Thoughtful article

[mike-p]

http://www.pjguitar.com/website/forums/ ... ables.html

found this interesting, hope it's in the right section

[John Link]

I was born a skeptic, so the guy's thoughts resonate with me. Yet there are some things we do know or we could never make an instrument in the first place. Nor is knowledge restricted to scientifically proven knowledge, nor is it ever perfect. So I do not regard the fact what is known today might be improved upon tomorrow means it was not known today. We work in the present. Nor do I require that his method of verification be followed before I will accept something as useful, but there has to be some reason. Usually that reason is experience.

All that said, and repeating his observation that many myths abound in the making of musical instruments, I think it might be interesting for us to state, as best we can, what we think is known. You know, put a positive spin on our limitations and try to isolate the few ideas that can be depended upon. I'll start with one:

1. Generally speaking, lightly built tops are louder and sound better than heavily built ones, as long as they are strong enough to reasonably survive string tension.

Now, what else can you guys contribute to the list?

[TonyinNYC]

I like chocolate and hazelnuts. Therefore, Nutella is the best.

[Dave Bagwill]

Maybe it is the lack of coffee this morning (or nutella), but I'm having trouble adding to the list.

[ken cierp]

Anything goes- keep in mind that one of the things that doomed Michael Kasha was some science that debunked the idea that there is a bass and treble side to the sound board. I like it all, and find it interesting that great sounding guitars are yielded using millions of combinations of the different makers preferences. But the line is crossed when the words "best or even better" are proclaimed by the authors. This is good too:

http://www.tejagerken.com/Article_Folde ... holes.html

[John Link]

OK I'll add a second, possibly provocative idea:

2. The top contributes more to the sound than the back; because of this, the role of the back has not been as well investigated as it might.