Official Luthiers Forum!

Are there any good sonic reasons why the top of the guitar is the same dimension as the back?
Have guitars with say..tops smaller than back..(or indeed vice versa) ever been tried?
What were the results?
Just wondering....
The only obvious reason I can think of is it might make the guitar awkward to hold...but hey ovations aren't exactly the easiest either.
Any thoughts gentlemen?

Well for starters you would have to bend the sides along a whole other axis as well.

Good job for bending the sides... Maybe not the most confortable configuration for a guitar, not either for the aesthetic question (would be UGLY, according to me). But, i'm sure that could affect the sound and the projection.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

I could see some interesting design ideas coming from playing with this part of the 'box'...the creation of the wedge and others come to mind right off. It would be a challenge/nightmare to get the side bending right...what some military refer to as 'good training'.

Acoustically...I have no idea. It can increase/decrease the volume of air inside the box, make the soundboard smaller...even change the resonant characteristics of the boxes interior. There are many here that are more knowledgable about this part than I and should have some good info. Beware...you may be opening up a huge can of worms though, as there are many different opinions about what makes for tone changes and sound quality.

-Matthew

Two designs where the back plate has a larger dimension than the top come to mind:

First - a guitar made by Burton LeGeyt with a special kind of cutaway:
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=22620

Second - a guitar with a Manzer wedge also has a somewhat larger back plate.

Sonic effects

Christian

Do Ovations count as guitars?

cause they have a very different back - top dimentions

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"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

It's true, ovation... But don't have to bend the sides, in fact, there's no sides. Only a carved back. Like a Lute or a Oud.

AWESOME this cut-away!!!

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

The builder's name escapes me at the moment but there was a guy who was doing something that looked like an armrest bevel around the entire perimeter of the top. The idea as I understand it was to get the sound of a bigger box and smaller top.

Maybe someone else will remember who it is. He was at Healdsburg 2 years ago (maybe this year too) and had one of that style at Dream Guitars for awhile.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Ovation jokes are the new banjo jokes!!!

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Don't confront me with my failures--I have not forgotten them.

I once had an Ovation that I left in my car overnight. The next morning I found that my car had been broken into. My Ovation was still there, however, along with four other Ovations.

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Cheers,
Curtis Olson
Hamilton, VA

Check out the Doerr Guitars. The bevel gives a smaller top and bigger box. Dream Guitars and Guitar Gallery usually has one.
http://www.guitargal.com/cgi-bin/displa ... 2&show=506

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Eddie Lee

Curious...as the top vibrating is a large contributor to the sound generated, wouldn't a larger top be preferable?

-Matthew

German Perez Barranco has been doing this for years here in Granada. I wouldn't dream of commenting on the sound however. This is the only internet reference I can find that mentions this feature in his guitars but I have seen them in his shop. http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... ncert/10/1


John Ray
Granada

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John Ray
Granada, Spain
blog: http://www.granadaexpert.com/johnray/