Official Luthiers Forum!

Recently I sat down with Australian luthier, Trevor Gore, and asked a few questions.
In this video we discuss volume, thickness of sides, how sound waves work in a guitar, classical vs. flamenco, Chladni patterns, nodes, etc.
Here is the result of that interview. Enjoy!

Cool!

Thanks Robbie. I am a big fan of laminated sides.

What does Trevor think the mechanism behind improvement in sound by thinning the edges of the lower bout is?

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

tnx robbie . for posting, It is much appreciated .I/ve been using laminated sides for 8 yrs.If you plan to have trev /s the shed in denver. Let us know , would love to attend Thanks

I really enjoyed this informative interview/discussion. Thanks.

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Under Compensated Nut!

I find I build with much thinner backs than recommanded by Mr. Gore, in the range of .070" for Rosewoods. But still find the top and back 3 semi tones apart rather than 4. On the frequency scale at 170 top vs 205 back. Any benefit to that I'm wondering.

Thanks Robbie, nice to watch. As a side note, it's kind of funny when you put a voice into someone you've been reading for quite some time.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Excellent video Robie. Trevor is a very impessive fellow.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Thank you Trevor and Robbie,
So much good information in a less than 15 minute video!

Does anyone else find themselves wanting a DVD or digital release of a lecture or two???

Thinning the edges can increase the monopole mobility. How much of an increase you see depends a lot on how you have the top braced.


With the back thinner, its coupled frequency will be lower and you get less separation between the T(1,1)2 and T(1,1)3 peaks for a given bracing system, as you've found. The closer the two get together, and the higher the mobility of the back, the more energy is transferred from the top to the back by the various coupling mechanisms, so less of the total energy is radiated as sound. You can choose how much volume you want to trade off in search of the tone you want, and the "f" number in the thickness equation allows you to select that amount and repeatably hit your target, irrespective of the variation in the properties of the material you're using.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

"the higher the mobility of the back, the more energy is transferred from the top to the back" : If I understand this correctly, it means the back is therefore more active and will add increased complexity to the tone.

Correct, but at the expense of some volume. And if the back is too active, the tone suffers, too.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Trevor and Robbie, thanks for that. Very informative.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Great video!

Really helps to have those concepts explained so patiently and in simple terms.