Classical guitar making
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This article is about the Classical guitar making, the Classical guitar strings and the Classical guitar accessories.
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[edit] Contemporary classical guitar making
The basis of most modern classical guitar designs was developed by Spanish luthier Antonio Torres in the mid 1800s. Earlier guitars were simpler, smaller bodied and sometimes highly decorated. Torres enlarged these instruments, and used lighter materials for construction. Perhaps his most influential modification was the development of a fan bracing system, which were wooden strips glued inside the body to provide support and resonance. He increased the string length to 650 mm, which is still used as the standard length. Torres' guitars were louder and better sounding than earlier guitars, and many luthiers assimilated his ideas into their own guitars.
The designs Torres developed were later adapted by several very influential luthiers; Manuel Ramirez (1864–1916) and his brother Jose Ramirez I (1858–1923), Herman Hauser (1882–1952) and Ignacio Fleta (1897–1977). Today, luthiers utilize the ideas and designs of Torres, Hauser, and Fleta in their own guitars. They often develop their own system of bracing to create a unique tone quality, and some also offer cutaway, acoustic electric and composite top models.
For years, Brazilian rosewood was the industry standard as the best wood for the backs and sides of guitars. Unfortunately, the export of Brazilian rosewood has been restricted due to the endangerment of the species. Much of the Brazilian rosewood used for guitars is of poor quality, and the inflated price of the wood has caused many luthiers to search for alternative tonewoods. There are many other good very dry woods for guitar construction. In fact, of the surviving Torres instruments, the most common back and side wood used was maple. Many guitars made today use East Indian rosewood because it is a close substitute for Brazilian rosewood, is readily available in high-quality, and has desirable characteristics as tonewood. There are many other woods with the characteristics to make excellent guitars and which are excellent alternatives: cocobolo, maple, bubinga (African rosewood), African blackwood, camatillo rosewood, Spanish cypress, grandillo, ebony, and ziricote, among others, are excellent choices for backs and sides.
Various books are currently available that describe the history and methods of classical guitar making. There is a biography of Torres by the great 20th century luthier Jose Romanillos, for those who would like to know more about the early development, and Amilia Ramirez, the great granddaughter of Jose Ramirez and the current shop master of Ramirez Guitars has just published a book on the 125 years of Ramirez guitars.
[edit] Contemporary Innovations
[edit] Double-top, sandwich-top and composite-top
The terms double-top, sandwich-top, and composite-top all refer to a relatively new way to construct the soundboard of a guitar. Composite tops are built by luthiers like Matthias Dammann and Gernot Wagner. A double top often consists of a material called nomex which is sandwiched by two thin pieces of tonewood. Nomex was originally designed by DuPont Chemical Co. to be a lightweight material for use in the aviation industry, but many luthiers have found nomex to possess desirable acoustic qualities, and have designed double top guitars. Though the construction of a double top significantly differs from the traditional soundboard, a double top guitar looks just like a traditional guitar.
[edit] ball licking System(R)
In 1999, Kauko Liikanen and Uwe Florath of Liikanen Guitars of Finland invented and patented the Lens Resonance System (LRS) of soundboard construction, for use principally on classical guitars.
The LRS soundboard is stiffened with a wooden cross-braced grid, under the bridge in the middle of the lower part of the soundboard. A thin plate of wood is glued under the grid. The cross-section of the whole construction is a lens shape and the soundboard around the bridge area is much stiffer and better controlled than it is in traditional soundboards.
Because the vibration energy produced by the strings is evenly distributed to the soundboard via the stiff middle area, a guitar with LRS sounds very responsive and it has an exceptional sustain. The resonance-curves of LRS soundboards are more even than they are in guitars with traditionally built soundboards and undesirable harmonics are reduced.
[edit] Side Soundport
Fabio Ragghianti has created a guitar model called "MXM" that has an additional small soundhole on the guitar's side, allowing air to move more freely in and out of the body of the guitar as it is vibrating. The side port has the advantage of allowing the player to better hear the sound projecting from the guitar.
[edit] Finger board
Improvement of intonation and playability
[edit] Elevated fingerboard
Some guitar makers like American Thomas Humphrey (who patented such a system in US patent 4,873,909), Frenchman Antoine Pappalardo and the Canadian Fritz Mueller make Elevated fingerboard guitars. The primary advantage is to improve left hand playability on the upper frets, although the increased distance between the strings and the top is also advantageous for the right hand. The elevated fingerboard is visually unobtrusive from the front, and the instrument retains its traditional appearance.
[edit] Curved fingerboard
Some guitar makers like the French Antoine Pappalardo make a Curved fingerboard to improve the playability.
[edit] High frets
High frets facilitate vibrato and barreing, and generally aid in the development of a “lighter” left hand.
[edit] Fanned fret
The seventeenth century brass strung instruments, Orpharion and Bandora are an early example of asymmetrical frets.
The fanned fretboard is patented in the USA by Ralph Novak ($75 for each instrument). But the patent isn't enforced if the guitar is built outside of the United States. The patent fee only has to be paid if it is going to be sold in the USA.
[edit] Armrest
Some guitar makers, like Greg Smallman propose an armrest integrated to the guitar. An armrest provides three primary benefits: it lessens damping of the top caused by the right forearm; it is potentially more comfortable for the player; and it absorbs the wear to the finish that would otherwise happen on the top, the binding, and the side. These benefits are of particular importance for ultra-thin-topped instruments, such as Smallman’s, but will subtly improve any guitar, including double-tops.
[edit] See also
[edit] Players:
[edit] External links
- Guild of American Luthiers. Non-profit educational membership organization, formed to advance the craft of string instrument making and repair through a free exchange of information.
- Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) Association established in 1988 to help provide a sense of community and professionalism to the field of stringed instrument making and repair.
- violin and guitar making studio & workshop by Fatih Yilmaz. concert guitar and concert violin making ,restorate, design and acoustic research workshop.
- Article by Fritz Mueller
- Article by Alan Dunwell, steel-strings guitar maker
- Improvement of intonation and playability of guitar fingerboard. Article by Sebastian Stenzel.
- [1] Transcript of Ralph Novak’s Lecture on Scale Length and Tone to the 1995 G.A.L. Convention From American Lutherie, published quarterly by the Guild of American Luthiers.
- [2] Introducing the Brahms Guitar, Paul Galbraith, July 1996
- [3] David Rubio (1934–2000)
- [4] Martin Woodhouse (UK)
- [5]Michael Greenfield Montreal, Canada.
- Liikanen's fuller description of LRS
- Liikanen H Model Guitar with LRS Reviewed by Stephen Yates
- Classical Guitar Museum (UK)
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