In the early 1970’s Richard Brune, master Luthier and my
longtime friend, made me a cedar top classical guitar. My situation was a
little difficult, since I play left-handed. I had been wanting a new guitar for
some time and Richard had been more than kind to give me guitars to take home
and try out. Of course this meant restringing these guitars left-handed. I took
home various guitars, even some valuable ones like a Fleta and a Hauser!
None were quite right for me, mainly because they were built
and set up for a right-handed player and so the feel wasn’t always quite right
nor the intonation. At some point Richard said to me, “I think I can make you
the guitar you want.”
Richard made me that guitar—a Fleta inspired cedar-top
guitar with Indian rosewood back and sides and a beautiful sound hole rosette of
roses. Then, in 2017, Richard made me another guitar, this time with a Spruce
top. Both guitars sound beautiful, really world class and concert worthy, and
both guitars play beautifully and perfectly in tune. I can’t stress enough how
difficult it is to make a concert level instrument, let alone a left-handed one
when 99% of the guitars you make are right-handed. I’ve played other guitars
that have been converted to left-handed, and they just have never played or
sounded right. Richard not only has great knowledge, but he also has an
inherent instinct and a feel for his work that cannot be taught or adequately
explained.
More recently, in January of 2025, I began a conversation
with Richard about a new guitar, another cedar -top guitar, with Brazilian
rosewood back and sides, and a shorter scale length than my other guitars. Work
then began on that guitar, but only after taking some very precise measurements
of my other classical guitars—the two that Richard had made and my traveling
guitar, a shorter scale converted Players model guitar from Kenny Hill. Measurements
were taken of the scale, the distance between the strings, the width of the
strings at both the nut and the bridge, the height of the strings at the 12th
fret, and depth of the sounding box of the guitars.
Richard had me do this with a card and a pencil, tracing and
drawing on the card rather than writing down measurements. He said this would
be more accurate. When I finished doing this with each of the three guitars, I
mailed him the cards. Actually, I sent him the cards twice, the first cards
arrived after he received the second set, apparently, the first mailing had
been lost or delayed for a while. After Richard received the cards, he emailed
me the following:
“I had extrapolated between the original 3 different
action sets and arrived at a neutral action setting of 3mm for the first and 4
mm for the 6th. The one that just arrived measured at precisely those numbers,
and the spacings likewise agreed. The second set you sent was much clearer and
more precise. I’ve got them all together with the notes I took, so everything
is now well defined.”
Just a reminder, mm means millimeter, a very small
measurement indeed equal to 0.0394 of an inch.
We finally decided on a scale length 25 1/2” which works out
to 647mm with compensation. Richard told me that it’s the same scale as used by
Antonio Torres and Hermann Hauser Sr on some of their guitars. In the 19th
century Spanish makers were still using English inches and Hauser was copying
them.
So, work began on the new guitar, and I asked Richard, in a
pretty offhand manner, if he would send me an occasional picture of the guitar
in progress. What he did far exceeded anything I could have imagined, not only
some very detailed photos, but descriptions and explanations that left me with
a whole new level of appreciation for master luthiers and the guitars they
produce.
The next pictures show the process of bending the wood for
the sides of the guitar.
“Everyone is fascinated by the concept of the sides being
bent. I do this over an oval section of sailboat Spinnaker pole heated with a
blow torch. If you look at the time stamp on photo 1 vs photo 2 you will see
this takes me about 7 minutes/side, and a similar amount of time to bend the 4
purfling strips which will go around the 4 outside corners of the complete
body. After 800 or so guitars I’ve gotten the process down pretty well in my
hands. The bent sides fit the mold without gaps or forcing. I have no idea how
hot that pipe gets, but it’s hot enough to allow the wood to form without
cracking or scorching. I’ve been using this system since day 1, 1966.” – R.B.
“The back is a complex subtle dome in both directions
with 6 brace end mortises to be cut into the interior linings. It is completely
hand fitted in all dimensions to produce the uniform arch both across and along
the back. Gluing with hide glue has to happen very quickly while the glue is
still warm and liquid, so everything is pre prepped, clamps arranged and phones
taken off the hook before embarking. The clamping happens in less than 60
seconds, the prior prep work and fitting take nearly a day. After it dries
overnight the overhang gets trimmed off.
The pre-bent purflings and inlays are glued into the
grooves around all 4 corners using a special very strong masking tape to clamp
them while the hide glue sets. After a full day of drying the purflings are
scraped and sanded to the top sides and back and the body receives the initial
clean up sanding. While it’s drying I will carve the neck.” – R.B.
I knew at this point we were getting close,
and I was getting more and more excited. Close, but still some very important
work left to do, especially the carving of the neck, for if the feel of the
neck is not right, the musician will never be comfortable with the
instrument—and remember, because I play left-handed, the luthier can’t really
feel the neck in the way he would for a right-handed player.
Richard continued to update me.
“The French polish is completed so now the bridge is
place precisely in it correct position (measure 10 times, cut once…) and scored
very carefully around all 4 sides. The French polish is scraped and chiseled
away to the bare wood underneath and the bridge glue surface is given a final
scraping to energize the surface before gluing with strong hot hide glue and 3
clamps. After several days the bone nut
and saddle will be fitted, and the instrument will be strung and left to settle
to tension before final adjustments.” – R.B.
The guitar arrived soon after that. I couldn’t wait to tune
it up and play it!
Right out of the box,
it looked, felt, and sounded great. The shorter scale was just perfect, the set
up was world class. The guitar had everything, balance, sustain, intonation, and
the sound was unique, different than any of my other Brune guitars.
I have been playing the guitar every day, exposing it to all
of my repertoire, from Bach and Scarlatti, Albéniz, to Villa Lobos, and Toru
Takemitsu. With each piece, over multiple playing, I have heard new things,
realized new possibilities, and, for me, what tells me the most about an
instrument, is that it makes me dream and want to hear it more and more.
In the weeks since, I have noticed slight changes.
Everything that was there in the beginning has become even more so, especially regarding
the strength of its harmonics and fullness of its ponticello. In short, I’m
discovering something new every time I play my new instrument.
And finally, as a result of Richard’s photos and
explanations, I now look and listen to every new guitar in a different way, with
more appreciation for the knowledge, intuition, talent and most especially love
that goes into creating a world-class concert guitar.
