Differences between a classical and a flamenco guitar

In this video I explain what the differences are between the classical and the flamenco guitar from the construction point of view rather than from the sound and playability.
Here is a summary of the bullet points made in the video:
1- The choice of materials.
2- The soundboard: choose a set of plans that explains well the type of strutting system you want to use for your flamenco guitar, there are many available on the net.
3-The action: For a classical guitar 3mm at the treble and 4 mm at the base.
For a flamenco 2.5 at the treble and 3 at the base. For a low flamenco action 2.5 mm all across.
4- The fingerboard: The projection of the face of the fingerboard over the soundboard at the bridge area is 3.5 mm at the treble and 2.5 mm at the base. If you want to build a flamenco guitar with an action of 2.5 mm all across then the hight of the fingerboard needs to be even at 3.5mm.
I have a video on my Chanel showing how to work the fingerboard.
5-The bridge: The initial thickness of the bridge plank for a classical is 8mm and for flamenco 7 mm.
6- I recommend to drill 12 holes on the tie block of the bridge of a flamenco guitar.
7- Fit a scratch plate.
To build your own classical guitar in your own workshop using my step by step 40 hour plus video course series visit:
onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
If you are interested in building a guitar in my workshop in Spain all the information that you will need about the 4 week course is available at:
guitarmakingcourse.org

[@lyndamcardle4123]

Hello Pablo....your command of English , let's not forget as a second (or third) language is remarkable and so articulate in your description of tips for both luthiers and some of us who simply do repairs or modifications. Not many other non-native English speakers would mention "the pros and cons"..!

[@redkitekk]

Thank you, you made my day!

[@lyndamcardle4123]

@@redkitekk No Pablo, quite the reverse, YOU made MY day !

[@Frontier2000AnoDomin]

Yup. I'm an English Teacher in Spain. I generally work with businessmen and women. This gentleman has a very good professional level.

[@StudiobaseNL]

That is very interesting Pablo and a welcome addition to your online course that I still enjoy a lot. You make things clear. Thank you for that. Regards, Bart

[@frankmormon2503]

Thank you so much ! Looking forward to getting your course and her building !!

[@alexandredufour7387]

I am a subscriber of your online course and I would recommend it to everyone interested in making a classical guitar. The videos are complete, clear and concise. Thank you very much for having made them !

[@FigaroSaysHi]

Thank you very much, Pablo. This was very helpful. I'm still working on my cedar and ebony flamenco negra, thanks to your guidance.

[@jackmiller8227]

Thank You, Pablo Requena for your excellent and complete videos. I'm surprised you don't have more views because your videos are very instructional with great old school guitar building content and techniques. You are a wealth of information... Best Regards...

[@sbooder]

Thank you Pablo. As usual, top stuff.

[@maxfrajoseph]

Many Thanks Pablo... your information is very clear and understandable!!

[@fusion-music]

I am so glad Pablo that you mention very specifically about the 12 hole bridge design and the advantage. Of course, even with 12 holes, you can still opt to only use 6 holes like the traditional way. But 12 holes is far superior. The difference in tone is remarkable.

[@guidodezwaan]

I play flamenco with my spruce classical guitar; it plays perfectly fine. All that is needed is a golpeador to protect the top.

[@wilsonguitars156]

great explanation....everything ive learnt in 40 years in one lesson!!!...you are a great teacher and have the knowledge....some people dont explain it properly....this is great!

[@arnoldmmbb]

Estupendo video Pablo, muchas gracias por la detallada informacion

[@catrionanicthamhais]

Fantastic, Pablo! Thank you.

[@ejuncos]

Undoubtebly, this is the best video on line about the differences between a classical and a flamenco guitar! Pablo doesn't claim to be, I think he is the best!

[@dittmerg]

A very good explanation. Thank you.

[@King-zj6og]

Thanks a lot! very detail and clear explanation on the difference! I know a little about Flamenco guitar although I play classical guitar.

[@joetonolli]

All your video is a big class, thanks for share with us lots of information. Hugs from Brazil!

[@blitz_zen]

Thanks Pablo! :) I will check out the course!

[@nikolakorovljev7997]

Thank you for the great video!! 😊

[@micksidaway]

Interesting and very informative; thank you😀

[@frankiefrankie9973]

Grazie Pablo!

[@Carletdesiles]

Great explanations thanks a lot.

[@chopsddy3]

Yes, definitely show how to drill the additional bridge holes.👍

[@maxfrajoseph]

Please......

[@McFraser_handcrafted_stuff]

I'd like to see it as well

[@ogarridoa]

I think it would be great a dedicated video about converting 6 holes bridge to 12. Quite interesting topic to me. Anyway great video as usual.

[@redkitekk]

Thanks for your comment, I will do a video about this at some point.

[@nicoleheinemeyer]

Very interesting🎼thanks a lot for Your Video and effort💛

[@riccardomoni3598]

Marvellous

[@YegresAL]

Thank you for video - great info gathered at one place! But it's one week late as I just finished glueing braces for flamenco guitar using bridge plate and bottom braces (using Torres-like guitar drawing) )))))

[@redkitekk]

There is no reason why what you have done wouldn't work, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[@chopsddy3]

Yes, show us how you drill the extra bridge holes.

[@apmpsj]

hi Pablo, very interesting, im agree with you about 12 holes in a bridge, that the way , thanks !

[@masterbates7322]

Knows his stuff 👍

[@cheerlscable]

Flamenco guitars usually have a thinner body

[@redatticus7606]

Hi Pablo, what a clear, great explanation about the difference between Classical and flamenco........I would like to get your advise on the string action on flamenco - Isnt using a CAPO also going to reduce the action further especially when above 2nd or higher frets? In this case would you still recommend 2.5mm all over? Also could you please state in a few words if you can what difference between Blanca and Negra in terms of sound in your experience! Many thanks for your time and once again for the video!

[@beniciodelavega9046]

I would like to share with you a painless way to attach a scratch plate on a flamenco guitar. I cut out the top and bottom plates out of plastic from a commercial packaging of a child’s toy which was big enough for my purpose. This of course was free since it was part of a packaging which would normally be discarded After I cut the two plates out I sand tapered down the edges to smooth them out, next I applied some oil ( cutting board oil, tho any kind of oil can be used) to the top and bottom section of the guitar top and carefully placed the two scratch plates in their places. With a paper towel I pressed outward any air bubbles and at the same time the paper towel absorbing any excess oil being pressed out. This resulted in the scratch plates being kept tiredly in place by the oil alone. This is much easier that trying to glue them in place. With this method I’m sure that even plastic from a table covering could be used. The plates can also easily be removed any time if desired. This method greatly deduces the cost of labor and materials plus it is very effective.

[@redkitekk]

Thanks for sharing!

[@beniciodelavega9046]

@@redkitekk it’s my pleasure. I hope you try it out on some guitar that just laying around some day and see how effective it really is.

[@JuanDeMarias]

Thanks Benicio although I don't agree that 'any' plastic would do. Some commercial flamenco tap plates are not rigid enough while being thin and you can easily leave a mark when sinking your nail. You want extra thin plastic that is rigid enough and not all tap plates have this quality. They might work ok for the occasional scratch while doing rasgueados but not for tapping with the nail.

[@beniciodelavega9046]

@@JuanDeMarias mine work very well for my application of non professional. I have very solid nails and so far I can’t see any wear on the plates. I was lucky enough to buy on line a vintage flamenca brand instrument that had a lot of wear including on the finger board. I French polished it and applied the plates and am very happy with it. The plates are invisible except for their outline. I think the idea merits trying out before any judgment is made.

[@JuanDeMarias]

@@beniciodelavega9046 I'm glad that works for you :)

[@llanedeyrn5]

Great video as always, thank you. Could I ask whether you would build a flamenca with a shallower body depth than a classical?

[@redkitekk]

Yes you can do that depending on the sound you want to achieve, I normally do the same depth of the sides for both classical and flamenco as that way I can get a good responsive flamenco guitar, and at the same time maintain the good qualities of the bass strings.

[@ericjanet7146]

Thks Pablo for the clear explanation. A quick question: When you have no bridge plate on the flamenco guitar, how the soundboard can stay flat and stiff overtime, especially when using high tension strings.

[@AlanBrown111]

Brilliant Pablo!...these are wonderful videos....how would the thickness of the back and sides compare between the classical and flamenco guitars?...would they be thinner on the flamenco?

[@redkitekk]

I didn’t mention them because I do more or less the same for classical and flamenco.

[@AlanBrown111]

@@redkitekk I ask because flamenco guitars (white) seem to be so much lighter than classicals....is that purely because of the weight of the rosewoods?

[@redkitekk]

@@AlanBrown111 yes, cipres is a lot lighter than rosewood. Some makers might make the back and sides thicker for classical but I build my classical guitars pretty light that’s why for me they are quite similar and as thin as they can be, that’s just the way I do it.

