Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, actually, while this is the 11th build, I completed it before number 10. 10's still got a few more weeks to go, most likely.

This guitar is my 3rd 10-string classical. I built it with the intention of seeing if I could exploit the entry-level niche of the 10-string market, which is admittedly a small one. In order to do this, I decided to keep the build simple, eliminating gingerbread like side and back purfling, and the back splice. I also used a mortise-and-tenon bolt-on neck, hoping this might save some time as well. It didn't really, but I gotta admit it sure is easier to carve a neck heel when the heel block is a separate piece. I selected woods that I can get for cheap, but that still sound good: a AAA cedar top, AAA EIR back/sides set, and cedro for the neck wood. I joined two fingerboards to get the size I needed. Bloodwood binding, LMI bwbw purfling on the top only. The tuners are Schallers, the deluxe Hauser models, and I cut them to fit.

Here are a few shots of it.







The top bracing pattern is based on a Bernabe design. I selected Bernabe's pattern because his 10-strings are generally considered to be the best available.

It's been strung up for about six hours now, and it's really starting to open up. The trebles are a bit quieter than I'd like, but apparently this reduced volume is evident only to the player. I had my daughter help out with a sound comparison between this one and my first 10-string, and we determined that there was little if any difference in volume between this brand new one, and the first one, which has been strung up for about four months now.

I wish it were gonna hang out for a while. This guitar was built on spec, with the hopes of getting an endorsement, so I'll be shipping it off to the artist on Thursday. Dang, I'm already missing it.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Wow!! Michael that is pretty uptown for an entry level guitar. The workmanship looks impeccable.

You have probably done this before but can you tell me a bit about 10 string guitars? What is the open tuning? What do those baces look like? Are there scores written for these things? Ya know, that kind of stuff.

Again, very nice!!

Shane

_________________
Canada

Entry level ? Are you kidding, Thats a very nice job Michael. I like them snazzy tuners too! Beautiful

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Fine looking guitar there Michael. Very nice job on the headstock scarf joint.

The player of that thing must have huge hands.

I bet it was kind of tough cutting those tuner eh?

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Michael very beautiful instrument. Great job on the scarfed joint and stacked heel. I like to see necks built this way as it is a more conservative use of neck woods.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Superb guitar as usual Michael, I really have got to have one of those (although I ought to have a 6 string classical first!) I like the angle on the fingerboard end, very lute like. Just put a slatted bowl back on it and your really talking, oh and another 9 strings. Your artist will be bound to love it.

Great work. (I would love to see any pictures or drawings of the top bracing)

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Regarding your questions:

Todd, yes, cedro is significantly lighter than H. mahogany. There is a very noticeable difference in weight, and hence neck heaviness between this one and my first. However, even when using cedro, the guitar is still neck-heavy. One gets used to this pretty quickly, though, so it really isn't all that big of a deal. I decided to try cedro for two reasons: to reduce weight, and it's easier to carve than mahogany.

Colin, the top bracing went through two versions. I installed the bracing according to my best recollections, and it looked like this:



You'll note how massive the bracing is, with minimal scalloping and no tapers.

When I sealed up the box, the first thing I noticed about it was the tap tone was very high pitched. Sounded like a bongo. I've built one other guitar that had this "feature", and it ended up being very quiet. I used a different bracing pattern with it, though, and I was able to reach in the box and reduce the offending brace's mass by about 50%, which opened up its sound tremendously. But with this guitar, I was afraid I would not be able to reach far enough back to lighten its braces, so I removed the back. This next photo shows the braces after I scalloped them, tapered them, and generally removed a lot more material.



Bob, I agree. Besides, I've had pretty good luck finding decent, straight cedro at the local hardwood retailers. It makes things simple when I can just buy a plank, and make a stacked heel.

Rod, really it isn't difficult cutting the tuners. I have to completely dismantle them first. Then I make the initial cut with a hacksaw. After that, I chuck up the plates in my milling machine and mill off the exact amount of metal required. If you don't have a milling machine, though, it wouldn't be that hard to use a hacksaw and files to achieve equivalent results.

Shane, 10-string guitarists use a variety of tunings. Probably the most popular one nowadays, and the one I like the most is (from low to high) ABCDEadgbe, where the low A (10th string) is tuned an octave below the 5th string. The lower strings' pitch can be easily adjusted depending on the key of the piece. For example, in the Key of E (four sharps), one would probably want to raise the 7th and 8th strings pitches to D# and C#, respectively, to facilitate the transposition of some bass lines and pedals.

Yes, there is music written for the 10-string. Not a lot, but it's out there. Most players use the extra range for more faithful transcriptions of lute and keyboard pieces.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Michael -
WOW about wraps it up!
Excellent work, great style, I love the headstock, and the more I look at your 10 string guitas the better they look!

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Hi Michael

You really are the king of the 10 string

Excuse the dumb questions, I don't know a lot about classicals

Is that a special bracing pattern you developed ? All the classicals I have seen inside had fan bracing.

Are the little Blocks on the joint between back and sides done to save weight ?

Many Thanks

Russell

Hi Russell,

The bracing pattern I used in this guitar is my best recollection of the pattern that Paulino Bernabe developed some 40 years ago, or thereabouts. His original pattern was a simple 3-fan pattern, and then by the early 1980s or so he added the two outriggers to the center fan. What seems to be a very lightly braced top, if one just looks at a drawing of the pattern, actually isn't, when one gets to see the insides of one of his guitars. The reason is because his braces are tall and thick. If you look at v1.0 of the top bracing for this guitar, I was emulating his pattern according to the way I remembered it, after examining one of his 10-strings this past July. I'm still pretty confident of my recollection, but I chickened out after I heard the box's tap tone, which is why I opened it back up and reduced the braces down to the height and thickness you see in the second photo of the bracing.

The little blocks are an ancient and very traditional way to join a top to the sides. They're called tentellones (my Spanish is non-existent, but I think the word means something like "little teeth"). I install the top to the sides with tentellones instead of kerfing or linings because I like the flexibility this method provides. I do attach the back to the sides with linings, however. Traditionally tentellones are stacked next to eacy other -- modern kerfing emulates this look -- but I like the way it looks when they're spaced out more. I don't think it affects the structural integrity in any meaningful way to space out the "tents" some, besides the process goes faster, and heck, I just like the look.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Michael Thanks for the education.

I really like the look of the tentellones spaced like that too.

I really like your headstock design, I do something similiar with my solid headstocks as I like the way it keeps the string path straighter and seperates the strings nicely.

Did you build this one for a customer or is it for yourself ?

Hey Russell,

I can't take credit for the headstock design. Jose Ramirez, the first builder of the modern 10-string classical, was the first to come up with the rather sharply pointed headstock for 10-strings back in 1964. Makes good sense, though, and as a result, almost all 10-string builders emulate this pattern.

This guitar was built on spec. I will be sending it to a well-known (within the 10-string community at least) recording artist, teacher, and composer, later this week for evaluation. It will be on indefinite loan. If it meets with the artist's approval, it will be shown around a lot, and the label on future builds will reflect this endorsement.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live