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Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 41
| I've talked with a few people whose guitars have major bellying.
They tell me that bellying is designed into the guitar, but I have no idea how a builder could design in a specific amount of bellying, and the changes in string geometry, and to know that the instrument will shift just that much, and no more. .
Could someone shed some light on whether there is some control over the process, assuming that it's actually planned, and how the limits get enforced while it happens?
Or is this some kind of justification, with no factual basis? |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | "Assuming that it's actually planned,".........not. Nobody's crystal ball, or reading of tea leaves, is that good. If you're lucky, it doesn't get so bad, it can't be compensated for. |
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Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2315
Location: Pueblo West, CO | What your friend might be referring to is that some guitars, such as Martin, are built a 'bulge' in the soundboard.
While they are called 'flat-top' guitars, most of the time they aren't really flat. Instead they are built with a radius 'bulge'. In the case of Martins, they have a 28' radius 'bulge' built into the soundboard.
Ovation guitars are one of the few, truly flat, 'flat-top' guitars.
To my knowledge, no guitar is designed for instances where the belly will rise to the point where the neck/string geometry is perfect. That's why a lot of manufacturers design the neck joint so that it can be (somewhat) easily removed to allow the neck geometry to be reset to compensate for the bellying that inevitably occurs. |
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Is it really a positive in some cases to have bellying on a guitar?
