DESIGN & FEATURES
Below are a set of design principles which I have adopted and implemented in my recent builds. There's lot of new ideas evolving in the luthiers community nowadays. New sustainable materials are developed and admitted. Scientific studies about guitar behaviour and acoustics are available for those who are interested. Individual luthiers and small workshops are able to market their products worldwide. We are certainly living a golden age of guitar building at the moment.
Body size
Small. normal and drednought .R.1, R.2 and R.3. That's what one needs
Body design principles
In the excellent book Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build Australian luthiers Trevor Gore and Gerard Gilet introduce practical ways to improve performance of the acoustic guitar.
I have adopted some of their ideas like
- measuring and positioning the main body resonances
- live back construction
- added side mass in order to adjust resonances
- stiff sides and especially stiff top linings
Scale length
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Laminated Sides
Sides need to be stiff in order to support vibrating top and back plates. Laminating the sides make them stiffer and also help them keep their shape.
Neck to body joint
Since my early days as a builder I have used bolted neck to body joints in my own guitars. I have also built several guitars with the traditional dovetail joint. I believe there is no acoustical difference between these two techs but practical reasons favour the bolted one. The main advantage of bolted joint is critical neck angel is easier to set during the build and later during resetting if needed.
Neck profile
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Soundboard bracing
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Soundboard wood
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Appearance, decorations and exotic materials
For me as for most instrument builders, a neat workmanship is matter of honor, but in the end it has quite a small if any effect on the sound of the instrument. Brilliant looks and wasteful decorations may be preference to some but for a serious musician the glitter is useless. But at its best a neatly finished guitar tells the message that also the important details that really affect the sound and playability are in order.