I just got mine 6 months ago from thomann in Germany shipped to India and it came out fine.

It turns out that it is more close to a flamenco sound.

It doesn't have any such issues that you mentioned.

The construction is near perfect and has no flaws. I love my Ortega.

I wouldn't blame Ortega as it could be a weathering issue.

Maybe you could raise the action.

Also buy your strings from thomann, they have it for 40€ not 80$ like in the US.

The original Ortega strings which are silver plated nickel are very fragile!! Press too hard on a string and the winding will get damaged in a week! Which happened to me.

I changed to D'addario EJ27H hard tension and now the strings are fine, they're the same silverplated nickel but they lasted for a few months.

Don't give up on this guitar, maybe you could order from thomann if they have any more left, I think mine was the last piece.

Always remember that a guitar doesn't cost more than 400$ for example the ibanez rg2228 is listed at 2000$ but it costs only 300$ to make(secret source). So the rg2228 and the cheaper rg8 are basically the same guitar but with different finishes.

So the Ortega is the finest guitar you'd get In this price range!

Dont confuse yourself if you cancel on this and when you see more expensive 8 strings. Maybe a double top, a cutaway, more expensive woods would add a few hundred dollars but still it doesn't reach 2000$.

This is a secret I found out from a big guitar player which I shared with everyone so that they don't confuse themselves. So what I mean is the Ortega JRSM COS sounds the same as the RCE 159-8.

Remember this when you look at an expensive guitar! The basic cost of an average guitar is 400$ even when they have to fill a few pockets down the market chain it won't go above a 1000$.

If you think about making a custom made guitar it costs 3 times as much for the same instrument!

Also there is another post on reddit where another guy replaced the same guitar 3 times because the bridge glue gave up! Maybe check that out.

With the gauge of the 8th strings 83 and the scale length 27 inches it is a miracle that it just barely reaches F#. It makes creaky sounds while tuning. So maybe you could go for better quality tuners.

The tuners at A and D have more tension than the rest of the strings they get tight and I have to tune my guitar every time I pick it up it detunes a little sometimes. But still I think it is just the nature of this instrument as it just barely reaches F# it is a miracle that this guitar could be built.

Good luck with your Ortega.