[@johnprentice1527]

Thank you for your wonderful video; you explained the differences very clearly. One thing I thought you might touch on, but didn't, was the pegging. Perhaps you only use the more common pegging found on classical guitars, so that would explain your leaving that out. I know most current flamenco guitarists avoid using the direct pegs, but I was curious about your thoughts. They are obviously hard to use.

[@redkitekk]

Perhaps I will talk about this on another video. It will be easier than trying to explain here in a few lines.

[@johnprentice1527]

@@redkitekk I appreciate your reply nonetheless. I will definitely watch if you touch on that in a future video.

[@jhongallego9313]

Hola Pablo! Well explained! Is the thickness of the fretboard at the first fret in a flamenco guitar the same as the classical in order to achieve a low action? What is the clearance at first fret for a flamenco guitar? What fret-wire size is recommended for both flamenco an classical guitar? Gracias, John

[@redkitekk]

Hi John, the thickness of the fingerboard is the same in both classical and flamenco guitars. The frets are also the same, the ones I use are 2mm wide and 1 mm high. The clearance of the strings at the first fret is also the same, as low as you can make it without having unwanted buzzing. I can not give you a measure as each guitar is different.

[@petervanrooij2181]

Thanks, that was quite infomative. I would have liked to see a flamenco-bridge with 12 holes. Being lower as a classical bridge I was wondering about the spacing (vertically)

[@redkitekk]

For the flamenco bridge, the thickness of the tie block is about 6.5mm, if you bare in mind that the bone is about 2mm thick, you want the holes to be just below the bone without touching it. The distance along the length between each hole is about 3mm. These dimensions are a little flexible, you can work out what works for you.

[@petervanrooij2181]

@@redkitekk Thanks, so no difference vertically?

[@redkitekk]

@@petervanrooij2181 that's right.

[@bertrodriguez3087]

Yes. I would like to see the 12 hole technique.

[@mooshalah]

Thank you for your thoughtful, easily understandable explanation, Pablo. You've not mentioned things like neck angle, or the use of tentalones for lining / connecting the soundboard to the body. With regard to the former, what I find I need to do is to give the neck a slight forward (upward) slope of about two degrees, in order for the line of the fingerboard (at around 6mm thick) to meet the bridge at 3.5mm. (And there is work to be done to make the fingerboard fit flat, where the fingerboard covers the guitar between the neck joint and the sound-hole.) The neck angle is set into the solera, and held correctly in relation to the top, sides and Spanish Heel, during construction. From your description, it seems that your fingerboard is a uniform 3.5mm thick from nut to sound-hole, and the neck and body are in perfect alignment. And do you have any comment about neck width and thickness, for ease of rapid playing (and if your fingerboards are around a uniform 3.5mm thick, do you add a bit more to the neck thickness than on a classical guitar)? Regarding the linings, what's your opinion on the use of tentalones (small, individual, spaced wooden triangles) rather than a continuous kerfed lining, in attempting to limit the transmission of vibration from the soundboard, into the sides (the objective being to stop sustaining and amplifying vibration longer than necessary, to obtain a faster decay, and reduction of "muddying" during rapid rasgueado). And if you use tentalones, what size (and spacing) do you recommend?

[@redkitekk]

The reason why I don’t mention the neck angle on this video is because I do the same angle for both classical and flamenco guitars so no difference here. In terms of the thickness of the fingerboard, sorry if I didn’t explain it so well but I didn’t mean that the thickness of the ebony is 3.5, the thickness of the fingerboard I do is about 6,5 mm and the projection of the face of the fingerboard over the soundboard is 3.5mm. In terms of linings or peones, I always use peones for both classical and flamenco guitars, so, no difference here neither. I can remember the dimensions of the top of my head but if you look on my channel you will find one of my videos about how to make the peones o kerfing blocks. Please bare in mind these observations about differences between classical and flamenco guitars are just based on my experience as a guitar maker but there are many other ways besides mine.

[@mooshalah]

@@redkitekk Aha! That all makes perfect sense now. I'm grateful both for the video that you made, and for taking the time to reply.

[@marcusmerrin192]

@@redkitekk That was basically my question, if the same solera with it's neck angle was suitable for both types. You answered it!

[@eugenechigna2790]

@pablorequena I have a cordoba C7 with Indian rosewood back and sides and a cedar top. Can I turn it into a flamenco guitar by lowering the action and adding a golpeador? Or will it always be a classical guitar? Gracias!

[@JuanDeMarias]

Thanks Pablo. Wouldn't it make sense to have some extra bracing on the treble side to absorb the constant tapping on that area? Have you seen any traditional template that takes this in account?

