Thinking Guitars

I have learned a lot messing about making acoustic guitars. Here are a few points, you may disagree, but each one to their own.

 

  1. You don't need a big guitar to get a big sound. - My internal construction and similar to other guitar makers, can make the sound as full as a big bodied guitar. I tested four guitars out, a standard classical nylon, a steel string standard size, and two of my own small bodied (2.5"/ 65mm deep). Apart from the steel strings sounding brighter, they all had similar tone and volume.
  2. You don't need a sound hole in the standard position to achieve an acoustic sound from the guitar. - Reading information from other makers, i read a note to say that 80-90% of sound comes from the guitar soundboard (top). Only 10-15% of sound (Bass response) comes from the sound hole. This is true in my guitars.
  3. The upper bout does not contribute to the sound of the guitar - This is why I make all my acoustic guitars with the MG  shaped back. Upper bout can go down to 50mm /2" and the lower bout up to 160mm/5". This gives a shape that is comfortable to play while standing, but not taking away any sound/tone away from the guitar. (due to construction)
  4. Guitar necks are too thin and uncomfortable - Guitar necks have gotten slimmer and slimmer over the years. I have noticed that playing a slim neck for long periods make yours left (neck) hand ache. MG have fatter necks tailored to the players hand, which not only makes it comfortable over long periods but stiffer less prone to warping.
  5. You don't need a truss rod - As necks got thinner something had to be done to stop it bending and twisting, so a steel (metal) truss rod was used. This takes a lot of the acoustic sound/tone from the guitar and also looses sustain.  MG does not use metal strengtheners, but uses hard wood and carbon fibre instead. This brings back the tone and sustain. Latest experiment using carbon fibre box section, leaving the section  hollow even adds more mid range depth to the tone.
  6. Recently I have found that solid heavy guitar necks (African-Mahogany/Iroko) may add a little more sustain, but the tone changes quite drasticly from a lighter neck.

More observations coming later.