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Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 4:33 pm
by Brian Itzkin
Hello all, I've just joined the forum on the advice of John Hall! Feel free to read my introduction post to learn more about me!

This is a concert classical guitar in Madagascan rosewood and Swiss spruce I built in Granada Spain during the 48 days of lockdown in March and April. I used a modified Bouchet bracing in keeping with modern Granada tradition as established by the maestro Antonio Marin Montero after his correspondence with Bouchet in the 1980's.

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https://youtu.be/M_x08XczVg0

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:16 pm
by tippie53
very nice are these french polished?

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:37 pm
by Brian Itzkin
tippie53 wrote:very nice are these french polished?
Yes! This one was polished by the maestro Antonio Ariza in Granada who polishes my mentor Stephen's guitars as well as most of the other makers in Granada. I wanted to spend my time in Spain building instead of polishing

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:38 pm
by Brian Itzkin
You can find more photos of this instrument on Siccas' website!

https://www.siccasguitars.com/shop/guit ... zkin-2020/

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:47 pm
by rcnewcomb
Due you do a traditional Spanish heel for the neck joint? What about on your steel string builds?

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:50 pm
by Danl8
Beautiful guitar, Brian. What scale did you build it to? Do you have a photo of the bracing that you can post here?

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:29 pm
by Brian Itzkin
rcnewcomb wrote:Due you do a traditional Spanish heel for the neck joint? What about on your steel string builds?
Yes I build in the traditional Spanish method in a solara for my classicals. I use a modified Spanish heel joint with wedges as made famous by Jose Romanillos; a wide tapered slot is cut to accept the side as well a wedge which forces the side perfectly against the heel. The maker whom I apprenticed under used the standard 2mm slot in the heel but I find the wedge method to be a better method for me.

I use a bolt on neck with glued fingerboard extension for my steel strings.

Here's an example of the wedged heel joint I use from Wilson Burnham's blog:

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Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:34 pm
by Brian Itzkin
Danl8 wrote:Beautiful guitar, Brian. What scale did you build it to? Do you have a photo of the bracing that you can post here?
Thank you! This one is a pretty standard 650mm scale with 52mm nut width.

Here's the carved fans before gluing the cross struts above and below the sound hole and a photo of the instrument in the solera before the back was glued on

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Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:49 am
by Danl8
Is the Bouchet brace glued to the fan? I know some variations just bridge the fan bracing without touching. Thanks for the comments on wedging the sides slots. I have a neck that has been waiting for decades due to a wider kerf than I thought prudent. :-)

Re: Quarantine Classical

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:35 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
Absolutely gorgeous! I'm a French polisher too. I get into a zen state while polishing. You do really beautiful work.