Is there such a thing as a full size Classical Guitar.. with 4 strings only?

kissing

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Guilty confession.
I LOVE the sound of Classical Guitar.

I love how the extra scale length and larger body gives that extra resonance and depth of tone.

I often do find myself playing my dad's Classical Guitar, as well as ones in music stores. However, as a uker, I only utilise the 4 DGBE strings.
This is manageable, but not ideal.

I like Baritone uke, however, it doesn't have the same feel as a classical guitar. The smaller body and scale length produces a different tone.
Also the dimensions of the neck, body, etc makes me play differently on a classical guitar compared to a baritone uke.

Surely it can't be that hard for someone to make a classical guitar with 4 strings only. Is it too much to ask?

I've got a 4-string acoustic guitar and electric guitar (tenor guitars).
Is there somewhere I can get a 4-string classical guitar?

(Or am I just being lazy in refusing to learn 6-string).
 
Yes - from us. We make two classical 4-string guitars. The Tenor has a 23" scale, and the Plectrum is 650mm. Both have the same body. It's not a full classical body - more the size of a parlor guitar (in other words still quite a bit larger than a Baritone Uke). With only four strings, and a smaller rage of notes, the full body isn't neccessary
 
I shall be visiting your website and doing up on reading! Thanks!
 
Ugh, your classical-string Tenor guitar is exactly the kind of instrument I am looking for, but it also means a significant deal of saving up :iwant: :iwant:

Do you install pickups at all for your instruments?
Or would I have to do it afterwards.

I know that purely acoustic people often frown upon those who would "mutilate" their instruments with electronic pickups, but from a practical standpoint, it's a must-have option for me :confused:
 
As I am not the nuts & bolts luthier in our operation, some aspects of pricing remain mysterious even to me. They're definitely expensive compared to an ukulele (then again, our ukuleles aren't exactly cheap either).

Of course there is more material in one of these, and also more labor. My partner Omar is a well known classical guitar builder, and when he makes the body a little bigger and adds 2 more strings he can get 4 times these prices. Go figure!

BTW, not quiite everything in the descriptions is up to date. We're redoing the string portion of the website now, after which the instrument site gets a make-over. One thing that will not happen is the classical style tailpiece. The difference in sound was so slight, and they were so expensive to make that we decided to economize.

This is unusual for us. The normal procedure when faced with a decision on whether to add an expensive design feature or not is to go ahead and do it. We don't often think about a price point. In this case, we made an exception.

We do install Mi-Si pick-ups for those who are into mutilation.
 
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Interested!!

I will proceed to ask questions via email :D
 
Interested!!

I will proceed to ask questions via email :D

Actually, I'm finding your questions very helpful. I am very intrigued by this instrument...
 
kissing -

You could use any nice tenor guitar (4 strings, and put classical strings on it. In fact the Southcoast Strings work great!) There are many nice tenor guitars on eBay. In fact Aaron Keim recently posted several he's selling. I have a 1965 Martin Tenor and a Roy Smeck Vita Guitar. Both are amazing and used tenors aren't nearly as expensive as customs (sorry Dirk!) Good luck - Mary
 
Thanks for the compliment on the strings, Mary, but I'll have to disagree about how well classical strings (even ours) work on a typical Tenor Guitar.

If you could see our tops and bracing, then compare it to what's needed to support the tension on steel strings, you'd quickly understand. Of course, even quicker would be to hear the two - both with classical strings.

I do agree a steel string Tenor guitar is a great instrument - with steel strings. If you want to try one out with classical strings, they can be had cheaply, and it can give you an idea of whether or not you like the size and scale. It won't give you an idea of the sound you'd get from ours.

Believe me, I've owned a number of Tenors, in various sizes, and trying classical strings on those was what first put me on the track of building the ones we have now.
 
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kissing -

You could use any nice tenor guitar (4 strings, and put classical strings on it. In fact the Southcoast Strings work great!) There are many nice tenor guitars on eBay. In fact Aaron Keim recently posted several he's selling. I have a 1965 Martin Tenor and a Roy Smeck Vita Guitar. Both are amazing and used tenors aren't nearly as expensive as customs (sorry Dirk!) Good luck - Mary

Thanks for the advice.
I do have 2 really nice tenor guitars. An Ozark solid-spruce top acoustic electric, and an Eastwood Warren Ellis signature.

However, I would prefer to keep steel strings on instruments originally designed to have steel strings. Nylons on those instruments would not produce the tone I'm after.

This is why I'm wondering whether there are any classical-guitar like instruments designed to have 4 strings instead of 6, as I'm specifically after the classical guitar feel and sound.

Southcoast is a splendid option. In fact, probably the ideal option. However, being individually crafted luthier instruments mean that they cost a lot (worth every penny!), and there could be a long wait..

I wouldn't mind something that is production-made but of decent quality at a lower pricepoint. But they don't seem to exist!
 
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PhilUSAFRet I'd also check with LoPrinzi in Tampa.....one of this country's best classical guitar makers.

Funny you should mention Loprinzi, Phil. I had almost forgotten - we had a fellow in Florida who wanted one of our guitars, but was in a hurry (we can be very slow!).

He took some of the photos we sent him to Loprinzi, and got them to build one based on ours. We got knocked off!

Not a big deal, but yes, I know they can do it.
 
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