Lattice Guitars

Damian Lodge New Age Classical

 The new Age Classical Guitar is often referred to as the Australian style of Classical Guitar (made famous by Luthier Greg Smallman). 

The soundboard really feels alive when a note is struck.  Guitarists notice instantly the better projection and increased volume without any loss in tone.  These guitars are made quite differently to the traditional classical guitar. 

Inside the guitar body there are major differences in the general construction with the sides and back made up of a number of veneers which are epoxied together to provide greater strength and rigidity to the body.  As shown in the picture on the left.

The back of the guitar has an arched back similar to that of of a cello which reflects the sound in the guitar body back to the sound board helping sustain. 

The guitar top is thinner than a traditional classical guitar and the bracing under the soundboard has a lattice pattern instead of a fan pattern (take a look at the gallery for the differences).  Inside the guitar there is a plywood structure that joins the sides to the top.  This also adds rigidity to the body allowing only the top to vibrate.  Damian has experimented heavily and completed a great deal of research on the balsa and carbon fibre as there are a considerable number of variables when building this style of guitar.  He plays particular attention to the balsa density, the shaping of the lattice, the amount of carbon fibre added to the lattice and the flexibility of the cedar used for the guitar top.

These guitars are built with a 2mm taper on the bass side of the fretboard to allow for greater attack on the bass strings due to the wide vibration pattern compared to the treble strings.  (Take a look at the gallery for a picture of the taper)  This allows the bass strings to be played aggressively without any fret buzz or noise and maintains a flat bridge for the right hand.  The saddle in the bridge is compensated so your guitar will play in tune when playing with other instruments.  Damian also adds an additional fret so players can play a high C and G on the respective E and B strings.

Options on these guitars can also include cut away, pick up, sound ports, arm rests and inlay.

A New Age Classical Guitar takes approximately 150 hours to complete, with most of the building process completed by hand with hand tools that have been passed down through generations of the Lodge family.