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I'm attempting to build a guitar with the modern style Conde bracing. I'm copying a 2005 Felipe Conde which I thought was a fantastic guitar. One of the best if not the best Conde I've seen. Here's a pic of the top. Don't know how close I can get to it. Wish me luck.
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Tom, please keep us informed about how the guitar eventually turns out. I would also be interested in getting a copy of the plans/drawings you are working from, if you have made any...
Jb
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¡Si esto no está en compas, esto no es el Flamenco!
I do as best as I can to do a clean job on the inside. I hate glue squeeze out!
I don't have expensive and fancy calipers so my methods for trying to measure the inside are very primative. The braces look thicker on this photo than they really are.
The 2 long struts from the Conde I have here "appear" to be spruce. They very well may be some type of hardwood as you say but from what I can tell, they look like spruce. I'm sure if I wrote the Conde bros. they wouldn't reply with an answer
I have a friend who has a 03' Conde negra. I asked him to peek inside his soundhole so he could see the side of these two long struts. He's not a luthier so all he could tell me is that his looked brown. Much like the back braces. Could they also be using cedar for these?
Sorry, I have a question. Are there any guitar building kits which include all parts you need for a flamenco-guitar? Some people from the forum builded on no? did they use the kit?
The one I'm building? blanca. I have a nice set of Pau Ferro I've been waiting to use. If this blanca turns out the way I'm hoping it will, maybe I'll build a negra next with this wood.
Looks fantastic, very clean and professional. Are you going to use your 'devil horned' design for the head? - now THaT would be cool.
Did you leave the top 2 struts thick to make adjustments later (ala fine tuning)?
What color will the finish be?
Thanks Samwise. You remember the diablo head eh? No, this one will be my current design. I'll post a pic once it's finished. All the struts are pretty much at final thickness and height. I don't know a whole lot yet about "final tuning" and don't know for sure if I really believe in this. I'm no one to really comment about it as I know nothing about it.
Originally, I wanted to shoot it in yellow as I prefer yellow to orange. However, since the purfling is red, the yellow tint may turn the red to orange. I may leave it natural so the original color of the rosette and purfling show through.
The dark struts could be: 1) Western red cedar, 2) Spanish cedar, or 3) mahogany. It would be worth knowing which it is, since these have very different characteristics. My guess would be red cedar, but I haven't had the opportunity to see one.
By the way... Where did you get the cypress for the back?
Cheers, Norman
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"The duende is God's orgasm." - Antonio Canales
"I'm just a poor crazy man in love with his art." - Santos Hernandez (as translated by R. Brune)
I can't quite remember where I got the cypress as I have purchased several sets from various sources through the last few years. I think this particular set came from LMI.
Nice work Tom. It appears as if you do very clean work. Please post pics of your progress. My favorite part of this forum is seeing others' work. Will you continue with the rosewood/red/white for the binding etc?
Thanks. Yes, I try to be as clean as possible. It really bugs me when I get a guitar and look inside and find a lot of sloppy work. Glue squeeze out and rough sanded braces, etc,etc. A clean box tells me that the maker takes pride in his work. However, handmade guitars are not perfect. Some of this type of stuff is to be expected. I just like to be as clean as possible.
The binding and purfling will also be rosewood,white and red.
Did you (on the conde) meassure the size of the two outer braces (1 and 7) and the closing struts ? To me they look heavy and you start the cut of of brace 1 and 7 above the cut off of the 2nd and 6th brace. That I dont understand. In my experience this (the size of the braces) normally means that the guitar will sound strong and bright, but it´ll have sustain and a pulsation that will not work to well close to the bridge.
Did you (on the conde) meassure the size of the two outer braces (1 and 7) and the closing struts ? To me they look heavy and you start the cut of of brace 1 and 7 above the cut off of the 2nd and 6th brace. That I dont understand. In my experience this (the size of the braces) normally means that the guitar will sound strong and bright, but it´ll have sustain and a pulsation that will not work to well close to the bridge.
Its all taste, I know, but thats what I think.
Hi Anders, braces 1,2,4,6 and 7 are the same size. I had to do all the measuring through the soundhole which was REALLY difficult to reach those outer braces, 1 and 7. From what I could tell, these two were cut smaller on the ends compared to the others. However, since these were difficult to measure, my measurements may be slightly off from the original.
I'll make all the cuts the same on the next one and see if I can tell what the differences are.
Printable Version
- now THaT would be cool. 
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