Need some advice

[Dave Bagwill]

Thanks Dan, nice work.
I've been making 00-12's for 6 years now, off and on - I've never had as stiff a piece of Sitka as this, though.
I usually test all my tops for stiffness using this contraption, which I copied from Brian Burns.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1885&p=17038&hilit= ... rns#p17038

John - that's my method as well. I've done the usual things that have worked for me over the years, but it is still kicking my butt. Nothing I have done has affected the flexibility or tap tone.

I'm looking at that bridge plate now and may reduce it's footprint a bit.

[Dave Bagwill]

Ken - nope, it's a righty. A lot of 00-12's ago, I actually put the tone bars, by mistake, in the 'wrong' direction. It was a particularly good sounding guitar.
So i did it again on the next 00 - very good sounding - and never looked back. Theory be damned! :-) - I like it this way on this particular body style.

[Dave Bagwill]

The root problem was - the bridge plate. After Ken mentioned it, it was obvious. Sometimes when I'm working with a student things will escape me that normally would not.

So I removed 3/4" from the bridge plate - a Royal PITA - and there was a huge difference in sound. So I went about my normal voicing procedure again, and made some little changes and now the board rings nicely.

My concern was the soundboard thickness, really - I"ve done enough guitars to know where to shave and thin and all of that - but it turns out it was a rookie mistake (after 8 yrs of building) that was the culprit. Dang me!!

Thanks
Couple pix - not cleaned up yet - I'll let my student do that....

[John Parchem]

Glad you found it.

[Dave Bagwill]

A relief. I'll still do the perimeter thinning a la Teeter.