The sound Of the guitar is heard around the earth, played by amateur and professional alike. One of those responsible for it's increased respect is the late Spanish concert guitarist Andres Segovia, who took the guitar out of obscurity and turned it into a classical concert instrument.
Why is the guitar so popular? Possibly because it's sound, whether in the flamenco, classical, or modern style, evokes differing moods. Yet another factor is that it is so easy to carry.
Whatever may be the reasons for it's popularity, the way a guitar is constructed makes a big difference in the sound. The best guitars are usually created with great love and care by a person commonly known as a luthier. Let us visit a luthier's workshop in Tennessee, U.S.A., and read the making of guitar.
MAKING A GUITAR
Where Quality Goes In | The Guitar
As we are welcome into his workshop, our attention is drawn to the enormous quantity of wood. But this is not just any sort of wood. Each piece has been carefully selected and stored for future guitars. Spruce and cedar for the back and sides; and mahogany , and Spanish cedar for the neck. For flamenco guitars Spanish cypress and sycamore are usually used for back and sides. Picking up a piece, we notice that it has a date marked on it. Our luthier friend explains: "I prefer not to use any wood until it has dried naturally for about five years." Why is that? "Because years of experience have proved that the age, the quality of the wood, and the luthier's skill determine the final characteristics of the guitar."
Let's watch over our luthier's shoulder as he builds a classical guitar. Guitars generally fall into two categories: classical, or Spanish, and steel string. What are the differences? He answers: "The difference between the two are many, but the choice of string material is the easiest way to distinguish each type. As it's name implies, the steel-string guitar has metal strings. It is made in many sizes and shapes. On the other hand, on the classical guitar nylon or animal intestines, catgut, is used for string material on three strings and metal spun silk on the other three."
Our luthier prefers to have each customer visit his shop so he can listen to him play. In this way he can tailor a guitar to it's client. How? Our builder explains: "
I watch how strongly they attack the strings, the type of sound they produce. I also want to know how they will use the guitar. Then I can adjust the building procedure slightly to match them personally. Do they play softly? Then I make certain parts of the guitar thinner or smaller so that it produces sound more easily. Are they aggressive?Then the guitar must be made slightly heavier."
Constructing a Guitar| Step-by-Step
The body top, or sound table: The actual constructing begin by selecting a wood to be used. Our luthier picks carefully through a stack of spruce and occasionally holds a piece close to his ear and taps it with his finger. He's listening for may things; is the sound clear, loud, musical, and of long duration, or does it respond with a dull thud? Almost all body tops and backs are made from two matching pieces of wood. They are sawed from one board and then opened up like a book. In this way both halves look alike and have the same musical potential.
The rosette: The top is thinned to approximately 1/8 inch, and the beautiful sound-hole reinforcement, or rosette, is carefully fitted into a channel cut for it. The rosette is made from many pieces of wood of different colors and is one place where the luthier can express his artistic ability. It often requires one full day's work to make and inlay a rosette. When the glue of the rosette has dried thoroughly, the top is thinned further, usually to about 1/10 inch. The top is now cut to the outline of the guitar, and all the reinforcing braces are glued to the underside of the top. These braces are important to the sound production and the physical strength of the guitar. Most luthiers agree that the top produces most of the sound and is the single most important part of the guitar.
Rosewood from Brazil is usually the first choice of the luthier for the back and sides because of it's beautiful grain patterns, variety of colors, and sound-producing characteristics.
The Delicate Use Of Wood
Body sides: The luthier next thins the rosewood sides of the guitar to about 3/32 inch. Now comes one of the most difficult steps, bending the sides to the shape of the guitar. The rosewood sides are usually soaked in water for 24 hours, then bent to shape by pressing them against a hot pipe. The water in the wood turns to steam, which softens the wood, allowing it to be gently coaxed into the desired shape. "Oh, yes," our luthier says, "I broke a few while I was learning." The luthier who makes only few guitars prefers to bend the sides this way because it allows him to adjust the curve of the sides slightly on each guitar, and rarely are two of his guitars of exactly the same shape.
The neck: Now comes the rough shaping of the neck. The woods most often used are mahogany and Spanish cedar. These woods are chosen because of their strength, stability and relatively light weight. Since this is a classical guitar, it will follow the Spanish school of building, which means that the sides will be glued into shots cut into the neck, and the neck will not be removable, as is the case with other guitars. It will receive its final shaping after the guitar is completely glued together.
The top is now glued to the sides, but since the sides are so thin, a strip of wood called a lining is bent to shape and glued to the sides. Willow is sometimes chosen because it is lightweight and bends easily when soaked in water.
The back: Next, our luthier begins work on the Brazillian rosewood back. Most luthiers prefer to use a back that closely matches the color and grain of the sides.Listen closely as our builder thins the back a little, holds it in his hands and tests it's stiffness by bending it, taps it and listens to it's ring, and then thins some more. When the wood is thin enough, the ring sounds as if metal sheet had been struck. The three cross braces are next glued on. These are usually made from spruce or mahogany, which are chosen for their strength, light weight, and stability with changes of humidity. Their strength is vital, since the back is so thin. For the next step, the back is glued on exactly as the top was.
Now it is beginning to look like a guitar. The top and back were left a little oversize, so they are now cut down to final shape. To protect the edges of the guitar, thin strips of wood are glued around edges of the top and back. Rosewood is usually chosen because of it's beauty and strength.
Where The Music Starts
The fingerboard and the bridge: Only the ebony fingerboard is thinned to 1/4 inch and sawed to it's final outline. The metal frets, or ridges, are ext driven into slots cut into fingerboard at precisely spaced intervals. The intervals are determined by a mathematical formula, and their exact location is critical. If they are mislocated,the ear will immediately hear the mistake, and the guitar will be unacceptable. The fingerboard is glued to the roughly shaped neck, and work starts on the last vital piece, the bridge.
The bridge is a small piece of rosewood, glued to the sound table, to which the strings are tied. It's location is equally as important as the fret spacing and is
determined by the same mathematical formula. NO, our luthier doesn't have to calculate this for each guitar. He simply makes each guitar the same size and uses the same spacing on each one. The way the bridge is glued is vital. Some guitarists have had the embarrassing experience of having a bridge come loose! And little wonder, when you remember that stretched guitar strings can exert a force of over a hundred pounds, to which is added the force produced by the vibration of the strings.
A Smooth Finish
But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Remember that roughly shaped neck? Well, it has to be carved to its final shape. Our luthier explains: "I like to have the guitar's new owner present at this stage so he can approve the neck shape, since a good guitarist can feel a difference of 1/32 inch in the thickness!"
Our guitar is almost complete now. There remains only the final cleanup, smoothing, and finishing with sandpaper. Once our luthier is satisfied with the smoothness and shape of his creation, he will apply a finish to protect the guitar.
Luthiers' opinions vary as to the optimum finish for the guitar. However, most modern luthiers use a quick-drying lacquer, which is sprayed on. When lacquer is used, the guitar finish can be applied and the instrument can be played in about two weeks. Which finish techniques produce the best sounding guitar? Our friend answers: "There are differing viewpoints, but many of the great old guitars from Spain were finished with French polish. This finish, however, often requires reapplication in as few as five years."
Music At Last!
Our excitement mounts as the moment of truth arrives! The strings are tied to the bridge at one end and to the tuning machines, or pegs, in the guitar head. Finally comes the testing of the sound. The strings stop stretching and stay in tune, holding the correct notes. At last, after a long and patient process, we have a guitar!
But it is not yet ready for professional use. The luthier explains: "Usually a new guitar does not reach its best until it has been played for about six months.
Generally, you can tell a lot about the guitar's potential soon after its completion. Are the bass notes full and booming? Do the higher notes tinkle like small glass bells? Does the guitar respond with a balanced sound regardless of where on the fingerboard it's played? The quality of the sounds produced by the musician will depend to a large degree on the skill of the luthier in choosing the optimum materials and bringing them together in a design that maximizes their full potential."
So the next time you listen entranced to some brilliant guitar player, remember that what goes into the guitar, the choice of materials and the luthier's skill,
determines to a great extent what comes out.
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