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aarongreen -> RE: Applying a golpeaor - bad for the guitar? (Dec. 8 2007 15:12:09)
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I built a few flamenco guitars early on that I fitted with wooden tap plates. I really liked the idea back then but had to come around to reality as they do not make a very durable tap plate. One client of mine said that when he golped he felt like his nails were getting stuck in the plate a little bit. So in this I think it's fair to say plastic is the better material.
I recently did some work on a Lopez blanca that had wooden tap plates and they looked awful as the owner played the guitar a lot. He wanted me to remove them and replace them with plastic but I was worried about getting them off cleanly, not knowing for sure what glue he used to stick them on (that and the color difference from where they had been glued on). They were incredibly thick, almost 2 mm. I thinned them down a bit and refinished them. It may be my imagination but I thought the guitar sounded better once they were a little thinner. The owner was considering selling the guitar so for him it was more important to get the guitar in top condition.
John is right when he said that mass of whatever you are gluing to the top of the guitar is more important than the material. He is also right that a plate is not really going to give you any structural benefits. The most acoustically sensitive part of the guitar is behind the bridge, in front of it you have the torque and compression load of the strings and bracing that is serving a largely structural purpose. I think thats why you can, within reason, get away with gluing a tap plate to the guitar without affecting the sound.
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