[@redkitekk]

I don’t think it would be a good idea to reinforce the soundboard as it would interfere with the sound and just having a scratch plate is sufficient to protect the top. I have also seen and inspected many guitars from Reyes, Santos Hernandez, Barbero and others and they don’t have extra struts on the treble, they are quite lightly built.

[@gtrgeezr]

Hello, Pablo - Really enjoyed this video. I am building a flamenco guitar from a kit and will be thinning the soundboard soon. When sanding the area near the edge of the lower bout to a thinner measurement than the center, does the inside surface of the soundboard (the side that will not be visible when the guitar is complete) need to be square with the edge of the soundboard to ensure a good seal with the sides, or does that not matter so much? I hope I’m explaining my question clearly.

[@redkitekk]

It doesn’t really matter as you will not be gluing the sides to the soundboard. That will be done when you fit in the kerfing blocks or peones. You might be interested on the course I have on line on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com there everything is explained in detail.

[@gtrgeezr]

@@redkitekk many thanks!

[@laurenceneber6141]

Mr. Requena, in your 1 month course in Malaga, do you allow "students" to make flamenco guitars with pegs as opposed to machine heads? I was just curious if you taught this type of flamenco construction. Thank you for all your intelligent videos and and the mountains of tips they include. An avid fan. Best, Laurence

[@redkitekk]

Yes, we do friction pegs when a student request it.

[@encapsulatio]

What flamenco guitar is the cheapest you know that has a sound that can be considered to be at pro level? Thank you!

[@rombsix]

Eso es!

[@violetlight8138]

They are really different. I had no idea.

[@vuongtutriet4767]

Hello Pablo, About the neck angle, for classical guitar, as I know the neck must be 2 mm lower at the nut on the solera. How many mm it must lower for a flamenco neck for commonly? And for negra, as I think that it is in between of blanka and classical, so does it has 2 closing bars on the sound board in commonly?

[@redkitekk]

There are many ways of doing this. The way I do it is 1,5 mm tilt forward for all guitars, classical or flamenco, flamenco Blanca o negra, all the same. Just in case you are interested this video is to complement the complete guitar making course that is available on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com

[@artvandelay1555]

Hello Pablo. I am looking at Flamenco guitars and would like to know if i will feel the difference between a 650 scale length compared to a 655 mm? Most i see are 650, but one sees even up to 663. Thank you for your advice.

[@redkitekk]

Hi, the different scale lengths have a very small impact on how comfortable the guitar is, this is just my opinion. The most important thing for me is to be able to try the guitar before buying it and if I like the sound and so on I then would invest time to get familiar with the scale length. Don’t forget that whatever the difference in length is you have to divide it in half, so we are talking of 2,5 to 5 mm and this small distance is spread proportionally over 18 frets so as you can imagine it would be very hard to notice the difference. However, this is just my opinion, I have heard many players claiming that long scale length guitars are more uncomfortable to play so I guess you need to try for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

[@artvandelay1555]

@@redkitekk Thank you. Yes, that makes sense. If it was more than 5mm i could see that it might. The guitar in question is a 1990 Eladio Fernandez. I have heard and seen it played, but unless i want to fly to Germany i can not try it myself which is a risk. Why are all the great used flamenco guitars only in Europe? There is not a great choice in the U.S.

[@rodrigomr7463]

Hay informacion asi en español ? Alguien tiene algún dato que pueda compartir

[@gerardoteran789]

Saludos pablo desde buenos aires,que pasaria si no aplico el angulo de 2mm al mastil? Durante la construccion.. gracias

[@redkitekk]

Pues es posible que tengas problemas para el ajuste final de la alturas de las cuerdas.

[@gerardoteran789]

@@redkitekk gracias pablo

[@rjlchristie]

The problem with describing timber as Pau Ferro is that several quite different species of tree share that name.

[@redkitekk]

The botanical name of the Pau Ferro that I use is Macherium Scleroxylon.

[@Andrey_A]

Thank you for the video. very interesting. unpleasantly no subtitles - I speak the language very badly.

[@catrionanicthamhais]

Hello. No problem!. You can choose subtitles on the bar just below the video. There's the square box to make the subtitles show and then beside to the right you can choose your language. :-)

[@Andrey_A]

@@catrionanicthamhais thanks for the answer. yes, I know about this function. but when I wrote the message, the button was missing. now it is available.

[@catrionanicthamhais]

@@Andrey_A Great!

[@kanker5256]

luthiers and guitarist make complete mistakes, following the tradition... such a shame no luthier/guitarist wants to understand how things actually work better :)