Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi troops,

I've used the search function and not really got my answer.....

I'm retopping an old classical which I was given as scrap. my 12 yearold fancies it as the plywood back and sides are admittedly gorgeous....

anyway, I have the top braced & fitted and a bridge made but not yet attached.

so. after nearly 70 steelstring instruments, I'm pretty much up to speed on intonation on those things, but nylon?

not a clue.

any classicals I've seen pics of, (never been near a really good one) it LOOKS like the bridge is parallel to the nut with no compensation other than maybe some shaping of the saddle, but certainly no slope like I'd expect on a steel string.

so, can someone please confirm or deny this?

SHOULD the saddle be sloped or straight?

thanks!

_________________
My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

Hi Martin,

Yes, the bridge and saddle are parallel to the nut. Compensation is normally done by locating the saddle a bit farther from the nut than the nominal scale length. On classicals with 650 mm scale this is about 2 mm. On flamencos usually about 0.7 mm. There are string by string intonation schemes that vary each string length slightly by filing "steps" into the front of the saddle. Some also do similarly at the nut, but these are not an absolute requirement for most classical builders/players. Perhaps some of our more experienced builders will weigh in on this somewhat esoteric subject.

good luck,
Max

_________________
Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Saddle parallel to nut with 2 mm compensation is pretty standard. You can have more room to play with saddle shaping if you go to a 3+ mm saddle slot width, rather than a more standard 2mm width, but the slot itself is still usually parallel to the nut.

For the more involved approach aimed at doing fine adjustments, a good place to start is Greg Byers' article from American Luthiery - link here:

www.byersguitars.com/Research/intonation.pdf

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Here's my set set up as a for instance:
Saddle is about 2.5 mm and the E and D strings are set to 652mm as described above.
angled ramping provides a little additional compensation for the slightly more massive strings.

thanks folks, straight it is!

_________________
My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick