Official Luthiers Forum!

The first classical I built had a 3 3/4" heel block. I would like this next one to be a slightly larger guitar (length will be 19 5/8 and the lower bout width will be 14 1/2).

I am looking for a bigger and louder sound. If I go to a 4" heel block will this help, or is this just too high? This will obviously increase the width of the guitar.

Thanks,

Doug

_________________
Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Doug,
Here are a couple of thoughts...
On my classical guitars I have a depth of 95mm at the end block and 88mm at the heel block. These measurments are without the top and back thickness which would add approx another 5mm to the overall depth of the instrument. You would be adding another 12 mm. roughly to each of these measurements plus then the back and top thicknesses. In my opinion this is a bit much. I can't recall ever seeing one that deep but most of what we do is educated guesses anyway. Who knows , maybe you will start making deeper instruments and in a few years everyone will be copying you.       

Bigger and louder sound does not necessarily mean a bigger body. Panormo was known for his loud instruments and they were smaller than Torres.

In the 70's and 80's builders such as Ramirez and Fleta tried for a bigger sound with a bogger body and longer scale length (from a norm of 650mm to as long as 665mm) but with that longer scale length it made it harder for players that did not have large hands to play some of the reaches needed that were more easily done with a 650 or shorter scale length.

Even with a larger body they did not increase the body depth more than about 5mm as with a deeper body the boominess of the bass has a negative effect for a classical player. In a great classical the lack of bass is not the issue it is a matter of getting the first string to sing up its entire length.

Other builders like Contreras with his double tops and the Smallman and Damman with their lattice braced tops have been focusing more volume without necessarily a bigger body by controlling things like the weight of all of the components.

Doug,

As a long time classical player (25+ yrs), I've never played a guitar a big as the one you propose, however I have played some very loud ones. I think you may actually run the risk of making the guitar quieter with your mods. Without increasing the scale length, the additional mass may dampen the guitar. Usually you want to build as light as possible without sacrificing stability to get maximum volume. Like Shawn said, a bigger scale does not mean more volume. Let us all know how it works out. Thinking outside the box is how new innovations arrise.

Cheers!

John