ERVIN SOMOGYI 02 | GUITAR MAKER Top & Back

[JLmusicBase]

This explains a lot

thank you very much

[Fraitzy]

woody sound...lol

[JGF6237]

One year later and I'm still on the edge of my seat waiting for part three!

[jazzerty25]

YES, Great / We are very curious to see PART 3...

Thanks /

Cmb, Centre for musical instrument building, Belgium

[sonorgeek44]

when are we going to see part 3?

[hufschmidguitars1]

@hoppercap you may want to check out an article that mister somogyi wrote which is available on his website (factory VS handmade guitars) its very interesting...

Dont forget that most professional artists are endorsed up their ass my big guitar companies who pay them big cash and those ''artists'' are paid to say that their instruments are great and little fanboys believe them... Behind the scene, most of them record with handmade instruments :)

[angelcitymusic]

A True Master Guitar Maker!!!

Thank You

[ibaz1000]

@angelcitymusic

He sucked you in didn't he???

[F3FisGoodforYou]

Incredible.... the word MASTER comes to my mind....

[guitarcapo]

The back contributes very little. It's what's called a "sympathetic resonator" Your stomach and arm rest on the back and sides and dampen what little it DOES contribute. Play any guitar with your stomach and arm draped over the body and then play it away from you with the back and sides unrestricted. Unlike our friend tapping on boxes here you'll hear pretty much the same sound.

[craftyoscar]

@guitarcapo The object of the back and sides is not to budge. You're 100% right as far as dampening is concerned, energy needs to be transfered, if you don't have this against your chest, arm etc then energy needs to stay in the confounds of the guitar.

Greg Smallman apart uses multiple inner veneers to make the back and sides as strong as possible. All the air pressure is generated by the top, any vibration from the back cancels out the volume of air pressure, it's a physical fact.

[guitarcapo]

@craftyoscar

So many other factors are way more important in determining an acoustic guitar's sound than the free back and side plates this clown is tapping on.: The box volume, the soundboard stiffness, soundboard shape, the bracing, scale length, bridge and bridgeplate footprint, soundhole location and size. Most of the factors are associated with the soundboard construction. the back and side contributions get WAY overblown.

[dgeetar]

This clown's guitars start at around $25,000 and he can't seem to make enough to satisfy the market.  You're right - most guitars are built with a reflective back, not an actively contributing back, and in that case, you want the most efficient reflection possibly (like glass). The wood with the highest reflective properties is Dalbergia negra, Brazilian rosewood. This is measured and proven stuff - it's a wood that's so dense it's brittle (again, like glass).

[guitarcapo]

@dgeetar

I'm of the opinion that the tonal qualities of Brazilian rosewood is highly overrated and in practical terms no different than other rosewoods. There's this myth that surrounds Brazilian that probably has its basis in the fact that better guitars handmade decades ago featured that wood...But really what people are hearing is aged wood and better quality of manufacture than any magic properties in the species of wood.

[guitarcapo]

@craftyoscar I think it's mainly because the back and side woods are so exotic and expensive, so way more credit and attention is drawn there by woodworkers and guitar merchants. It's the emperor's new clothes. people assume what they are hearing is that back and side wood when it's other

things going on. Hell...I think the species and thickness of KERFING you use around the soundboard contributes more than all this back tapping business.

[dgeetar]

Maybe you're just kidding? The combination of the top & its bracing (including the bridge), the back & its bracing, and the soundbox volume absolutely determine the sound of a guitar. Make a significant change to any one of these and you will dramatically affect the resulting sound. Given decent strings, change anything else on the guitar - the head block, the neck itself, the tuners and certainly the kerfing, and you have changed pretty much zip. Even scale makes much less difference.

[guitarcapo]

@dgeetar

The back has very little to do with the sound a guitar makes. It's all in the soundboard,box volume, bracing, scale length, bridge, box volume, soundhole size and location, bridge plate...basically stuff associated with the soundboard more. After you build a few guitars, it's really obvious that playing around with the back is totally barking up the wrong tree. It's like fretting and researching what type of paint will give you the best performance numbers when building a race car.

[dgeetar]

Depends on what you're going for. The object of the back on a bluegrass guitar is to not move, to get the sound out quick & strong & cut through the noise. The object of the back on a fingerstyle guitar is to make a tonal contribution. That's why these guitarists usually sit with the back freed up. Take a great guitar like a pre-war Martin and play it on your lap with the back ringing. Then put it in the case & play it & see if you notice a difference. If you do, the back contributes.

[Cminor7sus4]

Yes, yes, YES! Thank you for validating my theory that the top and back plates act in concert, and must be tuned together. This is a central concept I adopted from the very beginning. Dr. Somogyi, you've given such clear demonstration of this principle. When I build a guitar, I imagine the sound box is supposed to function as a live concert hall you can hold in your lap, You, sir, are a Master, an avatar. Bless your kind soul. Best of good fortune to you, Sensei. -edwinson

[fatbeats101]

More Somogyi please!!!

[david82282]

Best of its kind I've seen. Thank you!