Torres Fan Bracing Diagram
Source: Guitar Plans

The Modern Classical Guitar:

While there were many forms of the guitar that preceded his fine work, Spaniard Antonio de Torres is noted for making the most advances on the classical guitar and the results of his work are largely represented in today’s modern classical guitar.

Torres made guitars from the mid 1850′s until his death in 1892. Torres is often referred to as the Stradivarius of the guitar world, because of his achievements. Even today, many luthiers base their guitars on some from of a Torres guitar from the 1800′s, whether it be the form, bracing pattern or some other of the advances that were made.

Enough of Torres guitars still exist today that they give us an indication of the tonal beauty and power that his advances posses. His guitars certainly stood head and shoulders above anything that was available at that time and he was greatly sought after by the greatest guitarist’s of his time.

The most notable changes in Torres designs were:

Width of the Body: Torres guitars were much larger than anything available at that time. The biggest differences were the size increases of the upper and lower bouts.

Depth of the Body: Torres increased the depth of his guitars as well, giving them more volume and bass response.

Torres Bracing System: Perhaps his greatest achievement was the development of the fan brace system for the top plates of his guitars. Through many experiments and testing, he settled on the now famous 7-fan bracing system, which has now become a standard of the industry.

Torres placed so much importance on the top and the top bracing system, that he once demonstrated how well a finished top attached to a paper-mache body could sound!

Scale Length: Torres settled in on the 650mm scale length, which was longer than any other at the time. Again he played with different string lengths and found that he could get the greatest sound/volume formula with 650mm vs that standard of the day.

Neck and Fingerboard: Torres standardized the width and thickness of the fingerboard and neck. He made the then standard wider and thicker, much closer to the classical guitars available today.

Stripped Ornamentation: Torres stripped the then popular ornamentation from his guitars and used only a multi-colored rosette around the sound hole and a very simple purfling system around the guitar edge.

Tied Bridge Development: Torres developed the tied bridge almost exactly as we know it today.

As we mentioned, the Torres fan bracing system is one of the most popular top plate bracing systems available, even on today’s modern classical guitars. Many luthiers use some from of it, which they have completed their own testing and made minor modifications.

Since this Torres bracing is really quite simple and forgiving, we recommend it to first-time guitar builders. Firstly it is good to construction a guitar in the Spanish tradition as Torres did and secondly, it will give you a base to start from when you advance to other bracing systems.

Classical Guitar Building Plans You May Be Interested In:
Torres Classical Guitar Plans
Ramirez Classical Guitar Plans
Kasha Classical Guitar Plans
Bouchet Classical Guitar Plans

Tags: guitar building, guitar making, torres fan bracing

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