Yenson Guitars: nylon-string parlor guitar

Old-growth redwood / Honduras rosewood / koa binding

This one was a lot of fun to build, and it’s a lot of fun to play, too. I love playing nylon-string guitars but have always found their necks to be a bit much to manage, so I built this one up alongside its steel-string cousin. Materials are mostly identical between the two, and I used a Torres-influenced bracing pattern for the top. It’s by no means a traditional classical guitar: the neck has a slim modern profile and a slightly narrower nut width than what you’d find on a classical.

Features a 25-3/8” scale and a nut width of 1-7/8”.

Material

• Top: Old-growth coastal redwood (Mendocino County, California)

• Sides and back: Honduras rosewood

• Neck: Honduras mahogany

• Fingerboard & peghead over/underlay: Indian ebony

• Binding & end graft: Koa with western maple pinstripes

• Heelcap: Curly koa with western maple & Honduras rosewood pinstripes

• Soundhole inlay: Old-growth Honduras mahogany, two types of koa, and English sycamore

• Tuners: Rubner

• Shellac finish

• Bone nut & saddle

• FlexStrong Dual Action truss rod