Quote:
Originally Posted by Alistair Hay
I agree it can be beneficial tonally to move the bridge further back on the body but for most of our customers the feeling is that they prefer the extra access of the 14 fret placement. Also it must be noted that on our X20 the 12 fret placement most notably enhances the bass which already is very strong and some may find the bass starts to over power the trebles.
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I've been letting this sit in the back of my mind for a few days, and started comparing cf crossovers to classical guitars from the perspective of size and shape.
The NP12 comes closest to a classical, and some people here have commented on its superior tone. Maximum body depth is a little bit larger, and the scale is shorter, causing the bridge location to shift towards the 14 fret position, even though it is a 12 fret guitar.
Next is the X7, with a lower bout and body depth that are in the classical dimensions, but body length is shorter. Even in a 14 fret configuration, the bridge is located where a typical 12 fret classical would be. No one here has commented on the tone of an X7N.
Last is the X20. It's big. Maximum body depth for classicals is 95mm to 100mm. The X20 is 120mm. Lower bout width for classicals maxes out at 370mm. The X20 is 390mm. Only the body length is in the classical range. The volume of air inside an X20 is so much greater than in a classical, about 25% greater, that bass buildup is an unavoidable issue.
With steel strings, balancing lows and highs can be accomplished with bridge location, without causing individual note tone to suffer, because string tension is so high that the soundboard can be driven sufficiently from any bridge location. This just isn't true with nylon. While the balance between lows and highs can be accomplished, nylon tone suffers when the bridge is moved away from the center of the lower bout. Nylon strings don't hold their energy for very long, so that energy needs to be transferred to the soundboard as quickly as possible.
For a crossover to meet the tonal quality of a classical, I think the lower bout needs to be 370mm wide and 100mm deep, with the bridge in the center, and the overall body length needs to be in the range of 470mm to 490mm. Beyond this, the upper bout can be modernized for fret access and ergonomics, but tampering with lower bout design will probably produce inferior tone.