Okay, background: about 150 years ago the Classical and Flamenco guitar designs that we know today were created. One of the guitar makers at ground zero was Antonio Torres in Spain - if Stradivarius didn’t made a few guitars back in Cremona, Torres would be the Stradivarius of…well, never mind.
Torres changed everything - he designed theFan Bracing (wiki link) that goes on the underside of the guitar top - not only does it strengthen the top to handle the pull of the strings, but it shapes and amplifies the strings’ sound. In effect the bracing turns the top from a drum-head to a stereo speaker - it’s super important to a guitar’s sound and loudness.
Ah - but how important? Torres, legendarily, ***built a guitar out of paper-mache ***with a wood, braced top. I have heard he did it as a scientist-inventor, looking to prove the importance of his innovative fan bracing, and I have heard he did it as a businessman, looking for cheaper materials. Either way, “Torres paper mache guitar” is one of those e=mc^2 moments in guitar history.
Well, some dude built one.
(link to thread on Official Luthiers Forum). Apparently “paper mache” is not quite accurate - more like poster board. But still :eek:
This is a standard “guitar build thread” - over a few pages he posts pictures of his build along the way. So not only do you get a step-by-step of how to build a classical guitar, but he’s recreating the Torres guitar! It turns out cool. He posts a sound clip at the end and I can’t get it to work here at work - arrgh! But by all accounts it sounds decent.
Enjoy!