Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks again, guys. As for why it works structurally, the back is heavily braced and the bridge is connected to the back via the pillar that's under it. The top has no stress on it whatsoever. It's only .085" thick and is connected only to the outside rim, the neck block area, and the 6x1 bridge pillar. The bridge is only .2" tall. That's all by design to enhance what minimal ability it does have to move. A lot of solid-body electric guitars are being fitted with piezos these days and they make a pretty convincing acoustic sound for being boat oars. I thought let's take that electric and make as much like an acoustic as possible and see what we get.

I made a sound clip. I just have to put it somewhere so I can link to it. Coming soon....

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Looks like it'll be Monday on the sound clip unless I could email to someone who could host it. I don't have access to my web server from home, and being Valentine's Day, I'll be shot if I try to go to work...

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

John, I'd love to host it temporarily until you can upload it monday.

christoid7 at comcast net

When you play it, is the area of the top not connected to the bridge active?

James, I just sent you the file. Thanks for doing that. Yes, it is. The whole thing shakes. Obviously not as much as a traditional acoustic, but a lot more than a production hollow-body such as an ES335 or a Hollowbody II. In fact, I would say the acoustic volume is probably in the ballpark of your standard 17" archtop.

Maybe if I get a chance today I'll mic it acoustically and make a sample of that. I ended up buying my wife a puppy for Valentine's Day, so my day could be a long one. On the other hand, it's 6:30am here and the little guy is still sleeping. Good sign!

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

I had a puppy for four days in November. My landlord made me take him back

http://languagepool.net/recordings/My%20Song%2010.m4a

John's clip can be found here. It sounds great!

Thanks for doing that James.

The recording is straight in; no eq, no dynamics. What do you guys think?

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

A puppy! Where's the pics???

John she sounds great, very warm too - is that tune Melissa by the Alman bros?

Great sounding geetar my friend!!!

Very impressive...especially if that clip was unamplified! I really like that sound.

John, looks like you have something special there...congratulations!!!

I'll be stopping by on my next trip north!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks guys. Here's the signal chain for the recording; B-band under saddle transducer > B-band on-board preamp > Mackie 8 bus in > Mackie 8 bus direct out pre-eq > Presonus A/D > Hard Drive.

Hesh, sorry no puppy pics yet.

JJ, cool! Let us know!

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Nothing like a great stage acoustic! I'm serious John, offer this as a kit! Then I could sell the Crowdster and buy more wood.
I have a Pendulum SPS-1 if you want to hear thet baby really kick butt!

_________________
jw ( o)===:::

Me too.

I play acoustic in a church orchestra and might want to try a similar design if there is no objection.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to offer a kit. I've had about a dozen inquiries about it in the last 24 hours. I've also had more people ask about the acoustic sound of it, so tonight I'll mic it up and get a sample.

Joe, I would love to try out the Pendulum on this thing. I would also like to pick your brain about this design in general. I understand you're quite the acoustic/electric affeccianado.

The neck joint is pretty basic. It's my standard set neck. 1.5" x 1.5" x 2.5" tenon with a mortise that is .002" bigger on all sides.

I don't mind anyone borrowing my design for a personal build, but please don't use it for commercial offerings without talking to me about it.

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Also, if you are going to commercialize it, I think it would be wise to chance the outline a bit, and stop calling it acoustic Les Paul.
I am sure you have heard about certain letters...

Good call on the name, but the shape is already quite different. Here's my guitar (red) with a les paul (green).

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

yeah,
you´re right, that shape is clearly different enough.

Ok, here's the completely acoustic sample as promised. It's a little thin, but not as thin as I would have expected from a 2" deep guitar with 1/4" thick back and sides.

The signal chain was the same as before except with a Rode NT1 Condenser mic instead of the b-band pickup. The mic was about a foot away aimed halfway between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard.


http://www.cncguitarparts.com/acoustic%202.m4a

Lance, sorry if posting my URL is a no no. I don't mean to step on any toes....

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Impressive, John...when can we order kits?

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Very cool on many fronts..

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Thanks guys. JJ, what kind of kit offering do you think would work? I'm think this;

Closed body with mortise and binding channel cut
Cavity Cover
Neck with paddle headstock
Matching bridge, fingerboard, and headplate

I'm thinking of offering a higher level of kit that would be similar to those 'naked furniture' places that used to be everywhere. What would you think of a guitar that was done except for frets and finish?

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

I just PM'd you. This is a great topic for discussion next time I'm in your area...Feb 27.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Exactly too cool

From my perspective I'd be interested in a 'low-level' kit with just the CNC work done - body, top and neck. However, I'm just one person and I realize you must serve the greatest demand. Either way I hope it works out well for you.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

John,
I'd probably be in for one if the price is good. But I would like the raw CNC'd kit with the parts you described. Do you think a K&K pickup would work? Also, I would probably add 2 sound ports similar to John Monteleone to give the player some more sound while playing unplugged. When would you start offering these?

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Hey Tracy, I think the K & K would work just fine. I thought about doing a couple of sound ports on the first one. I didn't do it simply because there were braces between where I would put the hole and the "chest" of the instrument.

I plan to make another prototype in order to flush out a couple of ideas and then I'll offer the kit. I'll try to keep the price as reasonable as possible. The biggest expense by far is the solid Mahogany blank. Maybe we'll try some African or Limba to keep the costs down.

Anyone have a stash of tops they'd like to unload at a good price? I'll probably make a run of 20 of them to start.

Are there any options that anyone would like to see offered in terms of woods, electronics compatability, features?

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

John, It all sounds very exciting to me. What about a bolt on instead of glue on neck? This might make assembly and setup easier for inexperienced builders (like me!) The Crowdster is a bolt on (see pic) I think an onboard volume would be cool but with all the different pickup options you would have to settle on one to keep things simple. The Baggs Element has a nice small volume wheel that could be added somewhere out of the way. That is one of my beefs with the Crowdster, the volume, treble,mid and bass are right on the top, les Paul style and it is distracting. Here's a couple snaps.

_________________
jw ( o)===:::