about classicals?

[SKBarbour]

I was thinking about building a classical but had a couple of questions. I noticed that alot of luthiers use a work board or solera when building classicals with out the use of a mold Is this just an older method or is it still commonly used and suggested.I kind of like the idea of a mold myself.
My next question is about the neck. I think I understand the principal behind the spanish heel block but is there a reason why truss rods are not commonly used. I was considering making the neck a bit narrower than standard classical style and wanted to know if this would affect the strength of the neck.


kyle

[johnnparchem]

I think all of the option you describe are accepted and are currently in use as ways to make a classical guitar. That is a Solera no mold, Solera with an an attached mold, no solera with radius disks ... I have seen classical guitars with bolt on necks and truss rods. The classical strings only place about half of the load on the guitar as steel strings do, so the truss rod is not necessary.

I use a solera with a mold as I like the mold. I like the solera as only the lower bout of my classical guitars are radiused. My solera inversly matches the shape of the front of my classical guitars.

I use a 16' radius disk for the guitar back.

[SKBarbour]

John thanks for the input .On your solera, is the board radiused or do you build up the edge as described in Cumpiano's book.I think he used a cork edge. I don't have the desire to radius a work board as I've seen on other sites.

kyle

[johnnparchem]

Mine has radius, but I agree that the cork will work when gluing the rim onto the top. Just to stop crushing the radiused top.

If you want a radius on the lower bout of the guitar, I would use a radius board when gluing on the radiused fan braces on to the top.

[Freeman]

I built my classical on a solera but also used a mold. Making the mold work around the neck was a bit of a hassle - it worked but I'd probably rethink that if and when I do it again. I used a thin cardboard rim spacer - you probably don't want to drill a hole in the middle of your radius dish for the center hold down bolt.

String tension on a gut string guitar is about 1/3 that of a steel string so you don't need a truss rod for strength. Some modern builders do put a CF reinforcement in however. The relief will be planed into either the neck or the fretboard (some people object to the f/b being thinner in the middle). You may want to plane a little twist in the board to increase the string spacing on the bass side rather than making the saddle higher on one side. This also means that you have to fret the board after it is on the guitar (the two little half frets at the sound hole are a hassle).

The Spanish heel also needs a bit more fore thought than a separate neck since you are essentually setting it on the workboard and building the body around it. With a set neck you can futz around with it all you want after the body is built.

Here was a build thread on mine from the old forum. I was attempting to follow the Hauser plans as closely as I could so I didn't want to deviate, but I think it is interesting that there is far more experimenting with classical guitars than steel string.

http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/archives ... 86_0_6_0_C

[SKBarbour]

john i like the idea of using the radius board just for gluing the fan braces on. would you glue the fan braces on first and then return the top to the "corked" workboard for the rest of the braces?

[johnnparchem]

Kyle,

I have only used my radiused solera for my two classical guitars. I think I would glue the upper structural braces on a flat surface; then I would move it to the corked edged solera to work with the rims.

John