Official Luthiers Forum!

My friend has a problem with a couple of discs in his back and cannot carry much more than a 6-pack of beer (for medicinal purposes) without a lot of pain for an extended period.

The smallest mold we have for the body is classical so we might use that.

What suggestions do you have for wood selection, tuners, other materials, design, etc. that would keep the guitar as light as possible?

I have a classical guitar that is walnut and redwood with a mahogany neck that weighs less than 4 pounds. Has anyone built a guitar lighter than this?

Maybe a carbon fiber reinforced neck without a truss rod?

Obviously, if you build a smaller shape t will be lighter weight. Aside from that, there used to be someone here on the forum that built all-spruce guitars. They were supposed to be very light-weight, and they were rumored to sound great. Maybe someone on the forum can post more information about him for you.

How about an all Spruce guitar? I've seen one here at the forum and I'm sure it was pretty light....
The Zottman may be able to let you know the weight.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I'd use cypress instead. It makes for a light guitar, and is probably a much better choice for back/side wood.

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

how about a parlor or martin size 5 ? LMI has plans for both

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Zac

Anchorage Alaska

Finshed my 1st! See #1 here

Cypress is my choice also. It smells great is light and stable. For the neck Spanish Cedar is much lighter than mahogany and will work fine for a steel string as long as you are using a truss rod...some add carbon fiber also but optional.

You may want to consider a wedge shape such as Linda Manzer does as it takes alot of strain off the back.

Making a light guitar is about taking each of the elements and using the lightest practical wood for the application. I know that for classicals builders such as Smallman in Australia build tops that are paper thin in the attempt to squeeze as much volume out as possible. While I do not build that way and dont care for the sound, one thing that I was impressed with was Smallman uses Padauk for the bridge as it is lighter than rosewood or ebony for a bridge.

4 pounds seems really light. Maybe cedar neck would help, thin fingerboard, minimize the use of ebony, peghead instead of tuners.

Hesh, you have to stop showing that L-00 man. Every time I see it I have to go and beat my head against a wall cause I haven't built one that nice yet.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Hmm, Cypress back and sides...who has them? Lighter than Walnut?

Spanish Cedar neck...Who has blanks?

Maybe 12 fret and a slotted headstock?

Hesh, can you give me a rough estimate of body height and bout and waist widths and depth of your "Black Beauty"?

My friend only has steel stringed guitars, but I was thinking, maybe a CF laminated neck with nylon string and no truss rod would be lighter? He hates classical (fat and flat) necks so it would have to be a steel type neck.

Thank you faor all of your responses.



Thanks to all for your responses.

What about Douglas Fir B&S?

[QUOTE=CecilJ] Spanish Cedar neck...Who has blanks?
[/QUOTE]
I believe LMI does.

Yes, you can make a nylon-string guitar with steel-string dimensions. The narrowest I've seen anyone build at the nut, though, is 1 7/8". I'm wondering if anyone has tried 1 3/4"? Nylon strings are much looser than steel, but maybe with a high-tension set of strings...?

Air guitar!

Cypress (Monterey, Spanish or Alaskan Yellow Cedar) and
Spanish Cedar neck. Check out general info, plans, dimensions for flamenco guitars. I'm building 2 right now according to the Reyes plan from GAL. They are light - they make the Rodriguez classical I just finished feel like a bruiser. PM me if you'd like a general rundown on thicknesses and such.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

12 fret for sure!

The portable guitars I have seen have been build a little heavier to accomodate the constant movement, so I'm not sure that would save a lot of weight, but maybe I'm wrong.
Going with a light guitar, but using a nice softside case would save several pounds.
I'm assuming its the carrying around that you're concerned about and not the sitting down and playing a "heavier" guitar, right?
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Cecil,

I would use your classical shape, go with guitar depth such as Hesh has suggested with his L-OO. Use spanish cedar for the neck with CF and a single action truss rod and EIR for the fretboard and bridge (It is way lighter than Ebony) boxwood for the bridge pins, spruce for you head and tail blocks (a lot of archtop builders, like Hopkins, use spruce for head and tail blocks and I will be using them on my next builds) with a dovetail joint. For tuners the Sperzels I have weigh almost half of the Gotoh Delta series that I also sell. I have all of the above if you are stuck for parts. Oh ya, I think Sapele or Mahogany for the back and sides would still give you a light guitar but cypress (yellow cedar) might be slightly lower in weight, but you can certainly compensate by thickness. There are a lot of steel strings based on classical guitar profiles, Larrivee, Laskin, our own Mike Collins.

Good luck!

Shane

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Canada