Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunny64
If I could join the discussion. I have put a deposit today on a used Cordoba C5 CE which i think is a cutaway classical with slightly thinner neck. I usually play steel string acoustic. What struck me trying out guitars at the store was that many had poor intonation. Is this a feature with classical style guitars? There wasn't a Cordoba to try so hence they are bringing one from another store for me to look at. Its a hundred and seventy pounds cheaper than a new one. I normally play my steel strings with about 5-6 /64ths at the 12th low E with 13 strings. What would I get away with on a classical assuming that I play some Bach but also some Flamenco with High tension strings. Also how easy is it to set intonation on classical guitars? Any help greatly appreciated.
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Correcting intonation depends on how far out it is. You can move the contact point of the string on the saddle and adjust the intonation for each string. Nylon string saddles are often quite thin which gives less adjustment. I find it harder to achieve good intonation when playing nylon string largely because of my technique. Years of playing steel-string guitar mean I tend to over-press on nylon string which impacts on intonation. Worth checking your technique before looking at adjusting the instrument.
As for action at the 12th fret. Typical classical guitars are 4mm on the low E, 3mm on the high E. You can go a little bit lower if you play lightly and/or use higher tension strings, but I wouldn’t venture below 3.5mm and 2.5mm. If you are looking to lower the action then I’d suggest buying a new saddle to experiment with, that way you still have the original to go back to if things don’t work out.
In terms of repertoire flamenco guitars have deliberately lower actions to add some fret buzz and I suspect to facilitate the fast runs common in this music form; not so desirable with classical pieces.