unusual cutaway

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unusual cutaway

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jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

unusual cutaway

I saw this on OLF and thought it was a really interesting solution to creating a cutaway. I wish I'd thought of it. I really dislike cutaways but think I could be happy with this. They're calling it a "scoop" cutaway.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 4 2015 21:57:25

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to jshelton5040)

Cool. Still lose some soundboard, but keep some volume. How do they make the rounded area, you think?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 4 2015 22:09:56

El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

only half a solution ..as it lets your fingers in , but not your wrist ...

and really ...its very ugly ...I mean , come on ,, it looks like a mistake ...

and more...why do you need a cutaway in flamenco anyway ? in jazz and rock and other stuff , i can actually see an advantage in having 24 frets and being able to reach them ...but flamenco is much more about rhythm than playing up high ...surely...???

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 0:57:37

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to jshelton5040)

In 2005 I made a mock up of the 'Divet' idea by slicing out a piece of rib from old guitar and fitting in a new swatch of wood in the divet. I was not at all impressed with the accessibility to high frets and decided not to follow that route.

Make a mock up with a section of 1"x3" for a neck and build the top of the guitar with a chunk of foam block. Then try it, then cut out the divet. Very little difference.

The problem really is not the hand, it's the wrist. I've analyzed this problem really carefully and to play naturally the wrist needs to flow down the neck and not change shape in relation to the hand. This this thing really does not do much, if you are going to make a cutaway just take out enough for the wrist to move below the 12th fret and be done with it.

Well made cutaways don't lose sound, either. That's kind of a myth. Some guitarists have arranged their material up higher on the fingerboard for a reason. They need cutaways. Ben Woods and Jason McGuire are two, and I think more players would but there is a stigma against the look of a cutaway in flamenco.

I opted to go with this idea as my cutaway. The cut flares back to the heel cap and blends in with it. The advantage is that is gets the BACK out of the way of the wrist. If you carefully analyze the situation you find it's not the face of the guitar in the way, it's the back where the wrist needs to get lower. If you sweep the cut into the heel cap it gets al that out of the way of the wrist and a more natural position can be held higher up the finger board.

The problem the Elevated Fingerboard concept and this divet in the top is that the player must still change the hand and wrist position to ascend to high frets and climb up over the front edge of the guitar. A swept cutaway facilitates the movement without significant wrist shape/articulation change.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 2:30:31

beno

Posts: 881
Joined: Nov. 3 2006
From: Hungary

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to jshelton5040)

I've tried such thing on a guitar made by a hungarian luthier. I really don't dig into it, wheter it's ideal or not, but worked for me. though didn't like the appearance. I'd say it's halfway between a normal body and cutaway

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 9:37:25

Stephen Eden

Posts: 914
Joined: Apr. 12 2008
From: UK

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to jshelton5040)

I really like this style of cutaway.

I have been told that R.E Brune did this style of cutaway many years prior to Nick doing it back in 1984. So not a new thing in the slightest

I have used it on one instrument in the past and have to say it really does make things a lot easier when well executed. The customer I built the guitar for who only uses cutaways comment was that is was fantastic and will only order guitars with scoops from now on!

It also makes less of a difference to the over all sound of the guitar when compared to a normal cutaway.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 11:13:08

jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to El Kiko)

quote:

ORIGINAL: El Kiko

only half a solution ..as it lets your fingers in , but not your wrist ...

and really ...its very ugly ...I mean , come on ,, it looks like a mistake ...

and more...why do you need a cutaway in flamenco anyway ? in jazz and rock and other stuff , i can actually see an advantage in having 24 frets and being able to reach them ...but flamenco is much more about rhythm than playing up high ...surely...???

When I was still playing guitar I always held it in classical position and never found a cutaway that allowed my wrist in. It seems to me that this style should facilitate getting the fingers up there on the higher frets more easily but I've never played one so maybe not. Although profoundly ugly, to me it's not as ugly as a normal cutaway. If I were ever to build another cutaway (highly unlikely) I would probably make it like Stephen Faulk's design only wth the end of the sweep nearer the waist (not florentine or venetian).

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 14:00:20

El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to jshelton5040)

Only my opinion ,,.. some may like it .. thats ok ..

I do understand the need for builders to experiment with materials and cutways and soundholes all these kinds of things .., in the hope that something good will be learned from it .

I just never got why some one would be thinking ...'' you know i play the flamenco guitar sooo high up all the time , i really need a good cut away ...''

nope ..

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2015 15:09:03

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: unusual cutaway (in reply to El Kiko)

quote:

I just never got why some one would be thinking ...'' you know i play the flamenco guitar sooo high up all the time , i really need a good cut away ...''

Lenny used to play high all the time and he didn't need a cut away.