Clapton's Guitar

Re: Clapton's Guitar

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Interesting. The description of Wayne's build process seemed complete, at least with judicious reading between the lines. One thing he does is brace the sides with some sort of ribbon rather than wood. Apparently this is to stop cracks in the sides from travelling rapidly, provides a little first aid time I guess. So I wonder if some sort of carbon fiber ribbon would be even more effective.

Another interesting thing mentioned is that Wayne's perfectionist methods are an attempt to make the path of the sound waves as smooth as possible. So braces are chamferred, the interior sanded, etc. I wonder how much his ribbons don't help out in this area. And I wonder how aerodynamic Smallman's carbon fiber braces might be compared to spruce.

Pam

Re: Clapton's Guitar

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I find it difficult to think about riving something less than 1/4" thick.

Pam

Re: Clapton's Guitar *LINK*

Bob Fawcett

>I know very little about guitars, but I know someone who does.


Another of Eric's guitars

Re: Clapton's Guitar

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Interesting. George Gruhn plays a large role in this book. For example, Wayne Henderson worked there for a while and Gruhn trades with Clapton.

Thanks,

Pam

Re: Clapton's Guitar

thomd

>You could certainly do it with carbon, but I doubt there is much advantage. Carbon comes in these tows where the bits are as fine or finer than hair, getting them glued down tends to be messy, which translates into even more interesting moisture control problems. Or you can buy the bars, but they are way more than is really needed. The wood has to move unless one is covering everything and if not the imoveables can make maters worse or print through. I don't use anything on my side, but If I had to worry about guitars coming back... Plywood makes really good sides, and a lot of guitars that look natural in the 1K and down range are probably plywood for reason of avoiding repairs. Sides cracks don't usually harm the guitar.

Smallmans bracing is an aero nightmare, as far as I can tell. It consists of many small lattice members glued to the inside of the top and these same carboned over. It really seemed to limit the flexibility of the top everywhere except the edges, so it pumps in and out like a speaker cone. I'm a little out of touch, but a significant majority (99%) of luthiers used to operate from the idea that the inside of the guitar worked better when it was'nt smooth. Smooth seems to make sense, but many people had not got good results. Guitar makers are perfectionists and want everything to look nice. Plus some of the new soundhole positions like the upper bout monitors really leave the instrument open to view. people would say the guitar needs to be rough to grip the air (Hmmm).

Anyway, one has to have some baseline for discussion. The best guitar makers are probably classical makers, in one sense. There is a much tighter grid of what is acceptible, weird sounds that might get you millions in a pop context are not wanted (think of the electric bow in With or Whithout You, as far as I can tell anyway). Also the field is still significantly accountic, which means your revenues are limited by how well the notes from a hand plucked string carry across a hall. In the accoustic steel string field it's different, amplification is normal, and a unique sound would be a possible money spinner, and revenues are very significant, soo... lots more competition and lots of tallent. All I'm getting at is the objectives for this guy could be completly different from those of a Smallman.

Re: Clapton's Guitar

wilbur

>Oops -- should have clarified. For many high end flattop guitars, the first step in creating the top is to split billets by hand. Once this process results in a billet that is about 1-3" in thickness, then the roughsawn tops are sawn off, usually about 3/16" or so. Then the top is finally taken down to its final thickness.

Re: Clapton's Guitar

thomd

>That makes perfect sense. Some of the best wood is coming from reharvested stumps, I'm sure they split that stock for a variety of reasons, like ease of carrying out. And it helps with runout.

Someone mentioned Red Spruce. I know where there is lots of it in noble trees, supposed to be logged off and burned, though I think it may have received a reprieve. Cheap Asian goods... Oh whoops where did the trees go. "Munch... Munch"

Re: Clapton's Guitar

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Also the field is still significantly accountic, which means your revenues are limited by how well the notes from a hand plucked string carry across a hall. In the accoustic steel string field it's different, amplification is normal, and a unique sound would be a possible money spinner, and revenues are very significant, soo... lots more competition and lots of tallent. All I'm getting at is the objectives for this guy could be completly different from those of a Smallman.

I don't pretend to discern motivations accurately, can't even figure out why I do stuff, much less anyone else; but my understanding based on this book is that Wayne is looking for a loud sound with precise note discernability and clarity. My understanding of Smallman's efforts and others is that they want to know how to control that sound in addition to getting it. What feature makes one guitar louder, muddier, clearer, etc.

Pam

Re: Clapton's Guitar

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Yeah, red spruce, aka Adirondack spruce. At the end of the book there is discussion of how Wayne obtains his spruce. Apparently he doesn't have a mountain side, but he buys from those who do have access to downed trees (one guy got 1000 tops from a single downed tree in the National Forest which was cut and hauled by a contractor), among others.

Pam