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I know that Al Carruth has had great success with this method of tuning a top. How about others? Have any of you improved your tops using the Chladni tuning method? What, if any, are the sticking points? I am very interested but before I invest a lot of time into it I want to hear some success stories. How about Al's new dvd? Is it straight forward and worth the investment? Is it too advanced for someone just starting to look at this method or is it a great place to start?

I have not made enough guitars to have the Chladni method pay off. I do like the the sound of Al's guitars, however. Burton has been using it and I think that his instruments sound pretty good too. Mark Blanchard has also made many guitars using Chladni patterns and he has a very systematic appraoch.

Al's DVD is in pre-release. We won't see it until July. I've ordered one and keeping my fingers crossed.

I use it. It's just another tool that can be very useful if you know how to use the information you get from it. Before investing time and money (less money than you might think), read everything about it. Not only all of Al's posts, but other articles in past American Lutherie and Guitarmaker magainzes. Read Graham Caldersmith's articles as well. If you feel you understand it well enough and have an idea on how to apply it to your building, then go for it. However, it really only pays off if you are building a number of guitars.

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Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
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For a really vague answer I would say that anything that makes you look closer at what you are doing is a good thing. I do feel I am making better guitars than I was before I started but I cannot attribute it totally to using the methods. It has helped me in one big way though. I am not a scientific thinker, I was an art schooler and firmly in the conceptual/creative side of my brain. Beginning to use the Chladni patterns was easier than some of the other methods for me because I was looking at shapes, it was a visual thing. And, subsequently, as I learn more about what the shapes mean I am starting to get a better grasp on the scientific reasons behind why they are what they are. Where it is leading me is in to paying more attention to the different resonances of the closed system. I don't feel like this discounts at all tuning the free plates but it is only one part of tuning the guitar. I think. So far.

Can you tell I'm not sure?

I am guessing that the soon to be DVD, coupled with a good reading if the available literature on the subject will give you an excellent place to begin from but Randy is correct in that the more you do it and the more records you have of your guitars the more you can gain from the results you have.

I hope that helps, If you have any other questions bring 'em on!

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Naturally, I'd like everybody to run right out and order one of the DVDs, but the fact is that there are lots of good ways to make fine sounding guitars. The main things, as Burton said, are to be observant and keep some sort of records. If you think that tickling the strings causes leprechauns inside the box to laugh, and that's what makes the sound, then figure out some way to count leprechauns, and write down how many you see and where they are. If your theory is correct then you should start noticing some differences between the leprechaun population and seating arangements in your better guitars and the average ones, and you can start figuring out how to make the little fellows more comfortable in the right places. There's nothing 'magic' about it; it's just good ol' cut-and-try scientific method, applied to the guitar, as people have been doing for hundreds of years. The biggest advantage I can think of with Chladni tuning is that you don't have to re-invent the whole thing for yourself: the patterns and frequencies can be noted down, and you can get information from other folks about what has worked for them.