The Spanish foot

Here is a picture of the finished top on the solera with the neck in place, showing the Spanish foot and heel of the neck. I usually use Honduras Mahagony, but this neck is made from flamed maple and will look exquisite against the Indian Rosewood back and sides of the finished guitar. I plan to give it a gamboge finish similiar to the one I used on the maple back and sides of #27, the Requinto shown earlier in these notes. Construction of the neck follows well known methods and the new student is encouraged to read one of the books I recommended earlier on making master guitars.

Unlike modern steel strung acoustic guitars, very few classical guitars have necks which can be removed from the body, or adjusted by means of truss rods or other inventions of industrial engineers. In the Spanish method, the neck of a classical guitar ends in what is called a Spanish foot. The Spanish foot provides gluing surfaces for the top and back of the guitar, and slots into which the sides are glued. The deceased and highly regarded Barcelona builder Ignacio Fleta is one of the few master builders who did not use this method. Fleta was a violin maker and adopted the neck block and dovetail method of the violin to the guitar.

Lest the interested reader assume that the Spanish foot is just an idiosyncratic feature and a legacy of historical development, be aware that the properties of the neck, the stability of the string anchor at the nut, and the resilience of the neck/body joint are all important to the sound of a fine guitar. One of the beauties of the classical guitar is that it has evolved to its current state of simple perfection over centuries and no detail is unimportant or unnecessary.

In the next note, I'll show you a photograph of the neck, top and sides assembled on the solera, ready for the back.