Andy Culpepper -> RE: My first ported guitar: lowtech sound test and thoughts (Oct. 15 2012 21:55:15)
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I hear a difference too. To me, enough to sound like 2 different guitars. Small difference but still there. The first guitar has 'brighter' or more nasal highs, don't know how to describe it and the bass is less there, less focused is a good word, less power. The second sounds fuller, better bass, 'separated' is a good word too and the highs lose the 'nasal' characteristic, not sure how to name that one, like a high-thin part to the sound. That's basically what I hear too. The nice thing about the port is that in the room the guitar definitely has more "presence" and more apparent volume. I would want to accompany with the port open but probably record with it closed. Maybe I should try putting in a little sliding door like some makers have done [:)] quote:
I dont really have much experience with sound ports but to me they seem to function like a monitor ,,,, meaning, it is for the player only , as it is facing him only . I think people get confused a little by the fact that the port is facing the player. The difference in sound may be more from the player's perspective in a large or acoustically damped room but I definitely think adding the port changes the inherent character of the instrument and the way it resonates. Knowing what the Helmholtz resonance is on a guitar is important in that it changes the way certain notes behave. Usually it causes the note that it's nearest to on the low E string to be a short, almost "wolf-like" note. This also pushes and pulls and interacts with other resonances of the top and back to change slightly how the guitar produces sound. Having the port opened raised the Helmholtz about a semitone. Also interesting to note is that some guitars, usually very responsive ones, can have a somewhat wild string excursion especially on the low E string. This actually results in a bit more fret buzz when the action is at all low. One thing that jumped out at me about this guitar was that, with the port open, that low E string was more wild and buzzed a little more than with it closed (the vibrating envelope of the string was larger). This again suggests that the guitar is responding differently. Not huge differences but definitely noticeable. quote:
This might not be the best place for this comment, but when my luthier suggested we use padauk for the negra I wanted built, Andy's "guitar #24 in the white" video had me sold. This one has the refined sizzle as well, great balance between trebles & basses to my ear, solid bass presence, the projection is there with/without the port... Great work Andy! Thanks for the complement... that was one of my best guitars and the owner was pretty thrilled with it.
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