Classic

The Classical Guitars

The classical guitars I am currently building are traditional in construction. The Spanish traditional method of building is slower and more difficult due to the integral neck, but it has advantages in inherent strength and integrity. I build the guitar, using mostly hand tools, string it, and play it, in the bare wood. Then I make final adjustments to neck shape and action. Only then do I finish the guitar, after I am satisfied with the way it sounds, plays, and feels. Thus I know the guitar intimately both during and after construction, and can also assess the tone before and after varnish.

Materials; tops of Swiss spruce chosen from highest grade, old Jacaranda back and sides, often from very old Brazil colonial era house beams. Neck and internal bracing of old Spanish cedar. Jacaranda bridge. Jacaranda, African Blackwood or Snakewood bindings. Rosette and purflings of rare Brazil woods, which I fashion from raw wood. Finest grades of buttonlac or rare premium pale lac used in french polish of the top. French polish or lacer to the body of the guitar; If lacquer, it is applied very thin on a carefully prepared ground that allows for the thinnest finish, important for the sound.

I have equally high regard for other woods. Pernambuco and African Blackwood are capable of producing superb tone. I recently completed a guitar with a Snakewood body and Swiss spruce top that I loved for its clarity and power. In the many years I have been building, I have used varieties of woods too numerous to mention; I am always still learning and I enjoy building instruments a bit off the beaten path when I can do so.

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