I have a Korean built dreadnought by Vantage with ovangkol (I believe, possibly laminated) sides, and a solid 2 piece cedar top. I picked it up in 1995 for $400 new with hardshell case, and have received compliments for decades on it's tone. It came with nice low action and a very thin bridge with not too much break angle on the strings. Granted, I have a HD-28 now and the Vantage has had a brace start lifting on the back (no humidity control), but it was my main acoustic for a very long time. The cedar top with ovangkol is really a beautiful sound, not as loud as my HD-28 of course, but subtle and very refined. I bet cedar with EIR is fantastic.
I bought a 1983 made in japan Vantage va- Ltd ...it's okay...My 1974 mansfield hummingbird 684 (mij) is a cannon...I love the neck snd how beautiful the finish is...its a solid wood earlybearly model..production number#06...
Today on F style mandolins they still use gauze to prevent the F holes from cracking and it is also used to stabilize the cross section of the X-brace so the more dimensionaly stable canvas binding tape can also prevent sides from cracking as badly. Binding tape is also used when building cabinets/cases to prevent thin sides from cracking. I also use binding tape to stabilize wooden cigar style boxes that I make for tool storage. One benefit when using binding tape is that it conforms to irregular surfaces such as the bouts on instruments and arched tops. While some ribbon looks similar to binding tape it does not provide the same amount of dimensional stability. They did similar to reinforce the mahogany planked hulls of WW2 PT Boats gluing fabric between the layers of planking to make the hulls much stronger. That's how they explained it to my Dad when he did his apprenticeship making mandolins, guitars and violins in a shop on the outskirts of Naples Italy in 1911. It helps when you know what they used and why. The use of binding tape to reinforce thin woods goes way back over a century or so and was the goto method back when glue technology was not as good as what we have today. Best!
I enjoyed your video! I have a book by Roger Simonoff "The Art of Tap Tuning"; he shows how you can take a piece of cardboard and cover the sound hole and move it around to make it smaller or larger to demonstrate the effect of size of sound hole on the tone of the guitar. Also eagerly awaiting the next episode of the 3001-year-old guitar! I have a 1973 book by someone that worked repairing Martins, and he shows photos of Martin using what he called "brown muslin" for that purpose. The text says that it is installed with white glue, and when it dries, it shrinks up and makes an excellent reinforcement. I have several Martin guitars, and the D-18s are made with the little brown ribbon. A lot of D-size Martins I have seen have what I call "key cracks" which occur exactly in the location where you would have keys in your pocket and put the guitar on the keys and then a little weight on the guitar while you play will crack the sides. I tell everyone interested in a used D-size guitar to check for key cracks because nobody thinks to look there. When I build a guitar, I put a side brace in that exact spot to prevent that kind of crack. I just make little popsicle sticks out of leftover side wood.
The fact that the part that says „Florida“ on your logo is not centered makes me crazy. Well, nevermind. You are by far my favorite TH-cam channel! Glad to be one of your Patreons. Greetings from Austria.
I don’t build guitars. Shoot! I barely even consider myself a guitars player. I am a retired offshore structural designer that took up guitar as a way to keep from going crazy in retirement. I have always been into tinkering with stuff and tinkering with the setup of my guitars came natural. I love your channel! Information that I will never use but am always interested in knowing! Thanks!!
You might also like a fella named 'twoodfrd'. His channel is quite similar in content, but focuses more on repairs. If you're gonna play guitar, you might as well learn some basic repair techniques.
@@danbgt I also recently bumped into this channel: th-cam.com/users/AnjudaGuitars Again, very similar luthier type stuff. (I am in no way affiliated with any of these channels.)
I watch your reviews guys and i feel like your reviews and tear downs are absolutely 100%bang on..Everything makes so much sense...The build speaks for itself (ie:the G200 gibson) .shame on them for flogging that crap using a long standing name to charge top dollar...the epiphone review shows that they are doing a much better job....But bang for buck hands down is yamaha...man those ll16 guitars are fantastic...even the 830 series....keep up the great work...those of us who have been around guitars appreciate the expertise that you bring....i get so bored of most reviews from other channels ...same old same ole that you hear by all the reviews...Im savy and want best bang for my buck....thank you!!
Late to the party here and I'm not even a guitarist, but here's a few questions: How come most acoustic guitars aren't made with the strings mounted to a tailpiece fixed to the end block and with a much thinner, lighter bridge held in place by string tension like a banjo or bowed strings? How different would they sound compared to a regular acoustic with the usual glued bridge saddle arrangement? Has anyone experimented using two as near to identical acoustics as possible (as no two otherwise identical instruments will play or sound exactly the same as each other) and converted one to having the tailpiece/floating bridge arrangement to do a comparison? Does the strings pulling up on the soundboard offer better sound compared to the strings pushing down on it? Also would the one with a tailpiece not need the X bracing or maybe braced in a different manner with the bracing done in a more longitudinal manner like the bass bar in bowed strings?
What is the difference between Indian rosewood and Brazilian rosewood when used for back and sides when it comes to the sound? Is there a big difference in the sound. Is Brazilian rosewood a better tonewood than Indian rosewood?
I’d love to see an update video of the Tidalcaster build. I know I’m but one of many but it would be cool to see a snapshot of the guitar as it goes through the build…
Hello, I'm trying to obtain information about a acoustic electric guitar (ESP TL6) The high E string on this instrument is vey low in volume as opposed to the other 5 strings. I have recently installed a new Graphtech saddle and repaired the nut deepth at the high E string location and nothing so far is working. It would be greatly appreciated if a Tech/Luthier possibly could help me with this issue? I think it might be the Fishman undersaddle pickup going bad but i am at a loss thus far. Thanks so very much in advance. Ronald
You answered my question I asked on the Woodstock guitar you were building about the laminate sides. I would think side bracing wouldn’t be necessary on laminate sides. Also I’m hoping there will be more videos on the Woodstock guitar after number 7 or did I miss it somewhere? Thanks again. Great info.
The ribbon on the sides sounds like a hold over from the lute and bowl back mandolin days when strips were glued to the staves inside the back. Also, vacuum bagging is a relatively new technique so when making the very old instruments it would have have been difficult to laminate sides.
Why not a composite carbon fiber with a thin wood strip Rosewood preferably under the bone saddle light strong responsive and with a mold you can make any shape you want of the bridge?
I built a black walnut guitar 30 years ago, and because it has pretty wild grain, I made walnut side braces from the scraps of the body’s original board. And on a mahogany, I wen to a craft store and got spruce craft sticks that were basically tongue depressors.
Lighter but still strong. As far as weight, engage in a thought experiment; reduce the weight to zero and imagine no bridge and all energy given to the top with no mass need to accelerate the mass of the bridge. The natural frequency response spectrum would be different if the area of the bridge were gone. I understand that a setup without the bridge height would introduce all sorts of geometry changes in the overall design and a strong top wood that doesn't exist, but the bridge mass won't need to be accelerated. Or think of a drumhead with a length of bar stock sitting on the surface. This is essentially a node and new wave lengths or chords are created from the bar to the edge or anchor point of the drum. Alternate subject, I like your explanation of the wood's new role "this is the shape I'm in"; I heard Levon Helm and the Band when you spoke the phrase.
Great video! There's one thing I'm confused about: You said that a larger soundhole would reduce lows and increase highs and mids. This seems contrary to the use of a small soundhole on gypsy guitars, which are expressly designed to emphasize mids and highs (for projection). What are your thoughts on this?
Just from watching videos online from repair techs it seems that opening a soundhole on a "nasally" sounding dreadnought seems to smooth out the tone and "open it up" a little bit. Kimsey has a few videos on it
intresting because my opinion is that the j-45 or AJ with the oldschool small bridge sounding much better than the bigger one like on the southern jumbo
Hey guys I got a thought for the cloth material? Maybe the Martin guitars used cloth like some Luthier's like to paint the inside cavity with a thin amount of shellac? To reflect bounce sound out like a ball in an 4 wall hand ball court. The ball inside hitting the walls, it's loud in there! Just a thought. An archtop builder uses the kerffing and uses spruce or cedar makes strips that he glues measured to touch the upper and lower kerffing for the sides of the archtops he made. 3"inches apart?
My 2014 Martin DCPA4 has the cute little ribbons on the side but their rosewood colored woodgrain. It looks like about 1/8" thick, Can you get that at Michaels?
Hi! Great videos, guys!!! Thanks for being here, sharing wisdom! I have a helpful idea for the soundhole question, as far as tone quality and getting the best sound out of your guitar, and it is this - instead of permanently changing the physical characteristics of a work of art, why not experiment with different guages and string types. Most guitars seem like they are sold new with light guage strings, so they appeal more to the buyer the very first time they pick out the instrument. Plus, in a store with 20 - 50 other guitars all freshly strung and harping along with any noise around, always makes the one you're playing sound heavenly in a quiet room with nothing but guitars. But if you know about Tony Rice's string choice, it adds to his signature sound that he uses heavy guage nickel wound custom strings, along with the larger sound hole, makes a more iridescent timbre. Cheers! Keep up the excellent work!!!
I was recently given a Mitchell MO-100S/PK in fairly good shape. I cleaned it, replaced strings, bridge pins (cosmetic reasons), slotted the bridge as per your video, replaced the pick guard, added a head stock decal and did a fret job/set up on the guitar. It turned out beautifully and sounds good, at least to my untrained ear. But I'm way intimidated to tackle the saddle to solve a minor intonation issue. As I'm a beginner player I doubt I'll ever get higher than the 12th fret. Should I worry about this? And am I right in thinking that Mitchell took some "serious inspiration" from the Martin D35 when they built this guitar? Never thought I'd be interested in and acoustic since I'm an electric player and hobby builder but I'm seriously loving this! Love your videos, BTW.
Check and see if your bridge is compensated, this may help the intonation. Putting a compensated bone saddle and a bone nut will improve the tone as well.
The tighter the molecular structure the easier is it’s to transfer energy, having said that, I do agree that a lighter wood sounds better. I’m a huge fan and watch all you videos. I work in ultrasonics and we work the the realm of energy transfer. Also, hoping to afford a tidal caster soon!!! Great job guys!!!
@@DriftwoodGuitars I’m new to building for sure, but sonically the tighter the molecules the easier the energy transfer. Basically, the way energy of any form work is based on the molecular structure, the tighter the spacing of the molecules (denser material) the more production of energy you produce. Think of a desk top toy with steel balls and kinetic energy if the balls were plastic they would not reproduce the reflection of the original energy, but change those out to a stainless steel ball and you have a higher form of transferred energy due to the denser material. When it come to sound, sustain is a factor for sure in energy transference but tone may be not as desired. As a gigging guitar player I ALWAYS want a lighter guitar no netter the species for warmer tone. Sustain can be compensated with pedals. I hope this helps. As alway, I’m a huge fan and absolutely love what you do!!!
The eBay tips are a good idea. I also think tips on limiting certain operations, because many hobby builders might choose to "export" certain procedures in order to limit the tools and jigs you need for a build.
I am an amateur player and subbed a year or so ago. Always a pleasure to watch. I have a question: sometimes you see a top with two slighltly different colored halves. How does that happen? Before build (as in knowingly), after build , does it matter soundwise? ( think exposure to air or light will darken the wood, so was one half lying on top of a stack?) Could it mean they are not matching halves?. I Am looking at a guitar to buy (online, cant play it) which has this feature, and not sure because of it. (Eastman, all solid mahogany, sitka spruce).
Sometimes it is the result of a combination of the bookmatch and the lighting. The halves are "opened up" like a book, so they sometimes reflect light is opposite directions from each other. Often if you look at pictures taken with the guitar at different angles to the lighting, you will see that the previously "lighter" side looks dark, and so on. And yeah, sometimes one side is darker than the other... (especially if they aren't matched - but I'd expect any well-made guitar to have matched wood on the top)
sorry to bother yall . but this is the second time i got a message about being on a short list that gives me a phone number from Nebraska .and yall are in Florida ?? what is going on with this
Don't glue cloth, gauze or ribbon inside any instrument that you are making. I started on Violins and when I moved to Mandolins I was shocked to find out that makers glued Gauze to the inside of the ff-holes. Spruce is used for tops because of its lightness, strength and a fantastic transmission of sound. Gauze is great for adding weight and damping sound transmission. These same makers often go to great efforts to tune the top plate.... Then glue on gauze!
Ok, So what I think you should consider is maybe once or twice a year, do a guitar build class. Each person would pay roughly $2500 bucks and you would teach them how to build a guitar (solid body electric) and leave the class with a guitar. Kind of like Crimson guitars does in the UK. You seem like you would be a great teacher.
Weight is part of the answer. Strength. Rigidity. These are two other factors that need to be considered. Brazilian rosewood isn't lightweight wood. It does usually offer ideal strength and rigidity. ANY material that offers those characteristics will be ideal, but only if it can be adequately fabricated, and can be adequately glued to the soundboard. Styrofoam offers great rigidity to weight ratio and glues easily, but extremely low strength for this application, so would be a poor choice. Steel offers superior strength and rigidity, but poor weight characteristics, and would glue poorly to boot. There are plenty of woods that would be great for bridges, possibly superior to any rosewood. But the further you get from traditional woods here, the harder they are to sell.
I don’t build guitars but I have a physics background. One argument for a heavier bridge is that it has more momentum as it moves (vibrates). Yes this means more energy is needed to get the same volume compared to a guitar with a less massive bridge but that can be adjusted by the player’s strumming or picking. So I agree that the heavier bridge guitar will feel less responsive but the trade off would be increased sustain because the top will take longer to come to rest after a strum. Just some food for thought
Love the thought. I have used cast iron pans for decades now after realizing they retain heat and disperse heat longer and with less effort after they reach desired temp. Aluminum pans heat up quickly but lose heat quickly also. They tend to be difficult to cook with for me. So, I guess one could say once the thicker, denser heavier bridge gets vibrating the inertia of the vibration of the bridge should last longer than a lighter, more porous wood. That is my thought.
Correction, or clarification, my thinking is the heavier, denser bridge should transfer and disperse the energy from the strummed or picked strings longer to the top solid wood than a lighter bridge, which would be like the analogy I made. A heavier cast iron pan versus the thinner, aluminum. Heavier cast iron takes longer to get to temp, but holds and transfers the energy ( heat) longer after reducing heat, and is easier to keep heated once it is at temp.
Oh it’s 100 a fabric ribbon. I’ve had to deal with many of them. You certainly don’t need side braces, but they’re always better to do if you’re building.
@@DriftwoodGuitars I've seen a Spanish guitar builder bond a piece of either silk or thin cotton inside the lower bout and said it was to stop any cracks traveling past it, not sure if the old Spanish guitar builders used this method and Martin have used it but a cheaper material than silk?
The larger sound holes. You will gain volume, but lose sustain. All of the sound created escapes that larger sound hole quicker. So you gain a little more volume, but lose sustain. Collings makes a Lot of the D28 with a slightly larger sound hole, but not as large as the Clarence White D-28. That one was a mistake.
I have four Martins at different price points and tonewoods.The CEO7 has cloth strips on the sides (vintage) the rest have wood strips apart from the 000C nylon which has none.I've always assumed that they were anti split devices.The latest trend among guitar manufacturers is to market any laminate as 'layered.'As far as I'm concerned,any laminate or layered material IS plywood.I should know,I played an all laminate dreadnought for thirty years.My son has it now............................................
All the "larger soundhole" nonsense... Clarence White's Martin was "modified" when he and Roland bought it. No "sound mod" involved, just a cut up soundhole, most likely to hide damage.... Even Tony Rice discounted the value of the Santa Cruz Rony Rice model enlarged soundhole.... "Q: So they enlarged the soundhole. TR: Yes, but it does not alter the sound. It's only cosmetics, just looks. Q: You mean the sound does not improve when you enlarge the soundhole? TR: I don't think so. It's just the way it looks. Maybe the sound gets worse if the soundhole is enlarged. Since Clarence's D-28 was so well recognized with the enlarged soundhole, they built the Tony Rice model with the larger soundhole. Good sounding pre-war Martins have the regular soundhole." Maybe the real "secret" to the Clarence D-28 sound was when he backed over it...?
Sorry, but you are making more than one false equivocation with the bridge weight. A light material can still be stiffer and/or have more mass than a heavy one, which doesn't imply strength..., and vice versa, you need to see it from actual physical material properties and how they really apply as to the goal of sound transfer and projection, and not make common mistakes of mistaking one for the other, and how they all relate, and most of all that more people than not including many who should know better don't know what they are talking about, or just regurgitating some "Common knowledge", which although common, is often no where near knowledge. It's not what species you use, but rather what material properties in what proportions will give you desired results. On that note: Can you please stop using the non word "Tonewood" and attributing frequency ranges to it as if construction and design, even the often wide range of differences between woods of the very same species, aren't part of the equation?
That could be the single longest run on sentence I’ve ever read. Also, I understand what you’re saying, but your delivery could NOT be worse. And tonewood is absolutely a word. It’s not my fault you’re not familiar with it.
Absolutely more of these kinds of videos, this was a lot of fun to watch!
I have a Korean built dreadnought by Vantage with ovangkol (I believe, possibly laminated) sides, and a solid 2 piece cedar top. I picked it up in 1995 for $400 new with hardshell case, and have received compliments for decades on it's tone. It came with nice low action and a very thin bridge with not too much break angle on the strings. Granted, I have a HD-28 now and the Vantage has had a brace start lifting on the back (no humidity control), but it was my main acoustic for a very long time. The cedar top with ovangkol is really a beautiful sound, not as loud as my HD-28 of course, but subtle and very refined. I bet cedar with EIR is fantastic.
I bought a 1983 made in japan Vantage va- Ltd ...it's okay...My 1974 mansfield hummingbird 684 (mij) is a cannon...I love the neck snd how beautiful the finish is...its a solid wood earlybearly model..production number#06...
Today on F style mandolins they still use gauze to prevent the F holes from cracking and it is also used to stabilize the cross section of the X-brace so the more dimensionaly stable canvas binding tape can also prevent sides from cracking as badly. Binding tape is also used when building cabinets/cases to prevent thin sides from cracking. I also use binding tape to stabilize wooden cigar style boxes that I make for tool storage. One benefit when using binding tape is that it conforms to irregular surfaces such as the bouts on instruments and arched tops. While some ribbon looks similar to binding tape it does not provide the same amount of dimensional stability.
They did similar to reinforce the mahogany planked hulls of WW2 PT Boats gluing fabric between the layers of planking to make the hulls much stronger.
That's how they explained it to my Dad when he did his apprenticeship making mandolins, guitars and violins in a shop on the outskirts of Naples Italy in 1911.
It helps when you know what they used and why. The use of binding tape to reinforce thin woods goes way back over a century or so and was the goto method back when glue technology was not as good as what we have today.
Best!
I have been crazy busy building and haven't been by in a while; this video was the perfect thing to see pop up on my feed.
I enjoyed your video! I have a book by Roger Simonoff "The Art of Tap Tuning"; he shows how you can take a piece of cardboard and cover the sound hole and move it around to make it smaller or larger to demonstrate the effect of size of sound hole on the tone of the guitar. Also eagerly awaiting the next episode of the 3001-year-old guitar!
I have a 1973 book by someone that worked repairing Martins, and he shows photos of Martin using what he called "brown muslin" for that purpose. The text says that it is installed with white glue, and when it dries, it shrinks up and makes an excellent reinforcement. I have several Martin guitars, and the D-18s are made with the little brown ribbon.
A lot of D-size Martins I have seen have what I call "key cracks" which occur exactly in the location where you would have keys in your pocket and put the guitar on the keys and then a little weight on the guitar while you play will crack the sides. I tell everyone interested in a used D-size guitar to check for key cracks because nobody thinks to look there. When I build a guitar, I put a side brace in that exact spot to prevent that kind of crack. I just make little popsicle sticks out of leftover side wood.
The fact that the part that says „Florida“ on your logo is not centered makes me crazy.
Well, nevermind. You are by far my favorite TH-cam channel! Glad to be one of your Patreons.
Greetings from Austria.
Don't take a closer look at the word "Handcrafted". Just don't. I've warned you. :)
I don’t build guitars. Shoot! I barely even consider myself a guitars player. I am a retired offshore structural designer that took up guitar as a way to keep from going crazy in retirement. I have always been into tinkering with stuff and tinkering with the setup of my guitars came natural. I love your channel! Information that I will never use but am always interested in knowing!
Thanks!!
You might also like a fella named 'twoodfrd'. His channel is quite similar in content, but focuses more on repairs. If you're gonna play guitar, you might as well learn some basic repair techniques.
@@galeng73 Oh yeah. I’m going to like that channel also. Thanks!!
@@danbgt I also recently bumped into this channel: th-cam.com/users/AnjudaGuitars Again, very similar luthier type stuff. (I am in no way affiliated with any of these channels.)
I watch your reviews guys and i feel like your reviews and tear downs are absolutely 100%bang on..Everything makes so much sense...The build speaks for itself (ie:the G200 gibson) .shame on them for flogging that crap using a long standing name to charge top dollar...the epiphone review shows that they are doing a much better job....But bang for buck hands down is yamaha...man those ll16 guitars are fantastic...even the 830 series....keep up the great work...those of us who have been around guitars appreciate the expertise that you bring....i get so bored of most reviews from other channels ...same old same ole that you hear by all the reviews...Im savy and want best bang for my buck....thank you!!
I do like the Q&A. Great info y’all. Love the channel
First thing I noticed when I looked inside my MCS OM was the ribbons, and I've always wondered why they were there.
Once again you have done a great job of teaching!
Good show fellows! What do you think about the “Varnish” finish that Eastman is doing? Is it a French polish? If so explain..Thanks.
Late to the party here and I'm not even a guitarist, but here's a few questions:
How come most acoustic guitars aren't made with the strings mounted to a tailpiece fixed to the end block and with a much thinner, lighter bridge held in place by string tension like a banjo or bowed strings?
How different would they sound compared to a regular acoustic with the usual glued bridge saddle arrangement?
Has anyone experimented using two as near to identical acoustics as possible (as no two otherwise identical instruments will play or sound exactly the same as each other) and converted one to having the tailpiece/floating bridge arrangement to do a comparison?
Does the strings pulling up on the soundboard offer better sound compared to the strings pushing down on it?
Also would the one with a tailpiece not need the X bracing or maybe braced in a different manner with the bracing done in a more longitudinal manner like the bass bar in bowed strings?
What is the difference between Indian rosewood and Brazilian rosewood when used for back and sides when it comes to the sound? Is there a big difference in the sound. Is Brazilian rosewood a better tonewood than Indian rosewood?
I’d love to see an update video of the Tidalcaster build. I know I’m but one of many but it would be cool to see a snapshot of the guitar as it goes through the build…
Hello,
I'm trying to obtain information about a acoustic electric guitar (ESP TL6)
The high E string on this instrument is vey low in volume as opposed to the other 5 strings.
I have recently installed a new Graphtech saddle and repaired the nut deepth at the high E string location and nothing so far is working.
It would be greatly appreciated if a Tech/Luthier possibly could help me with this issue?
I think it might be the Fishman undersaddle pickup going bad but i am at a loss thus far.
Thanks so very much in advance.
Ronald
You answered my question I asked on the Woodstock guitar you were building about the laminate sides. I would think side bracing wouldn’t be necessary on laminate sides. Also I’m hoping there will be more videos on the Woodstock guitar after number 7 or did I miss it somewhere? Thanks again. Great info.
I smashed like as soon as I pulled the video up! Another awesome video!
The ribbon on the sides sounds like a hold over from the lute and bowl back mandolin days when strips were glued to the staves inside the back. Also, vacuum bagging is a relatively new technique so when making the very old instruments it would have have been difficult to laminate sides.
I laminate my sides with a simple clamping caul and f clamps. Pretty sure they had that technologie back in the day.
Why not a composite carbon fiber with a thin wood strip Rosewood preferably under the bone saddle light strong responsive and with a mold you can make any shape you want of the bridge?
thank you Chris and Matt
I built a black walnut guitar 30 years ago, and because it has pretty wild grain, I made walnut side braces from the scraps of the body’s original board. And on a mahogany, I wen to a craft store and got spruce craft sticks that were basically tongue depressors.
Why can't glued ribbon stop crack propagation? Perhaps it does. It's not as if there are many examples of Martins with cracked sides knocking about.
Chris, we need you to do a tutorial on the Rib Rest! No one has one online that I can find. Love the content, keep it coming!
All the videos- your topics are all awesome
Awesome info guys; great video!
Lighter but still strong. As far as weight, engage in a thought experiment; reduce the weight to zero and imagine no bridge and all energy given to the top with no mass need to accelerate the mass of the bridge. The natural frequency response spectrum would be different if the area of the bridge were gone. I understand that a setup without the bridge height would introduce all sorts of geometry changes in the overall design and a strong top wood that doesn't exist, but the bridge mass won't need to be accelerated. Or think of a drumhead with a length of bar stock sitting on the surface. This is essentially a node and new wave lengths or chords are created from the bar to the edge or anchor point of the drum. Alternate subject, I like your explanation of the wood's new role "this is the shape I'm in"; I heard Levon Helm and the Band when you spoke the phrase.
Do you guys make left handed guitars?
great video as always, cheers to u guys
@Driftwood Guitars what is your take on the Klos Carbon fiber guitar...have you thought about doing the Driftwood Beat down on those
Great video! There's one thing I'm confused about:
You said that a larger soundhole would reduce lows and increase highs and mids. This seems contrary to the use of a small soundhole on gypsy guitars, which are expressly designed to emphasize mids and highs (for projection). What are your thoughts on this?
Just from watching videos online from repair techs it seems that opening a soundhole on a "nasally" sounding dreadnought seems to smooth out the tone and "open it up" a little bit. Kimsey has a few videos on it
intresting because my opinion is that the j-45 or AJ with the oldschool small bridge sounding much better than the bigger one like on the southern jumbo
Hey guys I got a thought for the cloth material? Maybe the Martin guitars used cloth like some Luthier's like to paint the inside cavity with a thin amount of shellac? To reflect bounce sound out like a ball in an 4 wall hand ball court. The ball inside hitting the walls, it's loud in there! Just a thought. An archtop builder uses the kerffing and uses spruce or cedar makes strips that he glues measured to touch the upper and lower kerffing for the sides of the archtops he made. 3"inches apart?
My 2014 Martin DCPA4 has the cute little ribbons on the side but their rosewood colored woodgrain. It looks like about 1/8" thick, Can you get that at Michaels?
Extremely informative for shizzle.
Hi! Great videos, guys!!!
Thanks for being here, sharing wisdom!
I have a helpful idea for the soundhole question, as far as tone quality and getting the best sound out of your guitar, and it is this - instead of permanently changing the physical characteristics of a work of art, why not experiment with different guages and string types. Most guitars seem like they are sold new with light guage strings, so they appeal more to the buyer the very first time they pick out the instrument. Plus, in a store with 20 - 50 other guitars all freshly strung and harping along with any noise around, always makes the one you're playing sound heavenly in a quiet room with nothing but guitars. But if you know about Tony Rice's string choice, it adds to his signature sound that he uses heavy guage nickel wound custom strings, along with the larger sound hole, makes a more iridescent timbre. Cheers! Keep up the excellent work!!!
could you do a guitar breakdown of the D'angelico premier gramercy or the PRS a60e?
Is cocobolo that much heavier than rosewood or ebony? I feel like most of the bridges I see on acoustics are usually rosewood
I was recently given a Mitchell MO-100S/PK in fairly good shape. I cleaned it, replaced strings, bridge pins (cosmetic reasons), slotted the bridge as per your video, replaced the pick guard, added a head stock decal and did a fret job/set up on the guitar. It turned out beautifully and sounds good, at least to my untrained ear. But I'm way intimidated to tackle the saddle to solve a minor intonation issue. As I'm a beginner player I doubt I'll ever get higher than the 12th fret. Should I worry about this? And am I right in thinking that Mitchell took some "serious inspiration" from the Martin D35 when they built this guitar? Never thought I'd be interested in and acoustic since I'm an electric player and hobby builder but I'm seriously loving this! Love your videos, BTW.
Check and see if your bridge is compensated, this may help the intonation. Putting a compensated bone saddle and a bone nut will improve the tone as well.
Thanks for the video.
Love the video. Yes, please do video on recs for purchasing wood on eBay. I have bought several sets and been lucky so far.
The tighter the molecular structure the easier is it’s to transfer energy, having said that, I do agree that a lighter wood sounds better. I’m a huge fan and watch all you videos. I work in ultrasonics and we work the the realm of energy transfer. Also, hoping to afford a tidal caster soon!!! Great job guys!!!
Interesting insight. So does that explain why Brazilian seems to be such a good bridge material? It's both dense and light weight.
@@DriftwoodGuitars I’m new to building for sure, but sonically the tighter the molecules the easier the energy transfer. Basically, the way energy of any form work is based on the molecular structure, the tighter the spacing of the molecules (denser material) the more production of energy you produce. Think of a desk top toy with steel balls and kinetic energy if the balls were plastic they would not reproduce the reflection of the original energy, but change those out to a stainless steel ball and you have a higher form of transferred energy due to the denser material. When it come to sound, sustain is a factor for sure in energy transference but tone may be not as desired. As a gigging guitar player I ALWAYS want a lighter guitar no netter the species for warmer tone. Sustain can be compensated with pedals. I hope this helps. As alway, I’m a huge fan and absolutely love what you do!!!
Why not make the breges of carbon viber
I watched this too early. I will return with popcorn after the Martin fanatics have a chance to watch and comment.
The eBay tips are a good idea. I also think tips on limiting certain operations, because many hobby builders might choose to "export" certain procedures in order to limit the tools and jigs you need for a build.
Funny thing: I have 2 Martins a D-18 and aD-28 over 50 years old each, and have never seen a side crack...
On the 3000 year old guitar series, will you be covering doing fret work?
I have a Guild 412 with no side bracing 1980
Always good info gents!
Rosewood for the bridge, okay, but what do you use for a bridge plate?
Rosewood
I am an amateur player and subbed a year or so ago.
Always a pleasure to watch.
I have a question: sometimes you see a top with two slighltly different colored halves.
How does that happen?
Before build (as in knowingly), after build , does it matter soundwise?
( think exposure to air or light will darken the wood, so was one half lying on top of a stack?) Could it mean they are not matching halves?.
I Am looking at a guitar to buy (online, cant play it) which has this feature, and not sure because of it. (Eastman, all solid mahogany, sitka spruce).
Sometimes it is the result of a combination of the bookmatch and the lighting. The halves are "opened up" like a book, so they sometimes reflect light is opposite directions from each other. Often if you look at pictures taken with the guitar at different angles to the lighting, you will see that the previously "lighter" side looks dark, and so on. And yeah, sometimes one side is darker than the other... (especially if they aren't matched - but I'd expect any well-made guitar to have matched wood on the top)
sorry to bother yall . but this is the second time i got a message about being on a short list that gives me a phone number from Nebraska .and yall are in Florida ?? what is going on with this
Larrivee never puts side braces on..don't know why
I'd like to know why Martin guitars smell so damn good.
Don't glue cloth, gauze or ribbon inside any instrument that you are making.
I started on Violins and when I moved to Mandolins I was shocked to find out that makers glued Gauze to the inside of the ff-holes. Spruce is used for tops because of its lightness, strength and a fantastic transmission of sound. Gauze is great for adding weight and damping sound transmission. These same makers often go to great efforts to tune the top plate.... Then glue on gauze!
Lotus had the motto that they should "add lightness" to their cars.
Did you guys loose the 1000 year old guitar
Original Elan owner, 1964 😁.
Carbon fiber bridge. Duplicating strength, not dimensions of wood bridge.
Why not use a bridge made of Carbon fibre?
I’d like to try that sometime
Ebay video sounds good!
I own a 2015 martin D 28 and a 2021 O-18, I take no offense to your Martin jab. These videos are awesome.
how about carbon fibre bridge
Enlarged sound holes almost always enhance the bass, not weaken it.
Ok, So what I think you should consider is maybe once or twice a year, do a guitar build class. Each person would pay roughly $2500 bucks and you would teach them how to build a guitar (solid body electric) and leave the class with a guitar. Kind of like Crimson guitars does in the UK. You seem like you would be a great teacher.
When we have the space we’ll do that for sure!
A guitar sounds it’s best the closer it comes to falling apart.
Matt looks like a cross between Jared Dines and Rob Scallon.
Thats not bad. It's a compliment. But he does!!
I would imagine a more massive bridge would slow responsivity.
Hey matts into sailing! I am to a lifelong sailor. Dig
Talk about chambering electric guitars and basses.
If you are not guitars and you aren't following this channel you're missing out.
Matt looks like a young Kid Rock
Weight is part of the answer.
Strength. Rigidity. These are two other factors that need to be considered. Brazilian rosewood isn't lightweight wood. It does usually offer ideal strength and rigidity. ANY material that offers those characteristics will be ideal, but only if it can be adequately fabricated, and can be adequately glued to the soundboard. Styrofoam offers great rigidity to weight ratio and glues easily, but extremely low strength for this application, so would be a poor choice. Steel offers superior strength and rigidity, but poor weight characteristics, and would glue poorly to boot.
There are plenty of woods that would be great for bridges, possibly superior to any rosewood. But the further you get from traditional woods here, the harder they are to sell.
I don’t build guitars but I have a physics background. One argument for a heavier bridge is that it has more momentum as it moves (vibrates). Yes this means more energy is needed to get the same volume compared to a guitar with a less massive bridge but that can be adjusted by the player’s strumming or picking. So I agree that the heavier bridge guitar will feel less responsive but the trade off would be increased sustain because the top will take longer to come to rest after a strum. Just some food for thought
Love the thought. I have used cast iron pans for decades now after realizing they retain heat and disperse heat longer and with less effort after they reach desired temp. Aluminum pans heat up quickly but lose heat quickly also. They tend to be difficult to cook with for me. So, I guess one could say once the thicker, denser heavier bridge gets vibrating the inertia of the vibration of the bridge should last longer than a lighter, more porous wood. That is my thought.
Correction, or clarification, my thinking is the heavier, denser bridge should transfer and disperse the energy from the strummed or picked strings longer to the top solid wood than a lighter bridge, which would be like the analogy I made. A heavier cast iron pan versus the thinner, aluminum. Heavier cast iron takes longer to get to temp, but holds and transfers the energy ( heat) longer after reducing heat, and is easier to keep heated once it is at temp.
Calling dibs on the “learn to relax like lumber” shirt now 🧘🏼♀️ Also, who is this fresh faced young buck in perpetually-scruffy Matt’s overalls??
Ants nest ! LoL..🐜
Regarding the Martin ribbon, maybe it's carbon fiber not cloth. My Larrivee has no braces and has held up since 1993.
Oh it’s 100 a fabric ribbon. I’ve had to deal with many of them. You certainly don’t need side braces, but they’re always better to do if you’re building.
@@DriftwoodGuitars I've seen a Spanish guitar builder bond a piece of either silk or thin cotton inside the lower bout and said it was to stop any cracks traveling past it, not sure if the old Spanish guitar builders used this method and Martin have used it but a cheaper material than silk?
REALLY Slowhand!
The larger sound holes. You will gain volume, but lose sustain. All of the sound created escapes that larger sound hole quicker. So you gain a little more volume, but lose sustain. Collings makes a
Lot of the D28 with a slightly larger sound hole, but not as large as the Clarence White D-28. That one was a mistake.
I have four Martins at different price points and tonewoods.The CEO7 has cloth strips on the sides (vintage) the rest have wood strips apart from the 000C nylon which has none.I've always assumed that they were anti split devices.The latest trend among guitar manufacturers is to market any laminate as 'layered.'As far as I'm concerned,any laminate or layered material IS plywood.I should know,I played an all laminate dreadnought for thirty years.My son has it now............................................
One vote more for eBay tips!
You guys didn’t even mention the talking heads once…
Haters dial; BR 549. Talk to Junior.
All the "larger soundhole" nonsense... Clarence White's Martin was "modified" when he and Roland bought it. No "sound mod" involved, just a cut up soundhole, most likely to hide damage.... Even Tony Rice discounted the value of the Santa Cruz Rony Rice model enlarged soundhole....
"Q: So they enlarged the soundhole.
TR: Yes, but it does not alter the sound. It's only cosmetics, just looks.
Q: You mean the sound does not improve when you enlarge the soundhole?
TR: I don't think so. It's just the way it looks. Maybe the sound gets worse if the soundhole is enlarged. Since Clarence's D-28 was so well recognized with the enlarged soundhole, they built the Tony Rice model with the larger soundhole. Good sounding pre-war Martins have the regular soundhole."
Maybe the real "secret" to the Clarence D-28 sound was when he backed over it...?
Sorry, but you are making more than one false equivocation with the bridge weight. A light material can still be stiffer and/or have more mass than a heavy one, which doesn't imply strength..., and vice versa, you need to see it from actual physical material properties and how they really apply as to the goal of sound transfer and projection, and not make common mistakes of mistaking one for the other, and how they all relate, and most of all that more people than not including many who should know better don't know what they are talking about, or just regurgitating some "Common knowledge", which although common, is often no where near knowledge. It's not what species you use, but rather what material properties in what proportions will give you desired results.
On that note: Can you please stop using the non word "Tonewood" and attributing frequency ranges to it as if construction and design, even the often wide range of differences between woods of the very same species, aren't part of the equation?
That could be the single longest run on sentence I’ve ever read. Also, I understand what you’re saying, but your delivery could NOT be worse. And tonewood is absolutely a word. It’s not my fault you’re not familiar with it.
Be great if you just pulled yourselves up instead of running others down.
Why do we understand engineering principles better through car examples? We Americans are weird... lol
This was much better show before Matt. Sigh!
I agree!
a well needed video