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Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Of the 3 O's I have 2 are not FLAT below the bridge across the lower bout... They have a radius that shows about 1/4" relief on either side if you put a straight edge across, just below the bridge... The 29 year old Glen Cambell is flatter maybe a 1/16 of an inch relief...
Huss and Dalton Guitar's make a big deal about it on there site... as quoted here:
"A significant difference in Huss & Dalton Guitars is the use of a 25'radius top on most models.(yes 25 FOOT radius it's not a typo) This is done for several reasons, the most important of which is structural integrity. One of the most challenging aspects of the traditional flat top guitar is the problem of string stress causing the top to take on an unnatural shape. Many flat tops will sink at the sound hole, which places the top in a stressful position reducing it's performance as a soundboard. This also causes the neck position to change altering the scale length, creating the need to “re-set” the neck to correct its angle and the guitar’s intonation. Because a domed surface is inherently stronger than a flat one, our radiused soundboard helps the guitar top bear the stress of the steel strings. This is achieved in our guitar by not only building an arch into the braces, but also preparing the sides in the same radius to accept the soundboard. A positive by-product of the radiused soundboard design, besides its load bearing properties, is a boost in the mid-range tone. This helps our guitars to have a more balanced tone than traditional designs."
So what gives ??? Look at your lower bout, with a level or some type of straight edge... Maybe I'll start a POLL... if I don't get a concensus...
Are Martins FLAT or radiused ???
cw2 is this part of O's design ???
AB |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Ab, I'd still consider a 25-foot radius top a flattop. That is PRETTY DARN FLAT over a distance of 1.25 feet(the width of a guitar top, roughly). The 1.25 feet is roughly 3 degrees(less than 1%) of the 360 degree total in the circumference. A guitar that is considered an archtop probably has a radius of a few feet.
Roger |
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Posts: 271
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Not acording to Huss and Dalton...
I just laid out a 25 ft radius on the floor and scribed a radius, across 20 inches, it rises about 1/4 inch in the middle !!!
Any Martin's out there???
AB |
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Location: Midland, MI | You scribed a chord, not a radius, which is more appropriate for the discussion to boot! :)
The top, south of the bridge, on my Elite seems to have an ever so slight belly to it. You can't really see it, but if you close your eyes and run your hand over the top, you get the impression it's there. I haven't done the straightedge thing, though, to confirm it. |
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| So cruster is sitting in the room with his eyes closed stroking his fingers across the belly of his guitar. Then his wife walks in.......... |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | ...and says, That's a nice change!! :eek: |
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Location: Midland, MI | I'm offended.
EDIT: That was a joke. |
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Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Using 16 inches for the width of a guitar top, my calculations come out to 0.107 inches (a little less than 1/8 inch) height at the middle of the top for a 25 foot radius. Not perfectly flat, but not terribly arched either.
Roger |
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Location: Scotland | With the possible exception of Adamas, no flat-top guitar stays flat for very long. If they do it's usually because they're either built too heavily or strung too lightly, both of which produce poor tone. Some manufacturers, including Ovation on certain models, pre-stress the tops into a slight arch. It's nothing new & the jury is still out on the benefits. |
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Location: Midland, MI | Interesting, Paul. Which models do they pre-stress the tops on?
I've heard Martin fanatics claim that the belly on certain old Martin's is a GoodThing(tm), while at the same time, other Martin fanatics were strongly suggesting that it needed to go back to the factory for fixin'.
Personally, I'd rather have the slight bulge behind the bridge that goes along with lighter (just right?) bracing (and what I would imagine is better sound), as opposed to a soundboard that is so heavily braced that it doesn't move hardly at all. |
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February 2002
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Location: Scotland | There was a Celeb "archtop" & I think a collectors edition. Ovation marketing chose to use the term "Archtop" which is not only innapropriate but also very confusing |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | If you're looking at an old guitar and the top is still flat you don't want it. I'll defer to Mr. Temp for the rest since he's got it right. |
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Ovations not really FLAT tops ???