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Ok, Ima gonna get smashed for this but here goes.......Why not just put bass strings on the E and A stings and be done with it............lol

Hutch

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Howard, more pics of that, pleeeze!

Looks like the Nakyd Ladie, here is a link to Howard's website with pix of that guitar

http://www.klepperguitars.com/nakydlaydie.html#

Howard...

Dagnabit Howard.............you sure do have a knack for slappin' together some wood and out comes a work of art. You've always inspired me, thanks for sharing.

Hutch

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I agree with most of this, except I would add a 6th variable: body depth. If you like the overall sound of your guitar, but just want a little more bass, try adding 1/4" to 1/2" to the body depth (unless it's already 5" at tne bottom, tnen it would become quite unconfortable to play). This is the solution I always apply to my OMs when a customer wants more bass out of it.


No. Compared to his own usual guitars.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Paul: I've done some modifing of braces after completion. Not by choice but by necessity and with some success. Have always tended to over built a tad.Also have found it hard to reason why some guitars will have full height braces and some can be scalloped to less then half their height and they will all sound somewhat representitive of a guitar. Yes I'm aware of the over all system and the cube root rule etc,etc.
Some of my guitars have ended up too stiff or tight. This happened when I would change direction a bit, different size box, thinner braces that were left higher,changing the position of the X brace etc. Which means I don't have my stuff together so feel free to ignore.
What I have done is to lower the height in 4 main spots ,the tone bars and the lower X braces.Have done very little trimming on the sides of the braces. Have done minimal lowering of the finger braces and it has had minimal effect on tone.
When doing this there is not much removal of material and one should proceed slowly and with caution. Do a bit and restring,try the guitar and if there is a quite noticiable change play the guitar a few days and try again.Slow work but it can pay off.
If the bottom ends of the X brace are let into linings at a good height approx 1/16 for me and feathers back to full height at 2.5" to 3" and the end of tone bars are similar or less things are OK there. Not sure the shape of your braces.
The first thing to try should be the bottom tone bar,you can do a fair amount of work here and not have a major mishap. The upper tone bar next and take more caution here. Also the closer you get to the bridge you must get more and more careful. I tend to scallop the tone bars rather then an over all lowering of height. If the tone bars were too heavy you should be able to hear a better bass after some work. Also a bit more responsive sound that is what I call more full.
If the X brace is looking too high,some scalloping at the bridge area and lower should continue the process. Again proceed slowly...!! Have never done any work above the cross over of the X.
Some of the things I find useful are a nice big mirror,mine is about 2" by 4" on a flexable handle. A flashlite with a group of LED's are excellant for having a good look. A small finger plane and /or small sanding sticks with 80 grit abrasive are enough to do the surgery.Some finer grit paper in hand does the clean up. Bigger sound holes are a help to get proper reach inside the guitar but may work against the bass. I can get in to work on the lower tone bar but it is quite a job.
Paul,you may have bracing that is scalloped quite a bit already. I tend to scallop lightly when I build so I find I can may this work for me if needed.So this may not be of any help and you will have to try something else. There are no guarantees,but has worked for me. Again go slowly with caution. Good luck if you try.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!