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Which set of plans?   You are logged in as Guest
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Cymro

 

Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK

Which set of plans? 
Hi all, it's my birthday today (Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me etc . . . ) and a kind soul gave me some money, not knowing what else I would want or need.

I've been looking at the GAL plans for a while, but put off buying because of the weather (85% humidity for the next few months.) I'm also finding it hard to decide between the Barbero and the Reyes plans because I have no information on either. Purely on gut feeling, the Barbero has it for me - one reason is that it has a slightly longer string length and my current 650mm guitar feels a little cramped. I could scale up the Reyes a little, but don't know how the rest of the dynamics might be affected.

So; would anybody be able to offer me any advice based on anything but instinct (experience, maybe?) please? Bear in mind that this will be my first guitar of ANY sort!

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Still confusing ability with ambition . . .
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 20 2010 11:41:02
 
Tom Blackshear

 

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
 

RE: Which set of plans? (in reply to Cymro) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: Cymro

Hi all, it's my birthday today (Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me etc . . . ) and a kind soul gave me some money, not knowing what else I would want or need.

I've been looking at the GAL plans for a while, but put off buying because of the weather (85% humidity for the next few months.) I'm also finding it hard to decide between the Barbero and the Reyes plans because I have no information on either. Purely on gut feeling, the Barbero has it for me - one reason is that it has a slightly longer string length and my current 650mm guitar feels a little cramped. I could scale up the Reyes a little, but don't know how the rest of the dynamics might be affected.

So; would anybody be able to offer me any advice based on anything but instinct (experience, maybe?) please? Bear in mind that this will be my first guitar of ANY sort!


I've built about 5 guitars with the RE Brune Barbero plan and they were good but one was so fine that Brune wanted to keep it for his collection.

However, the Reyes plan is a much easier build. I drew this plan with the idea of giving the builder a good reference point with a few fine tuning basics, and some first time builders were very happy with it.

However, no plan is without fault in explaining everything you would need to get things right. I would be sure to have a teacher available for some of the basic building techniques.

The Barbero plan is good but it takes a lot of tweaking to get the sound and articulation right. The one that Richard Brune liked, took me about two months to get the voicing in line.

BTW, the Reyes scale is 655 mm and this scale fits what Reyes has designed in his guitar, so it would not be a good idea to change the scale.

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Tom Blackshear Guitar maker
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 20 2010 12:41:53
 
diazf

Posts: 52
Joined: Jan. 2 2006
From: NYC

RE: Which set of plans? (in reply to Cymro) 
I highly recommend the Blackshear Reyes plan. I recently finished my first Reyes with this plan and it sounds great. The sound is very balanced with rich trebles like Amigo's De mi Corazon al Aire or Tomatito' Rosas del Amor album. It's hard to explain but it has a slight echo /reverb like sound (in a good way) sound. Overall sound is thick, crisp and sweet but with lots of flamenco bite when played harder. I used Spanish Cedar back and sides with a Sitka Spruce top, rosewood fingerboard and bridge.

Also this plan has been discussed in detail on the forum so many of the building issues have been address on the forum. But there are certain items that you need to resolve/adjust that are not noted on the plan. For example I lowered the bridge and saddle height a little more to get my desired 8mm between sound hole and bridge. I also had to more steeply ramp the slots on the head to clear the strings. IMO it seems the tuners could be move a few millimeters away from the nut to solve this. I also used solid Spanish Cedar linings instead of tentallones. I've started building my second Reyes but this one will be an exact replica to compare the first one to. I really learned a lot from this plan and really changed my POV that flamenco guitars had to be super lightly built to sound better. The Reyes is light but not to the point of sacrificing tone which I've run into with a previous Santos Hernandez I built.
Saludos
--Fabian
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 20 2010 16:01:06
 
Cymro

 

Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK

RE: Which set of plans? (in reply to Cymro) 
Thanks for the replies; I've only just read them since we had a few friends round yesterday to help celebrate the day (60 down, 40 to go . . . )

OK, based on your collective experience, I'm sold on the Reyes plans. Maybe I'll try the Barbero at a later date?

I agree that it would be helpful to have a teacher on hand, but I'm afraid that's just a wish. None of my friends, relatives or acquaintances are even woodworkers, let alone luthiers. I do have an 18-year-old son of a cousin on the Isle of Man who has built an electric guitar, but that's it . . . !

I'm afraid I will have to rely on what I can find in books - I have Irving Sloane, Donald McLeod (both probably 1960s/70s) John Bogdanovich, Jim Williams and Andrew Allen. The techniques used are fairly universal, (except for the McLeod book which uses a dovetailed neck joint) Some use a solera, some don't; some use a mould, some don't - but they all seem to work out in the end. I originally envisaged building a classical to modify into a flamenco guitar, but at that time I wasn't aware that the flamenco plans were available. The description of some of the techniques can be difficult to visualise from a book, but I find that actually doing the job usually points the way.

I already have the wood for my project - the soundboard is Englemann spruce, cypress back and ribs, Spanish cedar for the neck and birdseye bocote for the fingerboard, bridge and head veneers (I may yet change the last two for some very nicely figured morado I have) Does that sound a good combination for the Reyes plans - not necessarily aesthetically, but in terms of tone production?

Thanks again to you both for the advice; experience is a thing you can't beat and can't buy!

_____________________________

Still confusing ability with ambition . . .
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 21 2010 7:45:35
 
Tom Blackshear

 

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008
 

RE: Which set of plans? (in reply to Cymro) 
Any hardwood might work but wouldn't it be a lot nicer to use traditional woods like Indian rosewood for the bridge and head, and ebony for the fingerboard?

If the guitar turns out good then these items might make it look better and more traditional for sale, if you choose to sell it.

_____________________________

Tom Blackshear Guitar maker
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 21 2010 13:28:25
 
Cymro

 

Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK

RE: Which set of plans? (in reply to Cymro) 
Actually, the morado is quite similar to rosewood, with a purplish sort of tinge but with a little more figure. I thought it would contrast nicely with the bocote when its colour had mellowed down a bit from the yellow when freshly cut.

I'm hoping the guitar will turn out well, but there's not a snow cat's chance in hell I'd ever sell it - it would be like selling a child . . . Now, the second guitar might be for sale . . . ;-)

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Still confusing ability with ambition . . .
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 21 2010 19:15:59
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