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Acoustic Haven Guitars of Austin offers a selection of fine handcrafted classical guitars
from some of today's leading contemporary builders. Here you will find classical and
flamenco guitars from makers such as Alejandro Cervantes, Kenny Hill, Francisco
Navarro, Johnny Walker, and Pete Barthell. Designs based of the old masters Hauser,
Torres, Ramirez, Smallman. Please browse the site, email your comments or questions.
from some of today's leading contemporary builders. Here you will find classical and
flamenco guitars from makers such as Alejandro Cervantes, Kenny Hill, Francisco
Navarro, Johnny Walker, and Pete Barthell. Designs based of the old masters Hauser,
Torres, Ramirez, Smallman. Please browse the site, email your comments or questions.
| Acoustic Haven Guitars of Austin Fine Handcrafted Classical and Flamenco Guitars |
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Austin, Texas By Appointment 512-697-9371 Contact Acoustic Haven
| Sound Tops, & Tone Wood From Websters Dictionary: Tone:( noun) 1 : vocal or musical sound of a specific quality <spoke in low tones> <masculine tones>; especially : musical sound with respect to timbre and manner of expression 2 : a): a sound of definite pitch and vibration b): WHOLE STEP 3 : accent or inflection expressive of a mood or emotion ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ It’s all in the top. Consider an audio speaker like one you might find in your home stereo. As the speaker cone vibrates back and forth in response to electrical signals from the amplifier, air directly in front of the speaker is made to vibrate in step with the motion of the cone. This air vibration transfers sound from the speaker to your ear. The tone - treble, bass, and midrange frequencies - are controlled by the electronics in the amplifier and fine tuned to your liking by adjusting the related controls on the amplifier. The guitar sound board, or top, works something like the speaker cone. As you pluck the strings vibration is transferred by the saddle and bridge to the guitar's top causing it vibrate. Like the speaker cone, the vibrating wood moves air transferring sound to your ear. The quality of the wood, the type of wood (cedar or spruce for example), the finish, and the type of bracing or strut support all play a role in the top’s resonance and response. The various sound qualities - bass, treble, projection, volume, sustain etc. - are affected by these factors. (The guitar body, back & sides, contribute to the sound and projection somewhat but the top is where it counts.) Many inexpensive low end guitars are typically constructed with plywood tops. The plywood is made up of several thin layers of wood glued together like a sandwich. While these guitars are fine for most beginners they are typically not very vibrant or do not carry a wide range of tone and color. For the serious guitarist there is no substitute for a solid wood guitar. Solid wood tops resonate and transmit vibrations from the strings better. They are a bit louder than plywood guitars and there is a difference in the sound one hears. A solid wood guitar sounds richer, and has it's own unique character with subtle overtones, harmonics, or partials all of which combine to color the basic tone. No two pieces of wood sound exactly the same. Different species have different sound qualities due to differences in density and other factors. Two tops made from pieces of wood from the same tree may not sound exactly the same. Steel-string guitar tops are typically made from spruce. Classical guitar tops are made from either spruce or cedar. Flamenco guitars traditionally use spruce. (Other woods may be used, but these are the most traditional and common.) Listen to this Sound Clip from NPR Radio: Master luthier TJ Thompson of West Concord, Mass., demonstrates how guitar wood sounds before it's made into guitars... and how a guitar-maker's task is to find the music in the wood. The Music of Guitar Wood (Broadcast on Dec 22, 2006) The guitar is truly an international instrument with ebony (fret board) from Africa, rose wood (back and sides) from Brazil or India (to name just two origins), spruce (sound top) from Germany, US, Canada or elsewhere ...... or cedar (sound top) from other exotic locations around the world. At the hands of the skilled luthier these materials come together to produce instruments that are truly a work of art. When it comes to Classical Guitars with cedar or spruce sound tops, one is not necessarily better than the other. The difference is in the tonal qualities they offer. Spruce is harder than Cedar and provides a “brighter” sound quality. Cedar has a darker, mellow or warmer tone. Spruce will change over time as the wood continues to dry and age. A spruce top classical guitar may sound different after a couple of years. Cedar tops have that recognizable “Spanish sound”. Spruce does too, but the tone is typically a bit brighter in timbre. It’s been said that Cedar tops sound great right away where as a Spruce top will sound great in a year or so after it breaks in. (Not that spruce tops sound bad initially, but as the wood ages the character changes over time and the tone "follows".) In this respect the choice of Cedar or Spruce is a personal preference depending on the sound you are looking for. Segovia played both over the course of his career. When constructed the top is made from a thin piece of solid wood, thin in order to allow vibration . Structural support is given to the top through the use of a bracing system underneath. The braces provide strength while still allowing the top to vibrate. The early traditional luthiers introduced their own unique ideas or made refinements to systems which came before them. Torres is considered the first to come up with a system which offered strength while providing a very robust sound. Rodriguez, Ramirez, Hauser and others made refinements or added their own ideas to other luthier's designs. Each experimented with their own bracing system in order to balance their design for strength, volume, tone, projection. A few examples are shown below. |
Sring Length:
Early guitars employed groups of single, double, or triple strings called "courses". Four-course and
five-course guitars were common in the 16th and 17th century with string length and tunings varying widely
between instruments. Some instruments used tied-on gut frets.
Some commonly used string lengths, measured from the nut to the bridge, were 71cm (28 in.), 68cm (26
3/4in.), 74cm (29 in.). Antonio Stradivari, the famous violin maker, made a five-course guitar with a 74cm
(29 in.) string length.
650mm is considered the standard today for classical guitars but many modern day builders offer 640mm or
630mm models in their catalogs.
Early guitars employed groups of single, double, or triple strings called "courses". Four-course and
five-course guitars were common in the 16th and 17th century with string length and tunings varying widely
between instruments. Some instruments used tied-on gut frets.
Some commonly used string lengths, measured from the nut to the bridge, were 71cm (28 in.), 68cm (26
3/4in.), 74cm (29 in.). Antonio Stradivari, the famous violin maker, made a five-course guitar with a 74cm
(29 in.) string length.
650mm is considered the standard today for classical guitars but many modern day builders offer 640mm or
630mm models in their catalogs.
- Check back for more articles
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