Simply by virtue of having the “classical” tagged to it, the classical guitar is often assumed to be more cultured and refined than other types of guitars while, conversely, also being very much ignored by many players. This mellower cousin of the more popular steel-stringed flat-top has plenty of applications outside the conservatory and the concert hall, though, and is worth exploring whatever type of music you play. This installment of Gibson’s Tone Tips, therefore, isn’t so much an isolated tip, a it is an in-a-nutshell look at an instrument that is often ignored by the rock and blues world.
Any discussion of the classical guitar, or “concert” guitar as it is often traditionally called, ought to begin with a brief explanation of what a classical guitar is not—or, if you will, what is not a classical guitar. Beginning guitarists are often advised to purchase “a classical guitar” with the proviso that the nylon strings will be easier on the fingers, but such advice is misleading, and can often result in frustration. In addition to its nylon strings, a genuine classical guitar also has a neck and fingerboard that are significantly flatter and wider than those of the average steel-string flat-top guitar. This can make it more difficult for the beginner—and the younger player in particular—to get their hand comfortably around the neck and successfully shape chords. In many cases it’s more productive to persist with a more comfortable-feeling steel-string guitar (perhaps even a junior-sized model) that might seem to hurt the fingertips more at the start, but will become comfortable in a short time as your calluses develop, and will be easier to fret and shape chords on than a wide-necked classical guitar, once your digits have hardened a bit. Another alternative is the nylon-string “folk guitar”. These are often made without the extreme neck proportions of the true classical guitar, and might indeed be easier for the beginner to get to grips with. With this in mind, though, remember that millions of players around the world have overcome any early difficulties presented by steel strings and learned to play the instrument to their satisfaction, and if the sound that led you to an initial interest in the guitar is that of a steel-stringed instrument—as it so often is—the softer, gentler tone of a nylon-string folk guitar might not prove entirely satisfying. It’s there as an option, even so, and worth being aware of.
With this disclaimer in mind, let’s look briefly at the genuine classical guitar, an elegant instrument that is likely to be more suited to novice players at least, or beginners who have been drawn in by a love of classical music in particular, and who intend to pursue this type of playing from the outset. Although its sound can initially be dwarfed by the bright, aggressive thrang of the steel-string flat-top, a good classical guitar offers degrees of tonal depth and nuance that set it among the most elevated of the six-strings. Mellow, rich and warm when played gently, it is also capable of surprising attack and dynamics when plucked more vigorously. Despite having been rendered more of a one-genre instrument than almost any other type of guitar, it is a surprisingly versatile performer, capable of projecting many moods and voices. With that in mind, it’s worth noting that classical guitars have made notable inroads into other types of music: classically-trained guitarist Charlie Byrd introduced the nylon-string concert guitar to the jazz world in the late 1950s and early ’60s, pop-jazzer Earl Klugh employed one for his mellow instrumental excursions in the ’70s and ’80s, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Sting sideman Dominic Miller have both flown the classical flag in their rock-pop-fusion excursions, and country picker extraordinaire Chet Atkins moved from steel-string electric and acoustic guitars to a thin-bodied electric classical model to preserve his brittle fingernails, and in the process helped to develop Gibson’s CEC Solid Body Classical model.
Body Woods and Design
Classical guitars employ many of the same woods used to make steel-string flat-tops, but there are also some notable variations. Spruce is a popular wood for the top (also called a “table” in classical luthiery), but cedar is a more widely used alternative here than in the steel-string world. The fact that cedar requires less breaking in to reach its full potential offers a clear advantage in an instrument with a relatively low string tension in the first place, and this slightly softer wood’s natural tonal characteristics also suit the genre well.
Rosewood remains a popular wood for back and sides, the endangered Brazilian rosewood being most highly prized, but also banned from exportation do to its placement in the CITES list of endangered species. Many makers also use mahogany, although it is less seen in high-end classical guitars and more often a component of lower- and mid-level instruments (which still includes many makes and models of fine quality). Cypress has also been used by many makers, and this light yet strong timber is particularly popular with variations of the classical guitar intended for flamenco-style playing, where minimum weight and maximum resonance are valued qualities. Some exotic body-wood alternatives include walnut, wenge, pau ferro, zebrawood, bubinga, American cherry, black acacia, cocobolo, and several others.
The X-brace has long been established as the standard top-bracing system for steel-string flat-top guitars, but there tends to be more variation in classical guitar bracing systems, with many new makers becoming particularly adventurous. Way back in the 1850s Antonio de Torres, known as “the father of the modern classical guitar”, established a “fan strut” bracing system that remains popular today, which uses a series of individual braces radiating from the soundhole outward toward the guitar’s bridge and beyond, in a fan-like pattern. Others use a range of latticework bracing systems, employing extremely thin braces that cover a larger proportion of the underside of the guitar’s top.
Classical Neck and Fingerboard
The mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard proliferates in the lower strata of classical guitars, but high-end designs very often feature cypress necks, echoing the use of Spanish cypress in many parts of the great classical designs from the 19th century. An ebony fingerboard is also considered a near-universal feature of any better classical guitar, and this wood provides the combination of durability and tonal definition and clarity that this type of guitar demands.
More than in the woods used in its construction, though, the classical guitar neck is distinguished from that of the steel-string flat-top by its design and dimensions. The traditional classical playing style, achieved with the thumb placed well behind the neck and the rest of the hand and fingers rotated more fully across the width of the fingerboard, requires that the instrument be made with a wide, flat fingerboard, and a relatively thin, flat neck. The fingerboard of a genuine classical guitar, therefore, can often approach 2" (51mm) wide at the nut, where a standard steel-string flat-top will average around 1 3/4", and most electric from 1 5/8" to 1 11/16". The majority of classical guitars have necks that are attached to the body at the 12th fret, with a further 6 full frets on a fingerboard extension over the top of the body, and often another partial fret (rarely used in any but the most extreme performances) above and below the frontward curve of the soundhole.
Hardware and Components
Classical guitars carry a minimum of extraneous components, compared even to the more austere flat tops. They require a nut at the end of a neck and a bridge at the body, of course, to anchor the speaking length of the strings, but the classical bridge is quite different from that of the steel-string flat-top. Rather than channeling the strings into the body through six holes, where they are anchored by bridge pins, the classical guitar’s strings—which lack ball ends—are threaded through channels in a portion of the top of the bridge called a “tie block”, and twisted around themselves to anchor them behind the saddle. Another difference is seen at the headstock of the classical guitar, which uses a slotted design with tuners extending at right angles backward from it, and posts that are anchored within the slots. Classical guitars do not typically feature pickguards, partly because the strumming and plucking techniques used to play them—which employ the fingertips and nails of the right hand—are rarely vigorous enough to scratch the guitar, and partly in an effort to minimize any extraneous material that might impede the resonance of the guitar’s top. Flamenco guitars, which are also a little smaller and lighter than standard classical guitars, do, however, use a pickguard known as a golpeador, which helps to protect the guitar’s top from the finger tapping that is traditionally a part of the flamenco playing style.