Throughout my classical guitar making career, I have heard many hundreds of classical guitars in all sorts of venues across the country. The guitars that have had the most emotional impact on me were traditional fan-braced guitars made entirely of wood. The beauty of tone, variety of tone colors, ability to hold together tonally when playing loud or soft, and depth of tone are the elements of classical guitar sound that allow me to connect with what the performer is trying to convey. I find these details most apparent in an all-wood, fan braced guitar.
My classicals are informed by the French makers of Robert Bouchet and Daniel Friedrich, whose guitars are not too far removed from the classic Spanish style. I find the so-called “Bouchet Bar” positioned inside the guitar under the saddle increases the power without losing nuance. My conjecture is that the bar couples both halves of the top together, similar to what is achieved with lattice bracing, but without the over control the lattice exerts. By over control I mean the elimination of registers and string-to-string differences, so that all the plain strings and all the wound strings sound more-or-less the same, no matter where they are played. While some players may find this desirable, I find the over control robs the classical guitar of much of its charm and human quality. Using the human voice as an analogy, all of the great singers have a singular voice which retains distinct timbres in differing parts of their ranges. This could be considered the human frailty which exposes the soul of a musical performance.
Standard features include: French polished soundboard, double sides, spruce or cedar soundboard with Indian rosewood back and sides, premium Gotoh or Sloane gears, fiberglass case.
Other back and side woods available at extra cost.
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