Classical R Flamenco 4 Strumming & Singing?

[Play2PraiseHim]

Originally Posted by kosulin

Flamenco should fit better. They usually have faster response, brighter sound, and less sustain than classical. But radiused and narrow fretboard crossover... Not sure you can find flamenco (or classical) like this except something custom built.

Cervantes Crossover 1 Palo Escrito/ Englemann Spruce.

[Rockbl]

Hi Toni, and others,

Thanks so much for your insights about the Cervantes and the other guitars! I'm thinking it over and will probably go for one of the nylon string models in the near future.

The Cervantes is at the top of the list, though I am also seriously considering a "true" flamenco model such as the Francisco Navarro student guitar mentioned earlier in the tread. There is a sound clip of the Navarro and it sounds just great. I'm wondering if it might not have just a bit more volume and "juice" than a thinner bodied crossover. Having an excellent acoustic (unamplified) sound is especially important to me.

However, the true flamenco also has a wider nut. While there are valid reasons for the wider nut, I wonder if I could get used to it, coming from mostly steel-string guitars?

And the true flamenco guitar probaby has no truss rod. How big an issue is that, down the road?

Any thoughts on these concerns?

Thanks!

[gj Michelob]

Originally Posted by Rockbl

There is a sound clip of the Navarro and it sounds just great. I'm wondering if it might not have just a bit more volume and "juice" than a thinner bodied crossover. Having an excellent acoustic (unamplified) sound is especially important to me.

However, the true flamenco also has a wider nut. While there are valid reasons for the wider nut, I wonder if I could get used to it, coming from mostly steel-string guitars?

And the true flamenco guitar probaby has no truss rod. How big an issue is that, down the road?

Any thoughts on these concerns?

Thanks!

VOLUME: Navarro makes a fine Flamenco, and a fine Flamenco guitar has plenty of volume –particularly its “blanca” (spruce over cypress). The higher the action the more projection you will have, but you need to strike a balance between comfort and volume.

NUT: I would not worry about the wider nut (compared to steel strings). As I wrote before, your hands are more versatile than your mind allows you to imagine. You will become accustomed to shifting from one to the other in a few days.

TRUSS ROD: No “truss-rod” in flamenco and classical. It is a sacrilegious thought, although Kenny Hill’s Guitars has broken that sacred tenet in his classical/flamenco guitars (I had tried one of his flamenco once at Guitar Salon International. It is a nice guitar, but at $5,000 it is five times the price of a Navarro and saw no justification for such mark-up. Same price as my German Vazquez Rubio, but not of that league). Nylon strings tension is not as burdensome as steel; with flamenco guitars there’s no immediate need for the type of neck adjustments a truss rod would afford. The action need to be adequately balanced between nut and saddle.

PEGS: One last thing, these guitars are available with the traditional (violin/viola) pegs. They conjure a picturesque image, but getting used to them requires a LOT of PATIENCE. If you have that patience, pegs make stringing and tuning remarkably easier.

AND: Navarro student models sell and trade really well. When you will be ready to step up to a more valuable instrument, it will be easy to trade in or resell. But you may grow really attached to it.