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Hello friends
i was experimenting a steel string guitar on the classical guitar body.

but now i changed my mind and want to make it into classical.
pls tell me will the x-bracing pattern be ok and used for classical?
will it affect the sound?
waiting for ur replies

It has been done successfully, though not at all common. I think the DeJonges use x-bracing in their classical guitars and I believe that before the mid 20's martins were built for gut strings. All my classicals are fan-braced so I can't offer any specific advice but you'll definitely want to brace it lighter than a steel string-I think it would be very easy to over-brace an x-braced classical.

Just remember that the typical problem with Classicals is getting enough treble to balance out the bass... and steel strings usually have the opposite problem - LOTS of treble that needs more bass to balance it out.... Steel strings also run about 4x more tension....

While you could probably change it to run gut strings with a wider neck and a different bridge.... it ignores the structural differences that come along with 4x more string tension and trying to get more Bass to balance out the abundant treble....

All this is a round about way of me suggesting that you go ahead and finish your Steel string build - and then build a Classical or Flamenco - that starts out designed from the beginning to be strung with nylon/gut.

Thanks

I have a friend who built a classical in a course with Sergei deJonge, and it is X-braced with a 2 inch square lattice below the lower arms of the X. We've done a fair amount of A/B'ing with that guitar and my recently finished Romanillos-style, and his guitar sounds relatively tight (after 2 years of playing in by a professional teacher), although I did give it better points for note articulation in some pieces. Judged from the back of a 250 seat (empty) auditorium, the fan braced guitar had a more open, full sound, with more presence both in the bass and trebles. I would not be drawn towards trying the X - rather, I think I will thicken the tops on the fan-braced guitars a hair on the next round, shooting for a little more control in the mid-range.

Somogyi has a good discussion of the relative merits of fan braces allowing a strong cross-dipole (for classicals) and X-bracing suppressing this (for steel strings), with the implication that the switch is not generally advantageous. In the end, it's all in the hands of the builder, of course.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I asked this same question some time ago and got many of the same replies. The practical advise was that if you do it, make the braces about 3/4 the thickness of those on a steel string guitar, and expect the weaker sound already described. I didn't end up building the classical guitar, but I may someday.

really appreciate opinions of all the friends
to be honest i have not got the answer.
but what i like about all of u guys is that ur so desperate to help
amauters like me
becuase of ur genuine replie i have become luthier
god bless u all of them

Steel strings load the instrument with about twice the tension
compared to nylon or carbon, not 4x.

That has been my experience with the Romanillos design using thicker tops and lighter bridges.

_________________
Waddy

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