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There is a Seattle Luthier's meeting coming up (I haven't even started my first guitar yet) where they have a guest speaker who will be talking about 'Double sound hole design'. I'm thinking about going just because I am curious about it. To clarify... is this where there is an additional sound hole on the upper bout? Does anyone know much about why you would use this technique? If I do go I want to at least have a little info so that the whole discussion isn't over my head and heaven forbid I ask a question I don't want to sound like a complete idiot. Help?

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

My guess is that he's talking about moving the sound hole from just in front of the bridge to 2 smaller sound holes in the upper bout on either side of the finger board.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

This is a guitar I made a while ago, useing what I would call double soundholes. A hole in the rim, to me, would be an additional soundport. On this specific guitar its done because the active area of the top is angled, its got 24 frets and there is a "step" where the soundhole normaly would be. This is the only guitar Ive built using this design, so I cant really draw any conclusions, but its really raw and loud sounding.

oops, double post... Why cant I edit it? I dont se any edit-button... (Quote: "Press any key..." -"Hey, theres no any key!"

Lars, you are just a show-off! I really like that guitar. Very unique design. Did you design it? Alan.

The speaker at the Seattle Luthiers meeting next week will be Steve Grimes. One of the models he makes is a double soundhole guitar for Hawaiian slack key playing. He will also talk about arch tops. More importantly, he is a one of the top builders working today and it will be worth hearing what he has to say.

Seattle Luthiers meeting?? Could/would someone tell me more please.

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Aoibeann

Hey Lillian,
The website is http://www.seattleluthiers.org/ - They have a forum/discussion board through a separate server which doesn't seem to get a lot of attention. Though I've never been, it looks like they meet once a month at Dusty Strings in Seattle.

Lars,
Very nice looking guitar. Unique too. How does it sound? Actually though, what I am thinking is where the guitar has a typical soundhole in the center, but then it has another on the side (top side when played) up by the shoulder/upper bout.

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

The 2 puka design I know best is owned by Keola Beamer and was made by Luthie Stephen Grimes of Hawaii. Stephens web site states:
This double sound hole guitar was originally designed for and made popular by Keola Beamer, the great Hawaiian slack key artist. It has an astounding capability to produce a deep, rich tone with a bass response previously unattainable in a similarly sized body. By moving the soundhole away from the end of the fingerboard, a larger area of the top can be utilized to achieve a bigger sound overall. The transverse brace, usually located just behind the soundhole in front of the bridge, can be moved up to the end of the fingerboard, effectively "opening" up the tone producing potential of the soundboard. Available in "OM" (15 1/8" wide), and Concert (16 wide) sizes, the Beamer model is great for players who like a deep bass, especially those playing "slack key" style or using tunings with "D" or "C" in the bass.



I have heard Keola's guitar several times and it is remarkable. Of course it helps if you can play like he does. Hope this helps.

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

The Seattle Luthiers Group (SLUG for short) meets once a month. One month we meet for a shop meeting somewhere. The meetings jump around to different places every time. Every other month the meeting is a dinner/social at a local restaurant. Often in the summer these are potlucks at Michael Gurian's barge.
There is a website that has recaps of past meetings one could find with simple googling.

I can't add a photo from work so here is a link to the photo from Stephen Grimes site.

Photo of Keola Beamer 2 puka guitar

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Thanks Chansen and Rob. Much appreciated.

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Aoibeann

I have been thinking of building double soundhole guitar based on an OM size. for slack key playing  Any suggestions about the way that standard bracing would need to be changed.

When I built a double hole guitar I used an X at a very shallow angle to replace the upper shoulder brace. The made roome for the two soundholes out near the edge.

[QUOTE=richw] I have been thinking of building double soundhole guitar based on an OM size. for slack key playing Any suggestions about the way that standard bracing would need to be changed.
[/QUOTE]

American Lutherie did an article on Steve Grimes about 3 or 4 years ago and they had a couple of pictures of his double sound hole bracing. If you don't have that issue you can order it from them. This would be a good starting point.