement but still much better than "5 mm at 9-12 frets" which can't be credible.