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estebanana -> RE: Arias in spirit, constructed by Pendejo in material world (Jun. 30 2025 15:20:46)
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Color color - the bridge is made with a wood called Inumaki which is in the juniper family. It’s blond light, less dense than rosewoods, but very stiff. It’s a wood that is easy to control the flex of the final bridge. I happen to think bridge weight and flex is really important. I couldn’t tell you why with any calculated data, but light stiff, slightly flexing bridges work well on most flamenco / classical style nylon string guitars.
I made this one the normal way a bridge is made, but I mortised out a section on the front and back side of the tie block to glue on a 3mm thick piece of Macassar ebony. So where the string holes are drilled from back to front on the tie block there’s a swatch of ebony to make the entry and exit holes of the string holes with a material harder than Inumaki. I did this so the strings holes wouldn’t wear as Inumaki is too soft to hold out for the many decades ahead of this guitar.
Once the bridge was shaped I painted it with high grade gouache paint ( opaque watercolor) and sanded and painted several times to build a deep black finish. Then I French polished over the gouache. I’m told some Spanish makers used a softer wood than rosewood and stained it. It is a thing I’d like to explore in my early 20th century/ late 19th century inspired guitars.
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