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I was approached by a guitarist and professor near me to build a flamenco guitar, and he only had one stipulation: he wanted straight string pull over the nut, rather than having the strings leave the nut at an angle towards the pegs. It's a concept championed by Trevor Gore, who says this on his website:
"I use a straight string pull through the nut for both playability and acoustical reasons. The straight string pull means less friction over the nut, easier tuning, better tuning stability and more reliable intonation; all significant benefits to the player."
It wasn't easy arriving at a design that works with a traditional shaped classical/flamenco headstock but here is the finished product. Also featuring my handmade rose rosette and matching tie block.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
RE: New blanca with unique feature (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Now that is cool. I think that clear space in the headstock veneer us begging for some relief stippling like you did on that fancy guitar you built, the one with the six pointed star tiles in the rosette.
HR
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I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: New blanca with unique feature (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Not knowing any better I built my first guitar with almost straight pull strings. The trick was compromising with a little angle to make enough clearance for manipulating the peg knobs from behind. Can’t say I noticed any intimation issues hood or bad, it was my first build after all ;)
I stuck with it though, I liked the esthetic of the narrow headstock ind one I landed on the inverse Torres for the top edge of the headstock I like it more. And ya, the string peg order does befuddle the less attentive guitar player every once in a while. I have to stop and think now when I pull my Culpepper Blanca off the wall ;)
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: New blanca with unique feature (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Thanks guys. Strings binding at the nut can definitely be an issue, particularly the D string has been known to cause a variety of problems with shearing the winding off, breaking, making weird noises etc. There are different things you can do like angling the nut slots, removing ~half the slot from the back with a round file (which I do), fine sanding/polishing the slots (which I do), etc. Ultimately I'm confident in my ability to make a great, frictionless nut but who knows what happens to the guitar down the line. I think this was a cool idea, not sure if I'll feel the need to do it again in the future but I see some merits to it.
Ron, yeah I agree about the negative space on the headstock haha. Probably a few different things could be done with that with a little creativity.
RE: New blanca with unique feature (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
I'm quick to gripe about design integrity but I think the way you did the peghead is working. Maybe that's because of the momentum of traditional peghead design in my mind, but then maybe that's a context that need not be pushed aside.
I think it succeeds because the traditional outline works as a kind of canvas on which the modern functional design plays out. Everything about it has a reason for being that way even if part of that is tradition.
I'm not sure adding even something quite subtle could improve things.
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