Small bodied classical guitar

After some delays (trip abroad) I finally finished my latest project, a small bodied guitar: its the first instrument using a new mold inspired by 'Allens' box shape. The idea was to make a small instrument for an adult guitar player: half size guitars still have a fairly large box and the fretboard is usually too narrow.

It has sapele back and sides and an African mahogany soundboard. The neck/head is laminated sapele/oak with an oak end graft. It has a rosewood fretboard, I used a cut down classical guitar rosewood bridge and I bought the rosette. It has Grover uke tuners in a reverse head. The box is 13.25" long. The soundboard is 2 mm thick, no bridge patch and 5 low fan struts. It has a 22" scale length and string spacing 12 mm at the saddle and 8 mm at the nut (normally 9mm on a classical guitar).

Now for the verdict: I'm happy with the appearance and it sounds great, surprisingly loud with good tone and lots of sustain across the full range. It definitely sounds like a guitar and not a uke. I tried a set of D'Addario EXP46 high tension strings but they felt slack and twangy (I also didn't like it tuned up to G-G) so for now it has D'Addario EJ27N half size strings (E-E).

I find it easy to hold and play, as does my brother in law for whom it was made. In this regard its a definite success.

The position of the bridge could be improved by having 15 rather than 14 frets to the box, though its not possible at this point to say if this would result in a better sounding instrument (there's been recent discussion on the forum of bridge positioning). Alternatively this box would suit a shorter scale length guitar or of course a Baritone uke. I think I'll have to make a similar guitar for myself!

The third photo is for size comparison: a guitar I made in 1976, this instrument in the middle and my last tenor uke. It really shows what's meant by the term 'small bodied' in respect of a guitar. It also shows that this instrument has a prettier box shape (compared to my tenor).

Nicely done.

Wow that looks great!

I have been wanting to get something like that, but the closest I've found was an Art & Lutherie Ami Nylon:

http://artandlutherieguitars.com/aminyloncedar.html

Not sure about scale length on that one, but a 2" nut width would be a requirement for me.

It seems like most 1/2, 3/4 and 7/8 scale classical/nylon string guitars are all being made with a ~1.5" nut with, which is really tight for me with nylon strings and elephant-toe sized fingers.

My Yamaha Guitalele is a bit tight, and compared to my tenor ukes, my Yamaha 4/4 CG-120 classical guitar neck and fretboard feels HUGE!

My baritone is 21.5" scale and is really easy to play.

Booli

I guess I could have put a wider fretboard on this but we had worked out that 1.75" at the nut rather than the normal 2" was acceptable (I'm used to classical but my brother in law plays steel strung with its narrower string spacing). I struggle to play half size guitars with 1.5" at the nut. So playing this would be like playing your guitalele but would sound like a guitar not a uke.