Small bodied classical guitars

[Carl Kaufmann]

Elderly injured fretted-instrument fellow looking for help in finding designs, and plans if possible, for classical guitars with small bodies, along the lines of some dating from the 19th Century. Please relay any thoughts you have on sources, selections to fill this special need. .
This request is from an old is luthier now getting back into playing guitars, but who had a sports injury some months ago that did serious damage to the left arm and shoulder. It is now difficult and tiring for me to try to play a classical, with the body sitting on the left leg and the neck canted up to a playable angle. A guitar with narrow upper and lower bouts, sitting more comfortably and requiring less extension of the left arm, might fit me better. I am not overly worried about the diminished output of smaller instruments. I know that some parlor guitars and old style classicals can deliver unexpected power and sound quality. One sample of that is a performance by guitarist Brandon Acker, on You Tube. He plays Tarrega on a skinny 19th Century classical.
I am anxious to find specs for something like that, with the idea of building it for myself. (Are yes, I know I could swap over and learn to play a left handed guitar. But I am too old to switch sides.)

[Alain Lambert]

There is the Crane page http://www.crane.gr.jp/CRANE_etc/CRANE_Plan_E.html
A Torres FE26 https://josswinn.org/wp-content/uploads ... w-1954.pdf

[Clay Schaeffer]

Lmii sells Roy Courtnall's plan for a Torres small bodied short scale 19th century guitar. I think a number of people on the forum have built from the plan and been happy with the results:
https://www.lmii.com/plans/3347-plan-18 ... scale.html
The 1918 Martin size 1 plan by Ted Davis (sold through GAL) was originally a gut strung instrument:
https://luth.org/instrument-plans/guita ... tar-plans/ (scroll down)
The "formica" guitar in this discussion -https://www.mimf.com//phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6450 - is a hybridization of the two designs.

[Alan Carruth]

Actually, it's easier to make a loud small guitar than a loud big one. As you reduce the span of the top you can make it thinner without losing the necessary stiffness. The mass of the top tends to drop faster than the area, and output depends on the ratio of A/m.Smaller instrument also tend to be more 'treble balanced' and high frequencies tend to 'carry' better. The one thing a big guitar gives you is more bass, but you may not notice that lack as much as you might think. The key to making a good small bodied guitar is to keep everything light.