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I have two classical guitars and my friend who plays flamenco said that if I sand down the bone saddle on my cheapie classical, a Takamine G-116, that it will play more like a flamenco. Is this true and how many millimeters should I sand it down?
RE: Can I make my classical play lik... (in reply to Luisd)
Bringing down the saddle will lower your action a little. However, the bridge itself on a flamenco is lower too than on a classical. In most cases. How low you can go will also depend on the angle of your neck.
You may find that after bringing down the saddle, your action may still be too high. It's really hard to tell without seeing your guitar. Are there any luthiers in your area that you could talk to about this and possibly show your guitar to?
RE: Can I make my classical play lik... (in reply to Luisd)
Yes you can play Flamenco on a Classical guitar. You do not need to file or change anything in my opinion to the guitar, you just need to change your approach. In fact there are benefits to practicing first on a classical guitar, because of the higher tension and action, such as building both left and right hand strength.
A guitar is a guitar mate, if you want to play flamenco just really LISTEN, and absorb as much of the AIRE as possible.
RE: Can I make my classical play lik... (in reply to Luisd)
I think so Luis.. For years I played with an old semi-cheap classical guitar (I didn't buy it, but swapped for a portable Radio-Cassette recorder.. ) on which I'd filed down the hueso and built it up with bits of paper till I got the best action to buzz I could.
Paco Peña was really into filing down stuff and it was him who gave me the confidence to try it. How far do you go? As far as you can IMO. I used to buy a few plastic huesos for a couple of quid and spend the weekend filing them down and keeping the ones I liked to revert back to before experimenting on another. It wasn't perfect to play, but it wasn't too bad.
Here's an example of the guitar.. (which I still have, but sadly never play now )
RE: Can I make my classical play lik... (in reply to Luisd)
Luis, Yes you can but how low the action can go depends on how perfect the fingerboard lays. Clean any wax off the guitar install a golpe plate ( the best ones around can be purchased from Lisa of Granada) and then check your fretboard for straightness and levelness. You may have to file the frets to remove high spots. You may also have to lower the nut along with the saddle. 3 mm from string bottom to fret top at the 12th fret is consdered ideal by many but many inexpensive guitars will not allow this low without buzzing badly. I have my Dominquez blanc at 2.75 mm with no buzz of concern. My Negra was built to be a Brazilian Classical, but I converted it to flamenco by adding a golpe plate and lowering the nut and also the saddle to 3 mm at 12th fret. I mention the nut because many classical guitars have a higher nut than flamencos and unless you always use a Cejilla this will defeat lowering the saddle. If the guitar is of any great value, I will suggest getting help from someone that has done this... As mentioned above, you may have to do some regrooving and lowering on the bridge but be aware that the string holes in the bridge have to be lower than the saddle.
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) on which I'd filed down the hueso and built it up with bits of paper till I got the best action to buzz I could. 
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