Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi all

Built my 1st guitar Jan 2012 and caught the bug,
this is No.3 and I had a crack at cutting some of my own wood,

I used hoop pine from a recycled 100 year old roof truss (1/4 sawn)
recycled some old Atlantic cedar for braces,
Qld maple for back and sides
Found a piece of liquid amber under Dads shed for the neck
book-matched a piece of mulga from a found log (under Dads shed , Yep) with sapwood running down the centre.

With the soundboard bracing I made the bass side carry less mass then the treble,
So the treble side carries a scolloped X and the bass tapers off pretty hard,
Same as tone bars, Heavy/Taller treble side then I taper them off reduce mass bass side,

My theory was/is -- More mass = more treble
Less Mass = More Bass
Instead of trying to just improve 1 or the other with symmetrical bracing why not try increase treble and bass with non-symmetrical bracing .

Im just beginning but at 43 yrs old I need to make for lost time, oh the pangs of wasted youth,

I wanted an aggressive looking guitar but stuffed it up by making a smiley bridge . bahhahaaaa,

I had my first crack at french polish which turned out great back and sides and just a little rough round the bridge and neck joins on the front, but you learn.
I am very happy with its tone and volume, I need to run it side by side a standard dready to test if my bracing theory has improved tones.

With the under saddle pickup I felt it was making it sound a little "doughy" so I wanted some of the corian saddle to touch the bridge , so I filed a 1.5X1.5 mm rebate into the bottom of the saddle, so now half the saddle touches the bridge and I squeeze the under saddle pickup into that slot, took a bit of mucking around but I feel it has brought some "Crisp" into the bass, especially the low E.

I know it needs a truss rod cover, I decided to poke it out the top for ease of access, I installed the pickup jack before I glued on the top as I cant get my hand in there,
The side port was my idea to blow a bit of tone in the players face instead of it all pumping away frontside , seems to work ok,

Its my 3rd guitar so I am stoked,

regards

Greg C

Now that's different.
Not my cup of tea (the soundholes look a little "Marvin the android-ish" (the original one!)) but I can see the work you've put in. I like the striping of the soundboard and the Mulga you've used on the fingerboard. The timbers come together nicely.
Just a little constructive criticism if I may? If you get the chance, investigate the three modes of vibration a soundboard undertakes (monopole, cross di-pole, and Long di-pole), a soundboard doesn't seperate out bass sides/frequencies and treble sides/frequencies, it vibrates as a whole. Keep an eye on the "bass" side of your top for bellying as that leg of the X brace just looks a little light to me (as compared to it's "treble" cousin) for structural purposes.

Danger! Will Robinson. Even with the bridge it still has a bit of a sinister look about it. Nice bit of off on a tangent design Greg.

Jim

Nick wrote:Now that's different.

(Greg Say's)Coming from a bloke with an avatar like yours I take that as a huge compliment,

Nick wrote:Just a little constructive criticism if I may? If you get the chance, investigate the three modes of vibration a soundboard undertakes (monopole, cross di-pole, and Long di-pole), a soundboard doesn't seperate out bass sides/frequencies and treble sides/frequencies, it vibrates as a whole.

(Greg)I will indeed look into that, criticism is good, water me , watch me grow,

Nick wrote: Keep an eye on the "bass" side of your top for bellying as that leg of the X brace just looks a little light to me (as compared to it's "treble" cousin) for structural purposes.

Did you notice the little brace across the back of the bridge plate, ? I thought that might be a bit of added structural-ness .

Upon playing this I do feel I have taken a bit much out of the bass side X, but , now I know,

Bellying, the top on this thing is so sensitive to humidity , its like a wave at bondi, up and down - up and down-

Cheers for your thoughts,

Greg

greg c wrote:Did you notice the little brace across the back of the bridge plate, ? I thought that might be a bit of added structural-ness .

Upon playing this I do feel I have taken a bit much out of the bass side X, but , now I know,

Bellying, the top on this thing is so sensitive to humidity , its like a wave at bondi, up and down - up and down-

Cheers for your thoughts,

Greg

I always maintain that building guitars is evolution rather than revolution (most ideas touted as "revolutionary" these days have been tried in the past to varying degrees) and each build teaches you something for the next. I'm glad you have the right attitude Greg, some people see all critique as a negative when it's not always intended as such. We all learn something from each other, no matter what level each of us are at.

Funky! I like it.

Col

I fully support people branching out with their own experiments! Regarding talk about the braces, reminds me a bit of Santa Cruz's straight tapered bracing, only you've started the taper quite a bit closer to the X. I think you can still taper 'em out like that and have a structurally sound instrument, just maybe not so slim and start a bit farther down the brace, like these here: