
























(1/30/2025 -- Beautiful, spring-like day in Minneapolis. I added new, outdoor pictures)
I am an amateur guitar maker. This is my 12th classical guitar. It is based on Jeffrey Elliott's open harmonic bar design (American Lutherie 127, Fall 2016).
This guitar uses some less common woods -- redwood for the soundboard and quartersawn white oak for the sides and in the back panels. I think the combination is evocative of a comfortable, well-worn leather chair... According to one’s taste this may be pleasing -warm, comforting, and inviting, or it may seem completely out of character for a classical guitar.
The soundboard of this guitar is redwood with variable, medium-wide grain cut slightly off quarter. It has low density, 0.363 g/cm3, and its speed of sound is 5255 m/s. The fan struts and other bracing are made of Western red Cedar. The body sides are quartersawn white oak with a strong flake pattern. The back is in three pieces – the outer two are white oak matching the sides, and the middle panel is a piece of black walnut. The back panels are separated with maple piping. The binding is a single piece of black walnut that has been rounded over to create a soft edge. The neck is Honduran mahogany, and is attached to the body with a glued and pegged mortise and tenon joint. The fretboard is Wenge. The rosette has a simple motif of quartersawn white oak surrounded by bands of maple and black walnut. The vee-shaped headstock motif is Wenge with a very simple maple piping. The back of the headstock is a plain piece of Wenge. The lower bout joint is of Wenge and maple piping that matches the headstock. The bridge is made of black walnut. It has a 12-hole tiebar made of bone.
#12 has a great deal of sustain. Its air resonance (Helmholtz mode) is at 96Hz (G2) and its main wood resonance is at 200Hz (G3). Please have a listen to it being played by my friend Chris in the attached video. Chris comments that #12 is a really warm guitar, and that it has very nice separation between the voices. He thinks the action is a bit low and that if it were adjusted up just a titch it would probably project a bit better. In the video, Chris played pieces that featured the different low, mid, and high registers so that one can hear that it's all hand control to get one or the other to be present. Chris's thought is that the Redwood, though attractive, tends to be SO warm that it's almost too warm for many players.
The action is currently set at 3.25mm on the high E string and 3.5 mm on the low E. The saddle height is quite low at 7.5mm which contributes to this guitar’s quiet nature. With the white oak sides and back this guitar is noticeably heavy, 4.4lbs (~2,000g).
There are some issues in the finish for #12. I used a casein filler/ground to close up the open, porous grain of the quartersawn white oak. I prepared the casein fresh in the traditional manner by precipitating it from skim milk with vinegar and subsequently redissolving the casein in dilute potassium carbonate. The resulting casein filler/ground was slightly basic, which resulted in a quite nice golden brown for the white oak. However, the same casein filler/ground turned the redwood top quite dark, a muddy, reddish brown darker than I would have preferred.
For the final finish, I used a simple blonde shellac. It was applied in the french polishing method, however my amateur skills do not result in the professional look of a french polished guitar. It is acceptable, but it does not have the mirror-like surface one would expect of a professional job.
Details
- Redwood top
- Quartersawn white oak sides
- Three-piece back of black walnut flanked by quartersawn white oak
- White oak rosette (84mm) with black walnut and maple banding
- Flat (no radius) fretboard
- Seven fan strut bracing (follows J Elliott classical guitar design "American Lutherie" 127, Fall 2016)
- Shellac finish with final coat of D'Addario carnauba wax
- Labella 2001 medium hard tension strings
- Der Jung 106 tuning machines (18:1 turning ratio)
Measurements
- Scale length: 650mm, compensated
- Body length: 489mm
- Overall length: 986mm
- Lower bout width: 372mm
- Upper bout width: 283mm
- Lower bout depth: 103mm
- Upper bout depth: 91mm
- Nut width: 52mm; E2 to E4: 43.6mm
- E2 to E4 at saddle: 56.2mm
- Saddle height: 7.5mm
- Action low E: 3.5mm
- Action high E: 3.25mm
- Helmholtz (air) frequency: 96Hz (G2)
- Main wood frequency: 200Hz (G3)
Figure 1. Combined front and back view of JJK #12 (2024).
Figure 2. Front view
Figure 3. Back view.
Figure 4. Front, body only.
Figure 5. Back, body only.
Figure 6. Bass side view.
Figure 7. Treble side view.
Figure 8. Close up of headstock and tuners (der Jung 106).
Figure 9. Close up of backside of headstock.
Figure 10 Tuning machines
Figure 11. Rosette and sound hole.
Figure 12. Black walnut bridge
Figure 13. 12 hole bone tiebar.
Figure 14. Closeup of nut.
Figure 15. Lower bout joint with repeating headstock motif.
Figure 16. Neck heel.
Figure 17. Neck heel.
Figure 18. Action on bass side.
Figure 19. Action on treble side.
Figure 20. Saddle height.
Figure 21. Small knot in soundboard.
Figure 22. Small knots flanking soundhole.
Figure 23. Acoustic response of guitar from tapping soundboard at main anti-node points.
Please send me a note through the Reverb messaging app with any questions or comments.
Jody J. Klaassen
Condition | Brand New (New) Brand New items are sold by an authorized dealer or original builder and include all original packaging.Learn more |
Brand | |
Model |
|
Finish |
|
Categories | |
Year |
|
Made In |
|
Pickup |
|
Right / Left Handed |
|
Number of Strings |
|
Body Shape |
|
Product safety information may be available here.