Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey folks. I've got a cheap classical guitar (has a truss rod) that I'd want to play some flamenco on. It's got the same break angle in the saddle on both the treble and bass side which has increased the stiffness of the treble strings. The treble strings are quite stiff even at normal tension.

Total string height at bridge (distance of string from guitar top) : 12 mm, saddle height protruding above from the bridge ~ 4 mm, total saddle height ~~ 8 mm

First, break angle is a tricky thing, heard lots of mixed opinions on this. Some say it affects string tension while some say it doesn't.

Next filing the saddle isn't an option, otherwise strings will start getting muted. I was thinking if tapering the fretboard is a viable option? If the thickness of the fretboard gets thinner, it will effectively raise the string height and thus give me an option to file down the saddle to the desired height.

I'd like to hear your thoughts, should I go for it? Any consequences of tapering the fretboard, like warping and all?

Break angle pics : https://imgur.com/a/BGWDGQX

A strting at it's proper pitch is going to maintain that particular tension no matter the brake angle.

I go for 8mm total string height over the soundboard on flamenco's. Tapering the FB sounds like a good, only, option. I would also suggest you make a new bridge or at least attempt to modify the one you have. You will need to shave wood off the bridge and perhaps deepen the saddle slot if it's not already to the depth of the wings.

Before you do anything though you might want to measure everything out. You might not be able to reach desired string height for a flamenco with a classical guitar as the neck angle is already set. Anything above 10mm at the bridge is too high for flamenco.

i'm assuming you're talking about the bridge itself and not the saddle, why is it important to shave the bridge? and any consequences of tapering work i need to focus on? like weakening the neck or something?

Classic guitar bridges are usually thicker. Flamenco bridges are around 6mm tall with a 2mm saddle giving you around 8mm height over the soundboard. To achieve that you most likely will need to shave the classical bridge AND the saddle down. Sounds like you have plenty of brake angle so that's good.