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Location: New York | I can't find the posts that I read recently concerning opening up your guitar top. I found this webpage that is very interesting and discusses among other people, Jackson Browne using this method of pumping in very high vibrations through the use of a special machine that has a huge speaker with a plate for a face that vibrates your instrument the equivalent of perhaps a couple of years in 45 minutes. Sounds fantastical, but it is worth the read.
Find it here: http://www.acousticguitar.com/Gear/advice/vibration.shtml |
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| I saw that earlier. Interesting concept. That is one heckuva big speaker! We've often joked that we could get the same effect at a jam by putting all the guitars in the same room as Beggin and subject them to his snores ;) :D |
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Location: Cicero, NY | That is interesting. My concern would be that accelerating the opening up by subjecting the guitar to intense vibration might also affect the structure (bracing, seams, etc.). |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I've thought about this often. My guitars all hang in a (relatively) soundproofed bandroom where I practice regularly with some pretty strong amps and sound reinforcement systems. Play one plugged in, they all vibrate. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by Weaser P:
That is interesting. My concern would be that accelerating the opening up by subjecting the guitar to intense vibration might also affect the structure (bracing, seams, etc.). You will notice on the graph that I copied from the link they say that they are measuring vibration at the Peghead... So does that mean that the vibration loosened the neck?
I want the Top to open-up... Not the neck to start wobbling.
The straight line represents the frequency
response at the peghead before the shaking;
the jagged line shows the response afterward.
-----------------------------------------------
Just food for thought. :D |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Not necessarily. The peghead vibrates during normal playing - just look at those electronic tuners that clips on there. The question is whether the altered frequency response tells us anything about the sound of the guitar. Judging the 'sound' of a guitar is a totally subjective process (which does not imply that it's meaningless). Is it possible to measure it significantly? |
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| Originally posted by sycamore:
Judging the 'sound' of a guitar is a totally subjective process (which does not imply that it's meaningless). Is it possible to measure it significantly? The "History of Ovation" book has a fascinating section talking about just that. I don't have the book in front of me, so please forgive me if I get something slightly wrong.
Since Charlie's an engineer and had been building helicopters, one vital area of interest was the harmonic vibration of helicopter rotors. If the rotors started vibrating harmonically at certain frequencies, they would tear themselves apart, with disastrous, fatal consequences for the crew. So one of the chief considerations in helicopter and rotor design and construction is reducing vibration.
When he started out to build guitars, he took that expertise (from himself and other top aerospace engineers who worked for him), along with very highly sophisticated and expensive equipment to measure harmonic vibration, and turned that idea on its head. They reasoned that you want vibration in a guitar top. So the question then became, what vibrational frequencies of a guitar top translate into "good" sound, whatever that means?
Since "good" is so subjective, Charlie assembled a group of people and had them rate the sound from various guitars (but mostly a specific pre-war Martin) played in different ways (by expert guitarists), then used those subjective opinions to measure with great precision what vibrational characteristics people deemed "good".
With those data sets in had, they started building guitars, experimenting with bracing patterns, etc. in a very methodical way, applying the same engineering principles of rotor design to guitar building. The aim was to make a guitar that would match as closely as possible the vibrational frequencies that were deemed good.
The end result? A revolution in guitar design and construction, yielding one of the most consistent sounding guitars, and a guitar that quickly ruled the market for several decades until others could catch up. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Well said, Serge. |
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Location: New York | It is an interesting concept. I will be picking up my new C778 LX in a week and I plan to try this out with my stereo speakers for a week or two. When I'm not playing it that is.
My guitar is already a year or two old as it was special ordered and never picked up. It sat in the music store since then. I know that the accoustic room at Daddy's is humidity controlled. So the top has already aged about 2 years. Heck, it may be opened up somewhat already. I am sure that it has been played during that time. When I played it though, it didn't seem opened up. |
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Location: New York | G8r, thanks for that info from the book. Very cool. |
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| Originally posted by Hossman21:
I know that the accoustic room at Daddy's is humidity controlled. So the top has already aged about 2 years. Heck, it may be opened up somewhat already. I am sure that it has been played during that time. When I played it though, it didn't seem opened up. Hey Hoss, congrats again on the custom elite. Beautiful guitar, and a great player, too.
As far as "opening up," it's probably true that it's opened up some if folks have played it alot in the store. But it won't really open up until you get it home and start playing it regularly. It's been my (limited) experience that it takes hours and hours of playing to notice any appreciable difference in a brand new guitar.
And even then, if I don't play my Takamine dread everyday (it's only about a year old) I'll notice it sounds a little "stiff" the next time I play it, and it takes a few minutes of hard playing before it sounds loosened up again. That's happening less and less, so I think it's almost reached that state that people call "opened up."
Have fun with your new git, how exciting! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | "Opening Up Your Top"
Thought this was a mardi-gras thread. |
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Location: PDX | Dave, didn't you just post this topic a little while ago?
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gh1 |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes. Still interested to learn more about this.
I know that Martin has every guitar sit in a "waiting room" for 2 weeks before they recheck the setup prior to shipping. Wondering why they don't just pump massive sound waves into the room and get the "opening up" process kick ctarted. |
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Location: PDX | Whatever the phenomenon is there's no reason a guy can't make a buck off it.
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gh1 |
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Location: PDX | And here is a discussion of the product where one of the developers has a post. |
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Location: Indiana | Interesting link. Thanks gh1.
Anyone here use the Tonerite on an O? |
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Location: Calgary,Alberta | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPh9_gFH7t4
check out this video by Robert Godin on you tube |
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Opening up your top
