Statement: Every guitar has sweet and dead spots

[Herman]

A search brought the Fender Fatfinger-device to my attention. They ask not much for it, so you could take a chance and try it. But I thought: why not take a bridgeclamp and put it to the headstock (weight 4 or 5 times the Fenderthing, I guess).
Well, it enhanced the sustain a little, hearable. Downside: The "daddy" notes were still there, on the same spot. Remains a slight advantage, but who wants to put a guitar in the chaingang with a massive lump on top?
Herman

[Lonnie B]

Two years ago I found a 1963 Gretsch acoustic in a dumpster of all places. The headstock was broken off and dangling by some really old guitar strings. I mentioned having found it on another forum. One of my friends told me that Gretsch makes wonderful electric guitars,but their acoustics weren't worth a new set of strings.
I repaired the headstock and put on the new strings. I agreed with him. It sounded tinny. Well to make a long story short I took it to the GDP roundup in Nashville. The fellas went nuts over it. One guy started fingerpicking on it. I texted my buddy told him it depended on who was playing the guitar. If it sounded good or not. True story

[ken cierp]

Gretsch has made its share of poorly assembled electrics too. I never played or even handled a Gretsch acoustic but a couple different models have been praised in "Acoustic Guitar Magazine." Guitar lovers have their favs so such comments need to be taken with a grain of salt. As for playing skill being a key factor in an instruments potential --- you bet! I always found it comical sitting in my local music stores listening to the evaluation comments from those that could hardly play a "G" or "C" chord let alone pick or strum a song. Many fumbling around with a guitar that was not even in tune. But always eager to blurt an opinion -- I digress.

[Lonnie B]

How true Ken. I knew I was kind of off topic a little but wanted to share that story. I must admit I do like the sound my Gretsch acoustic has now I understand it to be made for Delta blues. When played in that fashion it's sounds great. The glue Gretsch used seemed to eat the bindings etc. My guitar has all binding complete and original. The finish has cracked with age but the shine is amazing. I just had to add what I did. My friend agreed as you did that the hands that play the guitar has a big influence on how a guitar sounds.

[Herman]

Over here we have a blues hero (Julian Sas. Google him!) and I heard from several sources that he can make any guitar sound like a great instument. Ya, he got it.
PS: He plays with a and action of 0.12 at the 12th fret!

[Lonnie B]

Very true Herman. I have never worked in a music store as others have. So I don't have a lot of experience along those lines to fall back on. I do remember players at the Nashville roundup to be amazing players. To learn that when their not playing some huge gig somewhere for thousands they work the little clubs in Nashville for tips. Seems that great musicians are a dime a dozen in Nashville. Oh well just venting a little I guess. Some of our greatest artists have gone completely unknown for a long time.

[Larry G]

I had the good fortune to attend an open house at the home of a local amateur luthier named Alastair Fordyce. It turns out his particular claim to fame was devising an elegant method for detecting and eliminating what he calls "wolf notes" (but to most of us were really dead notes likely caused by interfering vibrational patterns in the top). If you can dig up this GAL copy of American Luthier his article is there.

Essentially the technique involves taking a little marble of plasticene or modeling clay and sticking it at various spots on the top until the quality of the sound changes. The idea is that you're creating a new node or damping a particular vibration in the top. Once he figures out where the right spot is, he builds a small block of wood (possibly filled with some lead) to the same weight as the modeling clay and glues it to the underside of the top.

His technique is not well known as far as I know but I've witnessed him tune up a visitor's guitar firsthand by just finding the right spot in the top for placing the modeling clay.