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Micah, I think a sweepable tone generator would be handy for Chladni testing. Also, a color-graduated, plate thickness plotting function would be very cool. Also, I think just a simple, cleanly laid out time-study spreadsheet would be nice. Every time I try to do a time-study, I lose track and motivation by the time I get to neck carving. Still don't really know how long this endeavor takes me...


Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Disagree. I was happy with the way my guitars sounded right from the start. It was the fit and finish that took years to get right. Science hasn't improved guitars one iota. First you will have to change what people expect to hear. You should work with synthetics, where things are quantifiable. But I really do wish you success. Guitars just don't seem that mysterious to me.

No worries, John.

Happy to agree to disagree. There was no way I was ever going to convince everyone!


I wouldn't want to go back to gut strings as the only available choice.

Well, that's not an absolute requirement. For example, most acoustic guitars don't play the equally tempered scale particularly accurately. Get it to play more accurately in tune and most people like that. They get what they expected rather than frustration. I use quite a bit of science to get that to happen, likely not the only way, but repeatable and communicable.

No more quantifiable than using natural materials. Maybe less variable.

Thank you. Genuinely. People like Al Carruth and I have been pushing the "science" barrow for a good while now. Sometimes it feels rather lonely, but I think we're making progress.

If guitars didn't still have some mystery left for me, I don't think I'd still be building.

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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

I think you might prefer a lab to a work bench, but that's fine. I don't own or want a smart phone or a tablet, though I was offered the gift of one. Neither would enhance my life. If I had put in 40 years and felt that guitars still baffled me I'd be disappointed. We're only at philosophical odds, and I only dropped into this thread out of curiosity, not to give you a hard time. I truly hope you nail it down. If you do, I want to live long enough to play your guitars. Be well.

You have my attention...sounds good.

What's going on here? Don't you guys know that if you disagree with each other that you should slug it out here in public for our entertainment? I want my money back.