Should I turn my classical into a Negra

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Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

Should I turn my classical into a Negra

So I'm building a classical right now. Here is the bracing I'm using...it's the Jeffrey Elliot/ Hauser open harmonic bar design.
My teacher has built many guitars with this bracing and they are just so powerful, clear, even and beautiful. Here's the thing: I'm getting extremely tempted to turn this into a Flamenco negra. I would probably lower the main top resonance to G-G# (he's been tuning them G#-A with great results), basically slap a golpeador on and set it up for flamenco.
So...is it a good idea or what?

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 24 2010 13:47:31

mark74

Posts: 690
Joined: Jan. 26 2011

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Im curious to find out what happened.

I would have said yes but Im not a luthier.

Flamencos seem to command more $ in the U.S. but of course the luthiers know more about that...but theyre just so much harder to find

It would be cool if more classical players used flamenco negras in their concerts

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 27 2011 6:18:12

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I made a negra with romanillos bracing. It also has open harmonic bars. It sounds really great But can be difficult to control because of a longer sustain.

Just one thing. Dont leave the guitar with a rumbero. I´m not sure the soundboard can handle hard rumbero slaps with the open harmonic bars.

Personally, I wouldnt turn a layout like this one into a negra... I like guitars with a short and percussive sustain. The stronlyy angled layout of the braces is very classical, making the soundboard a lot stiffer on the cross section and so it´ll have more sustain, more harmonics, less percussive, less body in the golpes and in total, less flamenco.
I really dislike playing guitars with weak golpes. It has to react to your different golpes. If not it feels stiff, dead and boring to play.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 27 2011 8:40:09

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I would leave it as a classical for the reasons Anders stated. I bet it would turn out really nice.

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 27 2011 12:00:17

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Hey guys. glad somebody finally responded. lol
The guitar stayed as a classical and turned out great, but my next guitar on this design turned out better (#6). Here's why I was tempted: these guitars are just really really fun to play and this one in particular actually had a good percussive quality while still having a beautiful sound in the treble and a lot of "presence". The bass was not aggressive enough IMO for a Flamenco but I'm still planning on doing a hybrid someday with no bridge patch and a thinner top, but a thicker strap under the harmonic bar openings to make it more "rumbero-proof."
The reason it would work I think is partly because the open harmonic bars actually relieve some of the cross grain stiffness.
And the sound is just telling me it would work well for a certain kind of player.

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 27 2011 13:52:49

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Hybrid guitars are always fun to play. They are not so serious as raw flamenco guitars. But after a while I always miss that dryness and clarity.
I like Cedar a lot for hybrid guitars.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 27 2011 16:22:48

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Should I turn my classical into ... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

quote:

So I'm building a classical right now. Here is the bracing I'm using...it's the Jeffrey Elliot/ Hauser open harmonic bar design.
My teacher has built many guitars with this bracing and they are just so powerful, clear, even and beautiful. Here's the thing: I'm getting extremely tempted to turn this into a Flamenco negra. I would probably lower the main top resonance to G-G# (he's been tuning them G#-A with great results), basically slap a golpeador on and set it up for flamenco.
So...is it a good idea or what?

Attachment (1)