Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi,

I'm finishing my first classical which used many services parts from LMI and was build according to the Hauser 37 plan they offer. It's turning up nice enough to get me going into another project.

I've procured other plans:

Romanillos GAL #30
Friedrich 1972 PL21 at LM!!
Fleta 1968 PL17 at LMII

I'd like your recommendations on what I should do: do another Hauser with different woods, or go for a different layout. I'm attracted also to the Kasha/offset sound hole but I don't feel ready for that.

It seems to me that the wood choice is presented more frequently as the tone driver than the brace layout. As far as woods, I've gathered so far:

Big Leaf Maple, Khaya, Tasmanian Myrtle and Zebra Wood.
Western red cedar, Quebec white spruce and Sitka

There we go, please send in your comments and recommendations. My goal is to hone my skills and learn about the factors that affect the tone of a classical guitar.

Many thanks in advance!

Jean
Quebec, Canada

I would build the same guitar as the first. Pals, Vic.

I'm partial to the Romanillos, but I agree with Vic. You need to play with a set design a few times to get a feel for how it responds to variations (this top stiffer than the last, or floppier? What does that do? Or I'd like more clarity and separation in the mids than on the last one - what do I change? etc.) Or, if you are building to set parameters (as in Gore/Gillet), you have to check that you can hit the same target when working with a range of material properties. In either case, same design at least a few times.

(If you do change and go for the Romanillos, be sure to get familiar with how he drops the lower bout below the plane of the upper bout using a ramp on the solera - it's similar to the solera in Bogdanovich' book, except that the top goes inside the sides - much more sensible construction procedure in terms of getting the sides profiled correctly, but it pretty much guarantees that you have to use dentallones instead of a continuous lining.)

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Thanks for pointing out this detail in the Romanillos plan. I'll follow your recommendations and stick with the Hauser.

I would not be afraid of the Kasha. The fly-over braces are laid up on a mold using veneer (12 layers).

Bob

Jean,

For a classical guitar there are big differences from an accumulation of details. 10 builders working from the '37 Hauser plans will result in 10 different guitars as each builder brings certain sensitivities to the making of the guitar. As Jim pointed out, you will learn more from learning what those details are and controlling for them by pursuing one tradition of building. The 4 plan sets that you have represent 4 quite different approaches to guitar making. If you jump around fro plan to plan and mix and match materials, you won't really be developing a sense of what each element is bringing to your work.

For your second guitar, from you materials list, Id be inclined to build another Hauser with the maple and white spruce. Use some nice dark binding to set it off. Chouette!

_________________
Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Thanks to all who replied,

I like to report back on these posts even after a while... So here is what I ended up doing...

A week after this last post, I got the chance to inspect a guitar in a local museum that belonged to a Felix Leclerc, an important Quebec poet and singer. Low and behold, the shape looked like the Hauser(Torres) design. It was a 1966 Guild Mark 1 actually. All mahogany, no bindings.... I committed to do three copies/replicas and this is what ended up doing in 2013 using plan and jigs I already had. It has 5 fan braces instead of 7, that was pretty much it. Khaya was used instead of mahogany. Another post describes my search for the right way to obtain the dark red color. So after one year, as promised I delivered a copy to the museum. My buddy Thomas has partnered in this project and I use this post to thank him for putting up with me!

Here's a picture of the delivery of #2 to the museum curator, Nathalie the daughter of Felix Leclerc. Thomas is there obviously. The guitar looks beat up, but you should see the original! The spirit was to do a relic, like the Fender "Road Worn" idea. Not a typical project...

Now I'm back to the next build... and it'll be a new thread

thanks again

Nice replica! You guys look like you are having fun, and that's what is important.
I agree with Filippo, for the first dozen or so, build whatever "floats your bout". After that you may want to get more serious about measuring and analyzing every detail. The first instruments are more about learning the process and having fun (and staying away from expensive mistakes <g>).