|
|
Post by colan on Mar 27, 2014 8:38:31 GMT
I sympathise, melodeous, but your experience wouldn't dampen my enthusiasm for engaging with the vagaries of intuition, chance and fate.  I've just commissioned a guitar built to my own - players- specifications and I don't have any definite idea of how it will sing. The arts are a matter of faith, I believe, and I'm a bird in the wind. Good luck if you try again. |
|
alig
C.O.G. 
Posts: 1,059 
|
Post by alig on Mar 27, 2014 8:49:46 GMT
I sympathise, melodeous, but your experience wouldn't dampen my enthusiasm for engaging with the vagaries of intuition, chance and fate. I've just commissioned a guitar built to my own - players- specifications and I don't have any definite idea of how it will sing. The arts are a matter of faith, I believe, and I'm a bird in the wind. Good luck if you try again. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of working with a builder to come up with two guitars that have turned out exactly as I wanted. These guitar builder chappies are pretty skilled at what they do. I can't wait to do it again because, you know, I just have to... I'm sure you'll enjoy it too. Any idea of timescale? Alasdair. |
|
|
|
Post by colan on Mar 27, 2014 9:31:27 GMT
No, I decided from the outset to resist even asking for an approximation of a delivery date. If nothing else my wood will be in optimum working condition. I've tried to imagine myself as a luthier undertaking a commission. The perfect relationship, I've come to believe- and as you are no doubt aware- is that the luthier builds the instrument for two people, himself and the player/commissioner and both must be fully satisfied. This might seem glaringly obvious but when you start to talk with your luthier you become aware that there are areas of the build upon which you simply should not intrude. By the same token, he/she comes to accept that challenging elements of the commission can be testing and time-consuming. The fire and enthusiasm of both should produce a real character of a guitar ...albeit a tad schizophrenic Do yours talk to each other ? |
|
alig
C.O.G.
Posts: 1,059
|
Post by alig on Mar 27, 2014 9:46:13 GMT
I'm sure they do, but probably only in the wee, small hours. Maybe still settling into their new home. They're still babies - not quite a month old.
Have you gone through the 'tap tone' thing on various bits of wood? That was a real eye-opener for me.
|
|
|
|
Post by colan on Mar 27, 2014 12:02:39 GMT
I haven't, no, but Avalon have. In their opinion my chosen set " is of a spectacular standard " . They know I ain't deaf, of course.
Your guitars are admirable, incidentally.
|
|
|
|
Post by earwighoney on Mar 27, 2014 12:39:39 GMT
Have you gone through the 'tap tone' thing on various bits of wood? That was a real eye-opener for me. Can you elaborate on that? It's something I don't know much about. I know some tonewoods have 'better' ones than others, while some others don't have them in the slightest bit. Quilted Sapele is supposed to have the taptone of a wet piece of cardboard but it was used on probably the best sounding guitar I've ever played. I'm not sure exactly but I think Ziricote also isn't supposed to have much of a taptone which again was one of the best guitars I've played again. |
|
Martin
Administrator
Posts: 11,994
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"http://mandocello.org/lytebox/images/adirondack.jpg","color":""}
Mini-Profile Name Color: 0a530b
Mini-Profile Text Color: 4f3517
|
Post by Martin on Mar 27, 2014 13:12:12 GMT
I've had this 'tap tone' demonstrated to me a few years ago on a piece of ABW, and to hear a thin piece of wood ring like that was quite amazing. I've no idea how it would practically affect the guitar's tone however  |
|
alig
C.O.G.
Posts: 1,059
|
Post by alig on Mar 27, 2014 14:48:19 GMT
okay. Let me have a go with my tuppence hapworth...
It's to do with the inherent harmonics and basic tone of a piece of wood. At Rory's he explained it to me and, needless to say, I don't remember a lot of what he said... He took me through a variety of tone woods and different sets of the same tone woods and asked me to make choices... As Martin said, it was amazing to hear the different qualities and depth of musical notes that emerged from thin pieces of wood simply being tapped. Some were trebly, some deeper and some had an almost chordal quality. I suppose some sounded more 'alive' than others - and these would, perhaps, make guitars which sounded more alive? After all, the builders select the tone woods they want to use.
Originally, I selected a piece of BRW which resonated like none of the other woods I tried and a set of Cocobolo. I wanted a Coco/Adi because I'd played one at Rory's and it, pardon me, struck a chord. ( I shop at Puns'r'us...) However, after playing an MBW Rory sent me to try out for fingerboard width, etc, I changed my mind about the BRW. I tapped a couple of pieces of Ziricote while I was there also and was mightily impressed.
I'd be interested to try guitars made of the same woods by different builders... what would Dave White, Rory and Gary Nava do with EIR/Adi, for example?
Maybe our own Dave W might help out...
|
|
davewhite
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Luthier
Aemulor et ambitiosior
Posts: 3,548
|
Post by davewhite on Mar 27, 2014 15:42:11 GMT
Alasdair, Welcome to the wonderful world of tonewood.  Set a maker that understands the "musicality" of steel stringed guitars and where it comes from loose in a B&Q store and they'll select wood from there to make a stunning sounding instrument. That's a contest I'd actually relish - the B&Q challenge. |
|
Set a maker that understands the "musicality" of steel stringed guitars and where it comes from loose in a B&Q store and they'll select wood from there to make a stunning sounding instrument.
Jo whoever he is.
