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Hey Anders!

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Escribano

Posts: 6417
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

Hey Anders!

Got this comment on a video of you playing my guitar. I cannot comment, can you? He is being very precise with his measurements taken by ear and as English is not his first language, I am not sure whether he thinks it has planetary pegs or not but anyway, have a read:

"Excellent spruce top guitar. I wish sound is a bit flatter . I believe string height from top is 8 mm, just judging by sound. I do prefer 6.5 to 7.2mm thta will change ton oh nigher register having more flat sound. Also the sound of guitar is telling me that guitar is so light. good choice to rearange weight having planetary pegs. Guitar sound so good for accompainment and does not need fine tune on inside bracing sounding already between F# and G."

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 9 2009 12:43:03

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

Well, maybe a bit clever response. Building a new guitar with a 6,5mm bridge setup is suicide and as far as I remember, the guitar tunes between F and F#

Players wanting a guitar with a flatter treble response, should buy a used, prefereably beaten up guitar. I dont personally like that sound but prefer trebles which are more crispy. Just like on your guitar. This with resonance is something a lot of people get wrong. They think there there´s a frequency range, where all good guitars should tune. Thats crap. The different bracing systems have their own varieties, and because a guitar is tuned to G doesn´t mean its a good guitar. A good guitar is one which is balanced out and its normally between F and G

In the end its all a personal preference and I respect everyones ideas, but I dont like universal rules. Practice has told me that players are different and so are their guitar choices. I basically build what i like myself and try to learn as much as possible by taking my guitars out to be tested in real world flamenco and by letting pro players try them. But you cant really rely to much on responses. Spanish flamenco players are extremely conservative when it comes to design etc. A very good player tried a soundport guitar of mine in a quiet environments, and said it was a stupid idea and not nescessary, then I met him in another place and let him try the same guitar in a very noisy environment accompanying a singer. He was extremely possitive with it and said that the guitar was so lively and that he could hear the small nuances in his playing which he normally couldnt hear under similar circunstances. I then asked him if he would consider a soundport in one of his guitars. The answer was: no way.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 9 2009 23:52:31

kozz

Posts: 1766
Joined: Feb. 26 2009
From: Eindhoven NL

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

Guitar sound so good for accompainment and does not need fine tune on inside bracing sounding already between F# and G."

quote:

, the guitar tunes between F and F#

quote:

A good guitar is one which is balanced out and its normally between F and G

Forgive me my noob question, but what is ment with this?
Is this what you hear when you tap the plate before the guitar is constructed together?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 9:00:16

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

quote:

I believe string height from top is 8 mm, just judging by sound.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 9:42:35

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to TANúñez)

quote:

I believe string height from top is 8 mm, just judging by sound.

Yeah Tom,

No..It's actually 7.75mm..

So the guy's fairly good, but not THAT good...

(Stroll on ..

)

Ron

(I can even tell what colour of shirt Ruben is wearing, just by listening to the mp3...beat that!)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 9:55:04

aarongreen

Posts: 367
Joined: Jan. 16 2004

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

My response to the guy would be to ask him to show me a guitar he made so I can check out how it should be done. I love these arm chair tech types.

Thats a really great sounding guitar Anders, pity you never learned to play though.:)

aaron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 9:55:43

estebanana

Posts: 9373
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

Ha ha , I've taken lot of crap for doing soundports in my guitars. Flamencos especially are slow on the uptake. Just to see if I was crazy or not I left a guitar with a sound port with Jason Mc Guire for a month. He tested it with his recording equipment to see it really was louder. It was for the player. He also became a convert because he instantly recognized the possibilities. ( nice to have someone with an open and objective mind to try out your guitars on) We both talked about this for a while and he encouraged me to keep putting soundports in the guitars and I've never looked back.

People on internet forums have said things like "Hey there nice cup holder on that guitar" refering to the port. But watch and see who cuts holes in those guitars next, the players will eventually see that they might want a guitar with a soundport and begin to accept it as a standard option.

Not only does it make the guitar easier for the player to hear in noisy situations, but it does something to let the overtones be heard more stridently which as far as I can tell makes the trebles more potent. I think the guitar generally has more overtone support throughout the range of the instrument.

As for some knucklehead who babbles on about string height and tap tones, whatever. People say a lot of stuff when you put yourself and your guitar out there. When people talk smack about you it just means you're doing something right and they are jealous.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 10:43:46

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

Kozz
What we are talking about is the guitars main resonance or frequency when finished and without strings. You simply hold it in the neck and tap the soundboard in front of a good quality digital tuner. You can also hum in the soundhole or even do woodoo things
You can do it yourself.
Its an important tool for a luthier. because it gives some information on a certain bracing system. But the important words are: tool and some information.
As I said before, different bracing systems have different main resonance and thus, there´s no golden rule.
The bracing system used on Escribanos guitar (7 braces, closing struts, small bridge patch, slanted lower harmonic bar) in general tunes lower than many other systems.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 10 2009 23:58:11

kozz

Posts: 1766
Joined: Feb. 26 2009
From: Eindhoven NL

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Thanks Anders!
Can you recommend any book or site where I can read more about this, or guitarbuilding itselves? I find it quite interesting.

From your DVD I remembered you used an a-symmetrical system, this also has influence on it than I suppose?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2009 2:37:21

Ramon Amira

Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to kozz)

quote:

Can you recommend any book or site where I can read more about this, or guitarbuilding itselves? I find it quite interesting.

Get "Classic Guitar Construction" by Irving Sloane. It's a terrific and comprehensive book on all aspects of construction, with plenty of photos, diagrams, etc. You also might want to get another book of his entitled "Guitar Repair." The two together constitute a bible of luthiery.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2009 6:46:40

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

With respect of taptuning, there are some horrible books by Smirnoff. Dont buy. Surf the internet, read the mimf forum etc.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2009 9:08:08

kozz

Posts: 1766
Joined: Feb. 26 2009
From: Eindhoven NL

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

Thanks PC and Anders,
I'll have a look.

Its also good to know that a good guitar is not only determined by the wood but also by craftmanship and knowledge.
It kinda justifies the prices of some guitars more in a way I've never thought of.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2009 10:27:20

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Hey Anders! (in reply to Escribano)

Its definately the hands wich are iportant and not so much the wood. Everyone with a bit of money can buy first class wood.
I tried a 1967 Maldonado the other day. It was to soft for my taste, but it sounded very well. The cypress was what I would call 3rd or 4th grade quality. Flatsawn and mushy....

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2009 0:22:18