Modern Classical Guitar Design Part 2: Indented Cutaway

Bellucci guitar with an 'Indented Cutaway' from Mangore guitars.

Introduction

Access to frets past the 12th fret has gained increasing attention from luthiers and guitarists for at least a decade. I mentioned in Part 1 of my series on modern classical guitar design that an 'indented cutaway' is a somewhat modern design feature that a few luthiers are starting to incorporate into their designs.

Standard Cutaway vs Indented Cutaway

Here are two of my own guitars showing two of the most common types of cutaway. The guitars are Takamine TNV460SC on the left and a Takamine TH5C on the right. I have two video reviews of both of these guitars that you can watch farther on in this article.

Two of my favorite guitars restrung & serviced - Takamine TNV460SC acoustic on the left and a Takamine TH5C 'Hirade' classical on the right. #takamine #guitar #musicislife #maori #guitarist

A post shared by Josh (@nbnguitar) on Oct 12, 2016 at 5:42am PDT

Here is a full review of my Takamine TH5C Hirade model.

The Indented Cutaway

With an indented cutaway only a small section of the soundboard, back & sides is removed. The fundamental idea is that the overall sound and projection of the guitar isn't compromised but access to the higher frets is improved. This is best shown by a picture.

One of Kris Barnett's stunning guitars featuring an indented cutaway.

As you can see the smaller cutaway leaves a significant amount of the guitars' chamber undisturbed.

Pros

Improves access to upper frets
Visually striking
Has an unusual and modern look

Cons

Has an effect on the power on tone of the instrument
Probably not as effective as a raised fretboard
Clearly visible departure from a standard classical guitar design
Niche design therefore it could be difficult to resell

The same Kris Barnett guitar when viewed from the rear. As you can see the indented cutaway removed minimal wood from the guitar.

My Verdict

I'd love to try one. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to play a guitar with an indented cutaway for two reasons:

Very few luthiers actually make this design
Those that do are expensive and usually have extremely long waiting lists

I think it could be a really great feature to have on your guitar but I think I'd probably choose an elevated fretboard rather than this particularly for resale purposes.