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Comments
You avoid common frequencies as they would sound much louder if you tuned the instrument to them.
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When I was at college you only get a rough idea of what's needed then it's up to you to take it further, my second acoustic was a cautious build because the wood was expensive, turned out great but no idea how much better it could be
Just build loads of bloody guitars and see what you do and don't like, it's not rocket science, tapping a bit of wood before it's shaped or glued to a neck doesn't tell you much until you've done alot more building
I've taken apart guitar builds before, taken the neck out,changed fretboards and frets then I got to where I wanted because I expected more from the original build, that guitar turned out bloody great btw but took effort.
(formerly customkits)
There are no "facts" I can give, just thoughts and speculations based on building guitars for the last 20 years. I don't build a lot, I don't do it as my main job. Some of those years I have only built a couple, the most is probably about 7 or 8 in a year.
These days I rarely try to actively sell my guitars, so I have very little skin in the mojo selling business. I simply do what pleases me to build.
What I can say is that when I started building, I built in as many styles, woods, scale lengths as I could. I very rarely repeat a design, and if I do, I'm usually changing more than just the wood. I am not aiming to be scientific, I'm aiming to build guitars I like.
I start by tapping wood, and speculating on how it might sound. Sometimes I am totally wrong, sometimes I am right. That all helps when I start tapping wood and speculating about the next build.
I have many abandoned projects where I didn't like where it was going, even though the wood had everything I wanted. I have also been surprised to have wood that didn't vibrate in a pleasing way, but still produced a decent guitar. All valuable experience that helps the next guitar be a little better
So that's why I say to build. Built with the bits you think are right, build with the bits you think are wrong. Just build experience.
One thing that was important to me when i started building was stiff necks. Surely the aim is to have a neck as stiff and straight as possible. So I built with laminates and carbon fiber reinforcement and all that. headstocks were small and thick to avoid flapping about too much and wasting string energy I avoided one piece, and I avoided weaker woods. This gave very efficient necks, no loss of string energy. It translates as a direct sound, quick attack, good solid sustain, even decay. I still like that style, but these days much prefer a less stiff neck and bigger/thinner headstocks. Its not as efficient in pure sound production, but it sure is interesting to the ear and produces guitars that make me want to pick them up more often
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(formerly customkits)
I had the wrong bridge on it after I'd done everything I noticed it as soon as I changed it the thing came alive.
Like I said you've just got to build alot, I also have part builts etc scattered around, I've got one hanging up without a fretboard because I took it off as it was a braz one
I strummed that guitar up against a real 56 goldtop and mine was nowhere near, didn't have that unplugged jangle and mine was good lol so just hung it up, I'll do something else with it one day.
(formerly customkits)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Although I did use a quatersawn maple neck on my telepaul and that's a great sounding guitar.
(formerly customkits)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
While I can't add anything , that proves different woods affect the tone on guitar , I can say for sure that on my two guitars ( both Yamaha Pacifica ) electronics have little impact to alter their sound signature played unplugged !
ThisThis one for example, always sounds on the dark side and lacks a sparkle .
I have tried few different pickups and it never goes beyond that sound signature .
Very strange !
My theory is , that it has laquer all over and the other Pacifica has some sort of oil finish and rosewood neck .
So perhaps wood choice and finish has its big role in tone ?
edit, I can see it was answered above, missed it for some reason.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wFnxcaBOOZU
I watch the video at the point that you mentioned, I do disagree with quite a few things that was said. Comments about flame Maple for instance. Just about every jazz box that’s made has a flame Maple neck, including “Benedetto” Jazz guitars. Most classical instrument violins violas double basses have necks made from frame Maple, flame Sycamore or European flame Maple. PRS use flame Maple on some of their neck’s, a lot of custom bass builders also use flame Maple. I have no hesitation in using frame Maple, either one piece or laminated looks good, sounds good and is very stable. I think it would be very unwise to take the comments of one guitarist no matter how famous he or she is, as gospel.
Your life will improve when you realise it’s better to be alone than chase people who do not really care about you. Saying YES to happiness means learning to say NO to things and people that stress you out.
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all comes down to understanding the wood in front of you. I see people get excited about a small patch of flame in an otherwise clear neck. To me that shows a potential flaw that may lead to instability.
I still get excited about a consistently flamed neck blank, but wouldn't want big wide flame, and definitely no quilt... but there is always CF bars
One of the reasons flamed wood was available to Stradivarius was because no one else wanted it. There is a story I remember about a good source being drift wood. It was used for oars, and the flamed ones were more likely to break.
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