# Guitarists and Woodworkers - Totally Cool Build Thread!!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarists-and-woodworkers-totally-cool-build-thread/563269>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 7, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarists-and-woodworkers-totally-cool-build-thread/563269 "2010-12-07T14:34:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitarists-and-woodworkers-totally-cool-build-thread/563269/1 "2010-12-07T14:34:37Z")

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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 the[Fan Bracing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_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.](http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=17618&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=8dd655e42de7734006f0769b48903566)  
(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!