JJ Klaassen Classical guitar #22 -2026

I am a guitar maker in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This is my 22nd guitar, a 650mm scale length classical guitar with Sitka spruce top and black walnut sides and back.

The soundboard of this guitar is a pair of “orphan” Sitka Spruce boards from Alaska Specialty Woods.  Both halves are high quality, fine grained spruce, but they are not book matched  The bracing is seven symmetric fan struts with open harmonic bars based on Jeffrey Elliott's design (American Lutherie 127, Fall 2016).  The fan struts and other bracing are also made of Sitka spruce.

I like to incorporate reclaimed wood in my guitar builds.  In this case I found an old dining room table put out for trash.  It was probably mid to early 20th century, and it was made from black walnut. What a score!  The sides and back of this guitar are made from black walnut reclaimed from this discarded dining room table.

The fretboard of this guitar is also made from recovered wood. In this case it is a nice piece of bloodwood “recovered” from my neighbor Chuck’s basement when he was cleaning up his hardwood stash.  It is very red in color turning more red-brown as it ages.

I like using very simple, solid woods with a nice bit of figure for the central motif of the rosette.  For #22 I used a piece of bird’s eye maple I found in the stack at Home Depot.  As a rosette, it is subtle and subdued.  I have surrounded it with bands of black walnut and maple.  I think it gives a calm elegance to the guitar.

I have continued the bird’s eye maple motif in the vee-shaped headstock and in the lower bout end graft.  Overall this gives a clean, harmonious look to the guitar.

The bridge is made of black walnut.  It has a 6-hole tiebar made of bone. 

#22’s neck is comfortable to play and very even feeling.  It is “C” shaped.  It has very little taper, and is about 22 mm from the nut to the 10th fret.

The action on #22 at the 12th fret is fairly flat at 3.5mm from the 1st string to the 6th. It is comfortable to play at this action, but there is certainly room to bring it down on the trebles.  The height at the bridge is just a tad over 11 mm.  I am happy to adjust the action before shipping, but I think for a Reverb sale this is better done locally with a trusted guitar setup technician.

For the finish, I used a blonde shellac applied in the french polishing method.As a novice, I struggle with french polishing, and I am never quite happy with my results.  On this guitar, I don’t quite see the evenness in sheen/gloss that I would like to have.  It is an acceptable finish, but it does not match exacting standards.

Other issues:  #22 has a very thin top…  This causes the top to ripple at the bottom of the lower bout between the points where it is attached to the fan struts.  I try to make my tops as thin as possible for better projection.  But, I do not want to go so thin as to cause structural issues.  On #22 I went too thin, hence the rippling in the lower bout.  I debated whether to scrap 22 altogether, but I thought it would be worthwhile to hear how it sounds, and I think it actually sounds quite good.(Please listen to the recording my friend Patrick made on #22.)  I am offering it for sale at a discounted price in the hope that it will find a home with someone who appreciates its tonal qualities.

Please send me a note through the Reverb messaging app with any questions or comments.

Jody J. Klaassen, June 2026

Figures:

Figure 1. Composite front and back view, body

Figure 2. Front view, body

Figure 3.  Back view, body.

Figure 4.  Front.

Figure 5. Back.

Figure 6.  Close up of headstock.

Figure 7. Close up of back of headstock.

Figure 8 Tuning machines

Figure 9. Rosette and sound hole.

Figure 10. Black walnut bridge

Figure 11. 6 hole bone tiebar.

Figure 12. Closeup of nut.

Figure 13. End graft motif.

Figure 14. Neck heel.

Figure 15. Heel cap.

Figure 16. Side view.

Figure 17. Side view.

Figure 18. Ripples in lower bout.

Figure 19. Tears in spruce top.

Figure 20. Acoustic response of guitar from tapping soundboard at main anti-node points.