La Patrie Presentation On It's Way - Inspection Question

[johninmass]

I have ordered my first classical guitar and need to know what I should inspect it for upon arrival. I know all the cosmetic stuff, but don't know things like how high the strings should be and do they still get measured at the 12th fret? Anyting thing else I should be aware of? Your insight will be greatly appreciated.

[Brent Hutto]

Yes, measured at the 12th fret just like steel strings. Measurements of 3mm (0.12") and 4mm (0.16") on the treble and bass sides, respectively, are sort of a widely accepted middle ground on action. Even if some players prefer different settings, nobody is going to complain that 3mm/4mm is majorly too low or too high.

Those are roughly equivalent to about 5/64" and 6/64" in steel-string terms. Or something like that. So you can see that proper action for nylon strings is a fair bit higher than steel ones.

[johninmass]

My new La Patrie Presentation is arriving today. Any other suggestions as to what I should inspect it for?

[Brent Hutto]

The thing that is more likely to be "off" on a classical guitar than on a steel string is intonation as you go up the neck. If you have an electronic tuner you might simply play each string on each fret from open up to around the 12th or so and make sure they sound in tune and look in tune according to the tuner. Nylon strings will always have some intonation "challenges' as you go up the neck but they should be minor and not enough to sound sour. Be sure to use your normal hand position and amount of pressure on the strings to get realistic assessment.

Otherwise, about like a steel string. Run chromatic scales to make sure there no dead frets, check the action at the nut and 12th fret and play it hard an soft to make sure there's no buzzing in your normal dynamic range. Use a straightedge to make sure the neck isn't warped.

That's about all I would do, anyway.

P.S. All that and then play the heck out of it and start falling in love!