You can but dream...

wrench
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:12 pm
Status: Offline

Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:20 pm

michelew wrote:
......Do items on the headstock like a tuner or capo affect the way the guitar vibrates. That's probably a silly question since we drastically change what the neck is doing with each note we fret.

The work you do sounds pretty labor intensive. I imagine that it's only worth doing (from a cost perspective) the sorts of changes you're talking about with high end, go-to guitars. It sounds like specialist luthier work.

M
Michele,
I heard from multiple sources that a headstock tuner will alter your tone. Theoretically this is true to some extent, but when I looked into this, I didn't find it to be the case. The neck is so much thicker and stiffer than the soundboard that small mass changes affect the neck frequency very little. Even when the mass becomes greater, it doesn't seem to change the natural frequency as much as it just dampens the neck. The neck is another area where I part ways with many very good luthiers. I believe the neck participates in the guitar's voice more than some recognized experts believe it does, and among the guitars I have analyzed, those with laminated necks have better clarity. I realize necks of this construction appear on higher quality guitars, but I think the laminated neck is a key element of that higher quality. I digress, but no, I don't think a tuner or capo affects tone or vibration enough to worry about.

It struck me that you mentioned higher end guitars because the truth is I do more of this work on cheap guitars. Analysis happens on any guitar I can get my hands (or mic) on, but more chips fly from cheap guitars.


Hey Max, do you have any sound clips of the guitar you built?


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Thu Jul 11, 2013 3:18 am

Thanks for the info Dan. You're a font of knowledge.

My Hofner has an Ebony strip reinforcing the neck, being a classical it has no truss rod (though I know some do now). I love it's tone and resonance. It's interesting to understand more about what might be contributing to that. So many different design features to my steel-string. ...

Thanks for sharing your smarts.


Max - good luck getting your hands on a CA. They sound cool. And WOW! With the whole making your own guitar thing. That's incredible! You should definitely show it off. :)

M


wiley
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:26 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:10 am



wiley
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:26 am
Status: Offline

Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:15 am



wrench
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:12 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:43 pm

I am REALLY looking forward to having a conversation with wiley at the IGC.


fjeanmur
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:19 am
Status: Offline

Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:13 pm

Thanks for your answer, Wrench. I've been away, so I've only just now been able to reply.

Wow! You went out and bought a Mitchell? You really were curious! You should have said something and I would have sent you mine for all the good it's doing me. Tool box? I don't have one and besides I wouldn't know where to get started. But if you do come up with anything, I'd be curious to know what you found out. Happy guitar fixing!

Jean


wrench
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:12 pm
Status: Offline

Sun Jul 14, 2013 5:46 pm

Jean, the Mitchell experiment is over. This guitar is better campfire fuel than campire music.

It really doesn't sound too bad; I took a sound signature, and it was actually pretty clean, with a natural voice consistently about a half step sharp (which isn't a bad thing). It could never become playable, however, without a fretboard repair (renewing the radius), repairing several fret slots, replacing several frets, and a bridge replacement. The frets were just hideously bad. Three fret slots lacked complete slots, and the fret installer chose to remove the fret tangs and glue frets in place to give the illusion of installed frets. After that it just got worse.

The tuners were pretty good, and I think the wood will burn real well. Other than a training aid, I wouldn't set the expectations too high for your Mitchell.

In the realm of cheap guitars, I've had fantastic and consistent results with Yamahas and Takamines. You can really turn a Yamaha into a pretty decent guitar. And talking about value, I find Seagulls to be of such quality, I almost never find any improvememnts to them are necessary.


fjeanmur
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:19 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:42 pm

Well thanks, Wrench. I never would have been able to go over that guitar with such detail. I just knew that because it was painful to play and didn't respond well probably meant that it was a pretty lousy guitar.

Well, like I said, I have been using my daughter's Seagull which is just beautiful. No GAS for me! Now that we've gotten home from vacation, I have told my daughter that I want her to pick out two lessons to work on, but she doesn't seem too motivated. Maybe I won't need that second guitar after all. Thanks for the info and the lesson on what makes a guitar work (well). I really appreciate it.

Jean


RicksPick
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:18 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:22 pm

Hi there TG'ers

Bumping this thread cos I've been feeding my G.A.S today at a fantastic freindy shop
I was lucky to spend an hour playing a wonderful guitar made by George Lowden
I think this is my dream guitar



RicksPick


User avatar
neverfoundthetime
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:38 pm

That's a big fat warm sound rick.... I guess you like yours with lots of curves!


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic