ChrisRL -> RE: String spacing and neck width (Sep. 8 2016 18:49:23)
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fjw, good morning! Chris here, classical player and builder. Your 52mm dimensions on your guitar are the standard ones for classical Spanish guitar. The scale length of Torres's most successful guitars is 650mm, so your 655mm will be more sonorous at the lower end but less brilliant in the higher end. BTW the Torres necks were narrower in their time at 49mm at the nut with 8.5mm string spacing, and 60.5mm at the 12th fret, mainly because the music at the time was simpler and the proponents preferred narrower necks (at that time). Contrast if you will a late model Jose Romanillos guitar (Romanillos has a construction book and plans of his own, was a self-taught British luthier born in Spain (and who has now retired in Spain, leaving his son in London to continue the business), who analyzed, repaired and has written the definitive book on the life and work of Torres. Romanillos's neck is 52.5mm wide, scale length 650mm, 62.5 width at 12th fret. Bridge is 59mm total string width, 11.8mm separation. That's after examining more than 50 of Torres's original guitars and building many successful ones of his own. Variations on the Torres standard are for playability but also for type of music played. Start with your design goals, though. What style of piece will the guitar be used for? Remember that saying "all types" is like saying you want an electric guitar to be able to play "all types" of electric guitar music, including bass guitar. Even in electric, you'll need at least a double neck guitar with multiple pickups and a boatload of electronics to get anywhere near, and it will be "near" only, not "spot on. If you're going to go with a totally Flamenco guitar, with chords, and lots of strumming/rasgueado, then maybe a narrower neck might be okay. If you're going to play classical guitar pieces, with mainly chords, arpeggios, lead lines and finger style (written) music, then the 52mm and flat fingerboard is more advisable since you can get your left hand fingers in easier. The narrower fingerboards and radiusing and cutaways with neck at fret 14 (and fret markings) and guitar strap buttons and pickups are mainly for electric guitar players who want the nylon string sound and play more jazz, country, blues and other finger picked styles, not classical music. The Torres style was arrived at because of its playability and projection (un-amplified volume). Yes, you'll have to get used to the fingerboard if you're playing classical pieces. If you're using a classical guitar to strum on, then probably adding a pick guard, radiusing the fingerboard, and a thinner neck would be warranted, as would adding at least a carbon fiber reinforcement rod or two, a double-action truss rod and a dovetail joint, which would make your setups easier after a few years have passed by. Roy Courtnall's "Making Master Guitars" has all the dimensions of all the famous guitar designs, within the classical guitar realm anyway. Tom Bills's "The Art of Lutherie" is my go-to place to research, as is his wonderful website and luthier's course. Tom is a jazz player and a high end builder as well. Tom Bills has a complete course in exactly what you're looking for, not just the 'how' of guitar design, but the 'why'. His "Art of Lutherie" contains most, if not all of the base material of his course. Why were the older necks narrower? The sizes of the orchestras and concert halls probably influenced the design. Also the actual sizes of the guitarists (don't forget, most master guitars are bespoke instruments, made to order). So especially when artists like Pepe Romero request a fingerboard more conducive to his style and speed, he will ask for (and receive) many differing dimensions of guitars to try out. When Romanillos was building his first guitars in the back of Julian Bream's garden workshop, Bream commissioned the first four guitars to be built for him, and then he chose the one he liked the best. This is important because he probably wasn't interested in "the best of the four guitars" - how can the first four of anything be the maker's best? - but the one he liked the best. So my own "normal" is the following: Width of nut: 54mm Width of neck at 12th: 64mm String Spacing @ bridge: 11.8mm Thickness at 1st: 24mm Thickness at 12th: 27mm Which is a little wider than the Romanillos design. Mostly these dimensions come from building a few guitars, then playing them. One reason why animal hide glue is important to assemble the guitar - it is easily steamed off again! Another beginner's trick is to laminate a piece of paper between the top and the sides when initially assembling. This will allow you to separate the joint easily after tuning the main sound box and neck, and examine from the inside the results of your decisions. Any more questions, please ask. I'm by no means a master builder yet, but I have some experience, and there are many others on this and other boards who can help. Best Chris
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