Quote:
Originally Posted by BIG CHEETO  The sides and back are almost white in comparrison to the darker spruce top |
Judging by the pics it was probably built for Flamenco (cypress back/sides), as opposed to classical playing in the Segovia style (Rosewood back/sides). The use of cypress tends to give a much brighter tone, and also quite a bit louder overall. Well suited to the normal difference in venues - taverns filled with rowdy patrons vs the respectful silence of a classical recital
Another typical feature of Flamenco guitars is much lower action than the usual classical set-up. The Flamenco style tends to use a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs that most classical players avoid in favor of cleanly picking each note
Back in the old days (pre WW2), Flamenco players also favored friction tuning pegs like you would find on a violin etc. That's not very common any more, although a few makers still build 'em that way for their most conservative clientele. Geared tuners are definitely much more common these days, leaving the color of the back/sides most obvious visual difference between the two types
Don't know the maker of your guitar, but it's not really surprising that they were Japanese. Both the Classical and Flamenco styles were embraced by the Japanese long before other styles became popular over there. Yamaha, for example, made many thousands of classicals before they ever branched out into steel-string acoustics and electrics
Many excellent luthiers in Japan, both small one-off shops and factory-built. Fits right in with their tradition of fine woodworking
edited to add:
Looking very carefully at the pic of the top, I can just make out a clear plastic pickguard. That's a dead giveaway that it was built for Flamenco. The
golpeador (tap plate) protects the top from the ravages of being torn up by the player's fingers doing the typical percussive accents. In essence, a Flamenco player not only plays the strings, but also uses the entire instrument as a percussion instrument as well
The top i believe is SPRUCE, but i dont know what the rest of the woods are? The sides and back are almost white in comparrison to the darker spruce top.
