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most flamenco guitars I saw have pretty wide fretboard at the neck. This one on the other hand seems to be a bit narrower. Looks like you can ask luthier to build for you guitar with not that wide fretboard at the neck
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to rafapak)
quote:
This one on the other hand seems to be a bit narrower. Looks like you can ask luthier to build for you guitar with not that wide fretboard at the neck
This looks standard width, e.g. around 52mm. This is a Hermanos Sanchis guitar and they are usually 52mm.
And as you know from luthier replies in other threads of yours, you can ask a luthier to build a narrower width. Just don't be surprised if you find that a narrow width can be harder to play.
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to rafapak)
You should be less concerned about the width of the fingerboard. A wider neck can be even desirable for flamenco playing. Average hand size and finger length can handle the standard 52mm. Imo the important factor for playability is the distance between frets. But we use capo.
Posts: 15748
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to rafapak)
It is not just the neck and fingerboard but the slots carved into the nut. The skinny neck guitars are for cross over players that use a pick and want the feel of the steel string acoustics or even electric guitars. Perhaps even the thumb goes over top for bass notes on certain chords.
But for serious fingerstyle players it is surprising but the guitar is more difficult to play if the strings taper down that way. My student had a Sanchis and I measured it and realized the only reason my Conde felt better (by his opinion not only mine) was the slots brought the strings closer. He purchased a new nut blank, measured my conde string spacing, and carved a new nut. The guitar magically turned into butter smooth play ability. I don’t know why but I feel the top builders are aware of this but deliberately make nuts that way for lower end instruments, so that there appears to be this imagined gap between price points.
Felipe Conde jr brought what had the superior instrument tone to Sanlucar once and I was baffled by his ridiculous nut, not unlike what I described. Maybe his dad made him do that so people would think papa’s guitar was more valuable? I told him WTF with this nut??? He quickly said he could easily make a new one, but I said don’t ever do that again!!!
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to rafapak)
quote:
most flamenco guitars I saw have pretty wide fretboard at the neck. This one on the other hand seems to be a bit narrower. Looks like you can ask luthier to build for you guitar with not that wide fretboard at the neck
what guitar are you used to playing? I guess not any kind of spanish/nylon guitar, flamenco or classical. 52mm is standard, I had one that was 54mm for a long time, it was a touch wide, but ok. I prefer 53mm and have two made like that by Stephen Eden.
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
for serious fingerstyle players it is surprising but the guitar is more difficult to play if the strings taper down that way. My student had a Sanchis and I measured it and realized the only reason my Conde felt better (by his opinion not only mine) was the slots brought the strings closer. He purchased a new nut blank, measured my conde string spacing, and carved a new nut. The guitar magically turned into butter smooth play ability. I don’t know why but I feel the top builders are aware of this but deliberately make nuts that way for lower end instruments, so that there appears to be this imagined gap between price points.
confused, what does "strings taper down that way" mean, was the conde or sanchis string spacing wider?
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Take a guitar and compare width at bridge between strings, to the string spacing at the nut.
yeah, I KNOW the strings are wider at bridge than nut, like, on all my guitars present and past... what I meant was, how were the guitars referred to different?
quote:
The skinny neck guitars are for cross over players that use a pick and want the feel of the steel string acoustics or even electric guitars. Perhaps even the thumb goes over top for bass notes on certain chords.
But for serious fingerstyle players it is surprising but the guitar is more difficult to play if the strings taper down that way.
if these guitars have narrower necks, I assume they also have narrower bridges too? And have similar ratio between nut and bridge to a standard spanish classical or flamenco guitar (are we talking 42mm nut or something for these guitars?). Or do they not? is the nut wider compared to the bridge, or narrower? I know guitars "taper", just not clear what exactly "that way" is in this case.
Posts: 15748
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: flamenco guitar fretboard width (in reply to mark indigo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: mark indigo
quote:
Take a guitar and compare width at bridge between strings, to the string spacing at the nut.
yeah, I KNOW the strings are wider at bridge than nut, like, on all my guitars present and past... what I meant was, how were the guitars referred to different?
quote:
The skinny neck guitars are for cross over players that use a pick and want the feel of the steel string acoustics or even electric guitars. Perhaps even the thumb goes over top for bass notes on certain chords.
But for serious fingerstyle players it is surprising but the guitar is more difficult to play if the strings taper down that way.
if these guitars have narrower necks, I assume they also have narrower bridges too? And have similar ratio between nut and bridge to a standard spanish classical or flamenco guitar (are we talking 42mm nut or something for these guitars?). Or do they not? is the nut wider compared to the bridge, or narrower? I know guitars "taper", just not clear what exactly "that way" is in this case.
The issue is yes, if the string spacing is closer overall, AND, surprisingly when it is “normal” like a Conde let’s say at the bridge, there are guitars out there whose nuts have string slots that are deliberately cramming the strings together, not taking advantage of the wide enough neck/fingerboard design….and there must be some mentality that lower end or studentguitars “need” this situation, yet these instruments are much harder to play. When a student “graduates” to a more expensive instrument, it is often the case the nut allows a string spacing much wider than the lower end equivalent guitar, and to me it is likely deliberate. Simply cutting a new nut might turn a lower end student guitar into something that feels like a concert guitar “magically”.
The OP is an admitted lower level student and is already operating under the assumption that he might need a narrow neck model guitar, and I felt a need to remove that from his mind.
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) . Don`t bother me or any pro tocaor who has played it.
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