How is the classical guitar made?

Answer 1

A classical guitar and a folk or steel string guitar are quite different. First off the classical guitar uses nylon strings. At one time the strings were made of "Gut" or "Cat Gut" which is sheep intestine that has been processed into a long stringy material. It is used in period correct baroque orchestral instruments also, but now most modern classical strings on anything are nylon. The classical guitar finger board is wider and has no radius at all. A folk steel string has a radius of from around 20" to 10" and their scale length is usually from 24" to 25 1/2" between the bridge saddle and the nut. Classical Guitars are usually longer scale (25 3/4" or more) to increase the string tension. The headstock is slotted on a classical over 99% of the time. A folk steel string may have a slotted headstock too, but the spindle the string winds onto is thinner than a classical guitar's. Most modern folk guitars have the neck meet the body at the 14th fret. A classical guitar's neck meets the body at the 12th fret. The bridge is markedly different in that a classical bridge has no bridge pins, but you tie the strings so there is a loop on that end and they loop through themselves and across the saddle on the bridge and then to the headstock. Folk guitars usually use an X or ladder bracing pattern for the top braces. Classical guitars have used a plethora of various bracing styles from lattice bracing to X bracing. Classical guitars are much less likely to have a steel adjustable truss rod that a steel string guitar. The classical guitar's neck is wider and usually fatter. The strings are spaced farther apart to facilitate finger picking classical style playing. The body size of a classical is not as large as most steel string folk guitars, with the exception of oo, om bodies. The bouts of a classical are more rounded than on most steel string guitars. The materials classical guitars are made of also are less varied. Naturally cheaper student model classical guitars can be laminates of spruce and some mystery wood for the top and who knows what for the back and sides. The usual top is spruce or cedar. Backs and sides are usually rosewood. Nowadays this would be Indian rosewood. Other woods have been used for backs and sides ranging from pear wood to maple. The tuning machines for a truly great classical guitar can cost over $2,000 US dollars, and a genuine certified Brazilian rosewood back and side set can cost $6,000 or more. Great makers of classical guitars are Herman Hauser, Fletta, Hernandez, Bouchette, etc. Segovia played a Herman Hauser Sr. It is now in the Smithsonian Museum. Luthier's Merchantile International or LMI has a list of classical guitar plans from some of the great luthiers of the past 150 years, as well as some great books. What a classical guitar is made of and how they are made are two different questions indeed. Hauser took what was great about Spanish luthrie and combined it with German techniques. He is renowned as one of the best, but I do not think it is a competition. If a person's designs work well and sound great so be it. Classical guitars also lack the marking on the finger board. There are usually dots along the top edge though, but not always. Some classical guitars have 8 and 10 strings, but these are custom made instruments usually more for curiosity than anything else. They can also be made in the common 12 string styling/tuning too. They can also be tuned in many different ways. when it comes to 10 string classical guitars see: re-entrant tuning(s). This is where the tuning starts over from low to high or high to low in the middle 4th or 5th string. The glue used should be animal hide glue, but aliphatic types are now also used. Either type can be softened with heat to perform repairs. Bridges and finger boards are traditionally made from rosewood or ebony. Dyed hard woods are also used in place of ebony. Many of the techniques used in making a steel string guitar are the same as making a classical guitar, but they are not quite the same instrument in the sense that a pick up truck is not the same as a SUV. Both have wheels and will drive down the road, but they function somewhat differently and one is way more comfortable for 6 people to ride in than the other. The same can be said for a BMW and a Yugo. Classical guitars for me are more of a work out to play, but a high quality one is not too bad. At around $1500 they start playing much easier and sound better. By $2500 they are downright fun to play. (usually) Folk guitars can have thinner necks as they use a steel rod to support and adjust the neck bow. Classical guitars rely on the skill of the luthier to make the neck bow properly when under string tension. This is why the cheaper ones have thicker necks. I started repairing guitars by helping my family when I was about 7 years old. When I was 13 I had built a couple guitars. That was over 30 years ago now. I also work on bow instruments like violins, cellos and upright bass, besides banjos, guitars and mandolins. My uncle started his music store in the mid 1940s. I cannot imagine how many instruments came and went since then.