Spruce/Tamarind Hauser Classical Guitar Kit

[koolimy]

Hi, I recently strung up this Spruce/Tamarind Blues Creek Classical Guitar Kit based on the 37 Hauser, so I wanted to share it with you guys.

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Sometime after I finished my first guitar, a Red Spruce/Cherry J-185, my father said in a family zoom chat that he was thinking of buying a classical guitar again after years of not playing. Of course, my mother said no! LOL. They didn't have the money to spend on getting a nice classical guitar. I was hankering to build another guitar after finishing my J-185, so I said, Dad, I'll build you one!

Of course, I shouldn't have run my mouth. I knew places like LMI offered classical guitar kits, but I wasn't ready to find out that all classical guitar kits were made with a Spanish Heel. As a person who just strung up his first guitar, I was not ready to take on a totally different method of building with totally different tools. I am an apartment dweller and my workspace is my closet. So I do not have the capacity to make molds, dishes, or any other tool. I totally rely on the expertise of kit suppliers and tool suppliers like Mr. Hall.

Given that I was in a bind after making a promise I couldn't keep, I called Mr. Hall at Blues Creek Guitars to ask if he could put together a classical guitar kit for me. The kicker was that the guitar would have a Bolt On neck rather than a Spanish Heel. The regular specs would be that of a normal classical guitar, with a 2 inch nut and 650mm scale length. I wasn't sure if Mr. Hall would make such a kit for me, since it was highly customized and required getting a custom neck. Thankfully, Mr. Hall was able to make a kit for me and given the high degree of customization, the price was more than fair.

The guitar I ordered had the following specs:

Plan: 37 Hauser
Top: Spruce
Back and Sides: Tamarind
Neck: Bolt On w/ Truss rod
Neck wood: Spanish Cedar
Nut: 2 inch
Scale Length: 650mm (25.59")

I asked for a figured wood for the B&S because I thought that if the wood looked really good, my parents would be duped into thinking that the guitar is better than it actually is, LOL. The Tamarind Mr. Hall provided me, as seen above, is stunning. The spruce Mr. Hall provided came in at much thinner than the plan, which was a HUGE BLESSING. The plan calls for 3mm at the thickest points, while Mr. Hall's came in at 2.4mm. I have heard that 3mm is usually overkill for normal pieces of spruce, so I am extremely grateful that Mr. Hall provided me with a much thinner piece.

I departed from the plans a little bit by adding a 15' dome to the back and 15' dome to the lower bout. I didn't tell Mr. Hall, because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have approved LOL. Thankfully, the geometry ended up working out, and I can get decent height off the top (around 10-11mm) and decent action at the 12th fret (4 and 3 mm).

Of course, similar to my first build, nothing went as planned and I made quite a few huge gaffs along the way. I did not glue on the bridge plate correctly so I cracked the top while removing the bridge plate. I also incorrectly glued the sides to the top so that one end of the lower transverse bars did not notch into the sides. I had to undo the glue there and reglue the top to the sides. I had myriad cosmetic errors, so even though the woods are beautiful the guitar is ugly. I also had the bridge slip while gluing, so it is misaligned by .5 mm or so. I also french polished the guitar, and it went as horrible as you might expect.

I am still fine tuning the setup, and I am realizing how important the setup of the nut and saddle can be. I have ordered a lot of 10 nuts and 10 saddles on ebay just to have something to practice with LOL.

Nonetheless, when I showcased the guitar to my brother and mother, they both said that it sounded really good. My mother said that she doesn't know about these things, but even to her it sounds good. My brother said that the guitar had a deep resonance, and it sounds as good as the guitars I listen to on youtube LOL. He even commented that the playability is really good. My Dad hasn't had a chance to play the guitar yet, but he also commented that the guitar sounds very good.

I have been enamored with the guitar, and to me it is probably the best sounding guitar I have ever heard. It has the intense, passionate Spanish sound on the basses while at the same time having singing and present trebles. The whole guitar sounds rich and warm but not muddy. The trebles are not too piercing but they are not muted either. The sustain and overtones really enhance the beauty of the sound. I couldn't have imagined a better guitar, and I really have to thank Mr. Hall for it.

I have been so enamored with the guitar that I have already thought up of specs I want for my next guitar, LOL. Unfortunately, I realized while I was building this guitar that I have very little time to spend on guitar building, so I don't know how realistic it is to order another kit. I'm also running out of excuses, although I am thinking of gifting a classical guitar to my brother LOL.

Thanks y'all for helping me with my first guitar and thanks Mr. Hall for providing me with a wonderful kit and always being there to help with any trouble I run into.

[tippie53]

love the kitty

[koolimy]

Thanks! I just wanted to take pictures of my guitar but my cats wanted to get in the way, so inevitably the guitar photo session became a cat photo session LOL.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Looks like your classical turned out very nice. I'm glad for you that it sounds so good. That is always a great feeling.
I was wondering how with typical classical bracing you managed to get that much radius on the top?

I've made two classicals both traditional Spanish heel construction. It's different but not necessarily difficult.

You might try it if you build another. Which I think you should build another, and another, and.....well you get the idea.
I thought I was going to build one guitar and I just finished my 17th.

[koolimy]

I was wondering how with typical classical bracing you managed to get that much radius on the top?

I actually just glued the braces and bridgeplate in the 15' dish. Since the top was so flexible, the braces so small and thin, and the bridgeplate also very thin, everything bended and conformed to the radius. There probably was a lot of springback, but in the end I ended up with some radius, which was what I was going for.

I've made two classicals both traditional Spanish heel construction. It's different but not necessarily difficult.

You might try it if you build another. Which I think you should build another, and another, and.....well you get the idea.
I thought I was going to build one guitar and I just finished my 17th.

Thanks for the encouragement! Although for the foreseeable future, I think I will keep building with the bolt on neck, as I still have a ton of stuff to learn about that process.

After stringing this guitar up, I could feel a guitar shaped void in my heart. I started making mental notes of what I want to change in terms of playability. I began reading up on Maple, Cypress, and Walnut classical guitars to see what type of sounds those guitars offer. I even began thinking, this guitar sounds very rich with overtones, maybe I need a guitar that sounds a bit cleaner. It is kinda scary having these thoughts not even a month after stringing this guitar up, especially because this guitar has almost everything I ever wanted.

If I built 17 guitars, I'm pretty sure my family will stage an intervention because they will think I have gone mad and started hoarding LOL. The problem is, I think I could easily come up with a list of 17 types of guitars I want to make, all in different variations of woods, scale lengths, body sizes, bracing types, etc. This guitar shaped void is scary LOL.

[MaineGeezer]

As I have said many times, nobody builds just one guitar. As you point out, after he first one you have all sorts of ideas you want to try, or errors you you made that you want to correct, or somebody you want to build a guitar for, or.....

[koolimy]

Y'all are like the opposite of Alcoholics Anonymous LOL.

[tippie53]

we have a good addiction
how many can say that ???

[koolimy]

we have a good addiction
how many can say that ???

LOL, I love this!