Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Just finished boxing my 2nd SS falcate and got some numbers. T(1,1)1 =103 T(1,1)2 = 199 T(1.1)3 = 219 Thinned the top to 2mm at the edges of lower bout while tap testing along the way and ended up with: T(1,1)1 =100 T(1,1)2 = 196 T(1.1)3 = 224 I'm going to make up some weights and take some samples ...

That's the sense I get from reading articles he's written and browsing his blog. He definitely seems to exhibit a strong artistic flavor to what he does. I suspect that may be his single largest contributing success factor.

Deems

Thanks Richard,

It's nice to get feedback as it helps solidify what I think I've learned. Being a new builder my skills are definitely "immature" I'm mid way through another SS Falcate should have it boxed in a couple of weeks and am anxious to see if this one come closer to the target.

Deems

As a new builder I'm trying to digest as much fact based information as I can regarding guitar building. That's what I REALLY appreciate about Trevor and Gerard's book. I've found that in the world of guitar building there is a never ending stream of opinion that is freely offered, but the vast majo...

I just finished building the rig to measure monopole mobility nearly identical to Trevors latest version. After fiddling with the spreadsheet and pouring thru the threads on the topic. I'm getting what I feel are accurate numbers. I'd like to verify some things regarding the units that are input int...

I have been re reading the Design book and my mind is stumbling on visualizing something I'm hoping some of you can help with. I understand that the Main Air resonance is produced by the 'air plug' that moves like a piston within the sound hole. And that it can be identified by tap testing with a sp...

Either way, you're requesting a level of theory that hasn't been developed and likely can't be developed. Both require the development of some objective function that can be optimised or minimised against criteria that are difficult to define in an objective way. Trevor thank you for taking the tim...

Thanks Matt I get the 12 vs 14 fret thing, and how the traditional 14 fret join under optimizes the soundboard efficiency. What I'm searching for is: a. information about how to design the body shape relative to the scale length (which pretty much dictates where the bridge/saddle will be) so that wi...

Thanks for the reference. I was thinking that if the lower bout were a circle then it would seem that the bridge would be at the center in order to maximize the effectiveness of the sound board. Since guitars traditionally have a modified hourglass shape and the T(1,1)2 is more egg shape. Most examp...

The book speaks to this related to X braced guitars, but not specifically Falcate bracing. I understand the point about maximizing the effectiveness of the lower bout, but I'm clueless as to how to determine where to place the bridge center of mass relative to the size and shape, scale length.... Ar...

Just curious - I have seen some guitars with fret position markers at the 10th before (and they are always there on banjos, mandos and bouzoukis), but never at the 13th. Was that intentional, or a whoops? cheers Mark I'm as new to playing as I am to building, so when time for fret markers. I browsw...

Now that I have some credible figures I need to digest these and see what it means to my build. At 1st blush T(1,1)2 @ 163 seems a bit on the low side. Yes. The normal ranges are in the book, of course. ://en. Tell us a bit more about the type of guitar and its construction.[/quote] About the guita...

After last tap click on Capture Spectrum button, wait for graph to build, zoom in on Freq's 0 - 350 hz and snip. Click on capture THEN start tapping at just over 1 sec intervals. When done VA will give you a new window with the captured spectrum and a phase spectrum. You can get rid of the latter b...

Now it looks like a signal level problem. Post your best looking effort and how you got it. Here's another sample. Settings are as noted in the snips below Capture Spectrum buffers = 10. Input gain adjusted from ho to low ( didn't seem to have significant effect). 10 taps on center of bridge using ...

It still looks like you have a linear Y-axis scaling. Choose log. (dB) as Martin suggested (check box in the bottom right of the VA window) and post another pic. Keep the linear X-axis scaling. hmmmm made the changes and repeated a 10 tap average, the results don't look anything like what I was get...

Dave M wrote:It is indeed a nice clean design.

But what fun to be able to play a guitar that you have actually built from scratch!

Dave

Fun indeed!

Trevor Gore wrote:Deems, see if you can post a shot directly out of VA rather than via Excel. To convert from the .wmf file type (which the forum doesn't support) to .jpg (which it does) use a program such as Irfanview.

Here's one I just took direct from VA with the instrument strung up.

Thanks for the tip Martin, any thoughts on the double peaks for the T(1,1)3?

Thank you Martin. #2 is in the mold now and I plan to do more tap testing as it is boxed. (beyond the initial testing to determine panel thickness). I haven't invested in the gear for Chladni tests yet, but after browsing this forum, I've been online to research where I can get the parts. I posted t...

IT was (Still IS) quite a learning curve. I made a few mistakes along the way (don't look too closely at the rosette inlay). The soundhole is too large. This is the 2nd neck and I really need to put together another (Thank goodness for the BOBO design) as I had to be pretty aggressive with the fret ...

Recently finished: This is my 1st build, I've learned a lot and also learned that I've got a lot more to learn:

632mm Scale Length
Engleman Spruce Top
EIR Back / Sides
Ebony bindings
Conical fretboard
Falcate CF Bracing
Compensated Nut & Saddle
CNC carved Neck

I recently finished my 1st build following as closely as my developing skills will allow the principle and practices in Trevor's book/s. I'll attempt to add a pic or two to the gallery. I'm attaching a copy of the VA results from the completed guitar and would appreciate any help interpreting them. ...