Official Luthiers Forum!

Jeff,

I see you'll be at the NW Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit. I'm eager hear your guitars!

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That is cool. Glad to see the boundaries being pushed. Traditional guitars are hardly ergonomic, especially after sitting down with a Jazzmaster... Your design is a little reminiscent of Orville Gibson's original guitars, which were quite radical for the time.

I've also got an acoustic with electric guitar aesthetics on the drawing board: no binding, roundovers, bolt on neck, etc. I think I'll keep the taper though.




Hmm. If you're implying that standing waves are "pseudo science", they are not. It is basic acoustics.

I think it's at least partly for comfort, and it should affect the sound. There is a resonance ('standing wave') on most guitars at around 1500 Hz, which is what you'd expect from a closed tube that's as long as the box is deep. Tapering the depth spreads the frequency response out a bit, so you're less likely to have a 'honk' at that pitch. One builder I know who did some experiments on this told me that the more tapered bodies had a more 'even' sound. As always, I suspect this gets really complicated if you look into it, so 'tradition' is as good a reason as any to do it. The further you depart from standard practice, the more likely you are to have the problems that standard practice evolved to avoid.

ah, that clears it up concisely then. thanks!