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Thanks Ethan, I think I got it figured out, so I'll go ahead and install the board and let Lucio finish off the guitar with lacquer and I'll French polish the top.
I finally had to revamp some of my jigs to make it work right.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
Well, I've installed the fingerboard, then to prepare the nut and string it up and to see what she sounds like.
I've done something a little different on this board; I've installed the frets before I glued the board on, so we'll see if there is any benefit to this procedure.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
Hello again,
There is a short side of this story that wants to make me cry, and that is, I think the top is too thick, which means the sound is too stiff for my taste.
What to do about it? Sand the top down to about 2 MM from 4 MM. The fingerboard is wide, 54 MM at the nut. So this guitar will fit a big hand.
The top is graduated down toward the sides a little but I still think it needs to be thinned out more toward the middle.
The top is fairly stiff and this seems to be the draw back for the sound. It doesn't vibrate with an enter-dimensional sound quality like I'm used to. The last guitar I built, with this pattern, had plenty of that.
Man, I've done a lot of work on this one! It has fought me every step of the way.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
I agree with Ethan. At least on my iPad the guitar sounds quite nice and also, yes, 4mm is, well, 4mm. But you must have wanted to experiment with a thick top to have gone down this path so maybe stick with the original game plan and just bring it down to the 3.5mm range, or maybe 3 or 3.2mm? Going all the way from 4mm to 2mm almost seems like capitulation and, from the sound of the video, the guitar is far too nice to do that. I vote for keeping it thick but removing the bridge and doing some adjustments.
(Also, if you go from 4mm to 2mm you’ll probably have to redo the binding.)
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
Yeah looking at the top in the other videos it certainly doesn't appear to be 4 mm thick... I also think the guitar has a nice tone right now, but it's really hard to tell the nuances without being in the room and playing it.
Posts: 1708
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to El Burdo)
quote:
Do you mean 2.4mm?
Good question, El Burdo!
Tom--I reiterate, the sound is very nice, a crisp, dry flamenco sound that many guitarists would appreciate. I suggest letting some people play it as is.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
quote:
Tom--I reiterate, the sound is very nice, a crisp, dry flamenco sound that many guitarists would appreciate. I suggest letting some people play it as is.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
quote:
but it's really hard to tell the nuances without being in the room and playing it.
Yeah! it's the nuance that is lacking; the pulsation is off and not what I'm used to. Could be it's built for a stronger hand but the ideal for me isn't there yet.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
Tom I thought your usual order of operations was to remove the bridge anyway for finishing? Sounds great regardless. I’m about to start polishing this guitar and I debated glueing the bridge on first like you do but I definitely don’t want to remove it again
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to JasonM)
Removing the bridge takes a little finesse' and using the right glue to release it with a little heat, so if you are not used to this technique then it might be better to follow your own ideas.
The difference between the last 1987 Reyes style and this one is quite different. This current top is just not giving its best with the thickness that seems to inhibit its sound quality. So, here is the last guitar I made with the top at about 2 MM.
You can really hear the difference. Same pocket phone recording.
The difference between the last 1987 Reyes style and this one is quite different.
Sure, but there isn't only one good sound. Just like there isn't only one woman who is beautiful.
OK, I've got an idea about opening up the sound that I haven't used for a long time. I learned it in Felix Manzanero's shop in Madrid in 1965. I'll let you know if it works.
Well, here is the correction Tell me what you think.
I liked it better before.
Yeah, it flattened out the sound and did give a better transference of sound but it looks like I'm going to have to take off the bridge and thin out the top a little.
What I did was try too many different things at once to boost the sound. What a mistake.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to VAHE)
quote:
ORIGINAL: VAHE
Hello Tom , what scale is it , is it 650mm or 655mm ?
Thanks
VAHE,
It is 655 MM and the LMI neck, made by Manuel Adalid, was too off measurement to give an easy fit. Manuel's older neck forms to me were fine but the LMI change makes it too difficult to get a good fit without a lot of work.
Also, thinning the top should bring back some earthy tone and articulation. I'll not let this puppy out of the shop unless I'm happy with it.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Andy Culpepper
Tom, I listened back and forth with my eyes closed a few times, and I think it sounds a little more open in the treble now, less choked off.
Thanks Andy,
Your are right about the treble but the whole dimensional quality took a nose dive into a lessor tone than desired. I've heard some Condes near that but this guitar is not near enough.
Posts: 83
Joined: Sep. 25 2014
From: ARMENIAN (living in U.S.)
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
I like the sound on both of it , but i preferred the first one . In a studio engineering world we call it tweaking the EQ'S a little bit toward the high end , But don't forget you need all the EQ frequencies there . Its the player preference .
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to VAHE)
Thanks for the input but I'm used to building a loud tablao guitar with dimensional qualities that don't stop at the front door.
And to do this requires certain adjustments with a thinner top. I've heard thicker tops that were louder than this one so I'll have to thin it out a little more to get the desired feed back and vibration that I'm used to.
The recording device I used was my wife's pocket phone, so that wasn't much help.
I understand frequencies as a natural feel from building for 58 years, and this is just not right. But there is still hope that it can work, after a little loving touch.
RE: new build for a 1987 Reyes style... (in reply to SephardRick)
quote:
ORIGINAL: SephardRick
The July 10th video sounds best IMHO. A little more open and lively.
Rick,
I took the bridge off and thinned the top to about 2MM in the middle with about 2.1 MM on the outside edges. The thicker edges will allow me to sand down a little if necessary, otherwise I'll leave the top as is. The upper bout is about 2.2 MM.
I'll try and string-up the guitar tomorrow, some time later in the afternoon. Maybe a video in a couple of days.
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