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what shape, in general, does a flamenco guitar neck have? Is it more of a stretched "D" shape with a lot of flat area in the middle of the profile or is it more of a general curve from one side to the other?

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Reguards,

Ken H

You'll find just as much controversy on flamenco necks as for any other kind of guitar. The answer remains: whatever the player finds best is the right shape.

You might find something helpful here: http://www.foroflamenco.com/foroflamenco_home.asp

Good luck.

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

Thanks for the link!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ken,
usually, when i carve a neck for a costumer, i call them in and have him hold th guitar and give opinions about the neck shape.
when it comes dosn to it,all my flamenco guitars ended up being, as one of my costumers described :"Ibanez Wizard necks for a classical guitar".
that is, they are a couple of mm thinner than i'd make a classicl neck.
and are indeed flatter.

i think i have some neck shape templates i made once, adter i had a really nice guitar in for repair.
if they're anywhere nearby, ill trace them and e mail you the scans.

Udi.

Thanks!

Right now the neck is somewhat flat, but that could be changed easy enough. Before I get to carried away with rounding it over, I wanted to see what the concensus was from those that build these regularly. I am down to shaping the neck and installing the binding right now and I am amazed at how light this guitar is. The binding will take me a couple of days at least.

Many thanks,
Ken

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ken,

Here is a thread from a few weeks ago where we had much the same discussion.

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=16795&p=239037&hilit=#p239037

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Peter

this is exactly what I was looking for. This is a commissioned guitar, but the buyer has only played classical guitars up to now and really doesnt know exactly what he wants. I am following the 1951 Barbero plans from GAL, but there is no mention about the shaping of the neck. Except for the tuners (I'm using som Gotoh tuners), this guitar will be as close as I can make it to the original. When I asked the buyer to choose a rosette for the guitar, it took him almost a month to respond as he was overwhelmed with choices. I got the distinct feeling that he would rather that I just make the choices for him on the other stuff.

The next thing that will arise is the need for a .012" golpeador for the guitar. Anyone have a suggestion as to where to look for the material to make one?

Thanks for the help!

PS: Peter, I just noticed the headstock in your avatar. Awesome carving!! Did you do this yourself?

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Reguards,

Ken H

Hi Ken. The best place to get a Golpeador is from Ron Fernandez at: http://www.fernandezmusic.com/

Best of luck with the flamenco!

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Ken,
The best price I've seen for the self-adhesive golpeadors is here:

http://www.stringsbymail.com/acsub.asp? ... olpeadores

There is a school of thought that the self-adhesive golpeadors do have some damping effect because the adhesive never solidifies. I don't have the test equipment to prove or disprove this theory. Perhaps our mentor, Alan Carruth would offer an opinion.

You can use those or you can pick up a sheet of .010" clear plastic at any good art supply store and cut out your own and glue it with a diluted solution of Elmer's. Keep it thin enough so it doesn't look milky. The nice part about using the Elmer's is that it is reversible without a significant degree of finish damage to the top if it ever has to be replaced.

Yes I did carve the headstock. I'm glad that you like it but I can't take any credit for the design, it is a direct copy of a Jeronimo Pena Fernandez headstock. It is carved from poplar and I did it as a practice exercise a few years ago. Here is a photo of a real Pena Fernandez headstock:


Good luck with your flamenco.

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Peter

That's a pretty awesome headstock! I'm not really sure if I like it, but it sure is awesome!

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

Yeah, I'd have liked a less bold and big relief, but anyway, sure takes some skill to do that. I bet it takes longer to do than the entire rest of the guitar

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