if you've never worked with a luthier or seen how a guitar is built you may find this interesting...

what's in a name?

first off, let me thank @Jesus Prieto for reminding me of the importance of a name. for this build i chose the name "nienna" which means "she who weeps". nienna is a fictional character from j.r.r tolkien's silmarillion. she was one of the valar (loosely translated to arch angel) who sat outside the houses of the dead and listened to their lamentations, which she would turn into sorrowful songs. olorin, who went by many names, including mithrandir and gandalf, spent much of his youth listening to her songs, from which he attained much of his wisdom and empathy.

why custom?

to be honest, i started with a custom electric build from a different luthier. that fell thru. i mistakenly thought many of the specs for the electric would translate easily to the acoustic build. they did not... very different beasts. while my electric build had many requirements related to body style, independent tone/volume w/ phase inverted pickups,etc., i didn't really have too many requirements for acoustic at first.

i have never been a fan of domed fingerboards... i like them perfectly flat. that requirement ruled out every major manufacturer. i considered a taylor, as the fingerboard radius is 20"... flat enough... but still a compromise. taylor doesn't offer a multi-scale version, and the nut on their nylon lines is narrow, like a steel string. i'm willing to compromise. i'm willing to spend good money. i'm not willing to do both at the same time.

in the end, i fell more and more in love with the tone of a classical guitar. i moved away from a steel string design to a gut/nylon. the bracing and neck are entirely different between the two due to the significant tension differences between the two. i also started playing guitar in the evening in the living room, and the acoustic is much better suited to that kind of noodling than an electric. i wanted a guitar i could curl up with on a couch by a fire. it's been 30 years since i bought anything for myself, and so a little splurging was in order.

what does a custom cost?

this can run from a few hundred dollars for someone putting together an electric stewmac build, to $25k+ for an acoustic built by someone who builds for the likes keith richards to $100k+ for "art".

classical acoustic luthiers have a saying... the first $5k is for the audience, meaning every dollar you spend up to $5k will improve the sound quality of the guitar. this is not to say that cheaper builds don't sound good, just that in general a $5k guitar will sound better than a $2k guitar, which will sound better than a $200 guitar. but a $10k guitar will sound about the same as a $5k guitar... every dollar spent over $5k is really for the player... how the guitar feels or responds. i have found some great apprentice luthiers doing builds for $2k which sound as good as any $5k guitar.

nienna is going to run about $10k when finished... the tuning machine alone will cost as much as my original acoustic budget.

how to choose a luthier?

finding a good luthier can be challenging... the term applies not only to those who make guitars, but other stringed instruments, and many luthiers only repair instruments, not make them. this may seem strange, but many luthiers hate making instruments. some get bored after years of making the same thing. some don't like working with people. some want to make their own brand and offer little in the way of customizations. some are better left to making wall art for etsy.

look for a luthier that is personable and willing to guide you through the process. look for one that uses a sound fork or tapping technique to make sure the wood will resonate well -- not all wood, even from the same species or tree, will sound good... some have dead spots. look for one that has good reviews.

find one with up front pricing. i've had great luthiers tell me to depost $7k and in 2025 we can discuss what i want to build and what it will cost.

for this build, i chose joel teel fom "two hands guitars". you can find him at https://www.facebook.com/TwoHandsGuitars and https://www.twohandsguitars.com/ . joel has been a pleasure to work with... communicates well, teaches about the process, works with the client, and treats the build like a partnership... the exact opposite of my previous experience. his standard builds run $5,500.

what about wood?

for an electric, the wood choice has only a little impact on the sound... most of the sound comes from the pickups. for an acoustic, the selected wood plays an integral role in determining the sound charactistics of the guitar, doubly so for a nylon string classical guitar.

most classical guitars have a front soundboard of spruce, cedar, or mahogany. spruce has a lot of snap, and is the primary choice for classical and many steel string guitars. it is best for large rooms, and may be a bit harsh for smaller rooms. cedar has less snap, and is more common in parlour guitars. mahogany has lots of resonance, but very little snap... it sounds great in a small room but can sound muddy in a large room. the sides and back are often made from rosewood or mahogany to add some resonance to the cedar or spruce. this combination leads to the classic light wood front, dark wood side and back color scheme.

this guitar will be the exact opposite. the front soundboard will be made from redwood that has been reclaimed from an 1800's mine. redwood has better resonance than cedar, but less snap than spruce. the sides and back will be maple, which has a lot of snap. this should balance out the redwood, but will require special bracing to keep the punch in check.

what is this multi-scale thingy?

if you measure from the nut to your 12th fret and double the distance you get the scale length of your guitar. common scale lengths include 24.75", 25", 25.5" and 26". most classical guitars have a scale length 25.5" and most flamenco guitars are 26". steel string guitars are often 25" or less to reduce the tension. a multi-scale guitar has different scale lengths for each string. the frets are not parallel, and fan out (often called a fanned fret guitar).

most people think of metal when they hear multi-scale. this is because multi-scale is great for drop tuning as it increases the tension on the low e. i chose multi-scale for a different reason... ergonomics... make a barre chord and slide it up and down your guitar neck... you may find you need to raise the guitar to play comfortably on the high frets, or that you have to lift your shoulder on low frets, depending on how you hold the guitar. you may also find your wrist angle changes significantly. on a fanned fret guitar, the angle of the frets changes, allowing greater playing range without having to change your wrist angle, the guitar angle, or lift your shoulder.

that said, determining what scale lengths are correct for you is a very involved and complicated process... which is why so few guitars are multi-scale, and those that are tend to have very slight scale differences... everything from where the fingerboard joins the guitar body to the nut width to the neutral fret position (the one "standard" fret that is perpendicular to the neck) to the scale difference the guitar's waist location all impact the multi-scale design... and the whole thing needs to be calibrated with your arm length and how you hold the guitar. furthermore, multi-scale will change the tone of the guitar as the lower strings may gain volume due to the longer scale length.

what are the specs of nienna?

style: "luna-gemini" which is the classical twin of the two hands luna model.

strings: nylon / gut

scale length: 25x26, 5th fret neutral

fingerboard radius: infinte, zero degrees, perfectly flat

nut width: 2"

wood: reclaimed redwood (front), quilted maple (sides and back), maple (neck) spalted maple (rosette), ebony (fingerboard, bindings and highlights), koa (accents), blue abalone shell for purfling.

tuning machine: custom hauser style tuning machine by rodgers

frets: large (but not super jumbo) evo gold

action: medium low

nut and saddle: tbd, likely bone with special polishing to accomodate gut strings.

pickups: none... i opted to not add an acoustic pickup

other features include: ryan style arm rest beveling (similar to lasking, but extends to the upper bout instead of just the lower bout), florentine cutaway (similar to a venetian cutaway but with a horn instead of rounded), side sound port in addition to the front facing port.

additional pictures of the build will be posted in comments below... or just go to the two hands facebook page... this is a spec build, so joel is post a lot of updates.