Ask the Expert: When it Comes to Repairs, When Is Enough Enough?
If restoration is executed by craftsmen as skilled as those charged with maintaining Stradivaris, the spirit of the original guitar will eventually return after a bit of breaking in.
Guitar Guru: Troubleshooting Unwanted Sounds on Acoustic Guitar
By Dana Bourgeois |This article originally appeared in the April 2014 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine and was reprinted in the September/October 2020 issue. Q: My 1983 Martin HD-28 has a buzzing or rattling high E string. The rest of the strings sound great. A local fellow worked on the frets and smoothed them…
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Ask the Expert: How Much Do Acoustic Guitar Top Woods Contribute to Tone?
In general, lighter tops respond more efficiently to lighter playing styles, and more aggressive playing styles are required to bring out the full sonic potential of heavier tops.
Ask the Expert: Is It “Right” to Experiment?
Q: What do you feel are the “right” areas to try to improve upon the classic styles? What areas of design must remain true to vintage originals in order to preserve integrity, and what areas have wiggle room for experimentation? On a more personal note, do you still feel challenged…
Ask the Expert: How Do You Acquire the Wood for Your Instruments?
The short answer is that I usually work closely with a variety of trusted tonewood suppliers to acquire woods that are sawn, matched, and cured specifically for making acoustic guitars. Typically, I try to inventory a six-month supply of most woods.
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Ask the Expert: Do Bonding Agents Affect a Guitar’s Sound?
Q: Why is hot hide glue preferred by some luthiers, while others use synthetic glues, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? —Doug MacKenzie, Cary, North Carolina A: Hide glue, animal glue, and protein colloid glue are names for adhesives made from the connective tissues of various animals. Used by woodworkers…
Ask the Expert: How Long Should it Take to Break In a New Guitar?
Numerous and complex elements contribute to breaking in an acoustic guitar, and it requires a lot of playing. But long long does it take to break in a new guitar?
Ask the Expert: Should I Put a Pickup on My High-End Instrument?
Mounting a magnetic pickup on a prewar D-28 seems like an obvious no-no, now that the pickup is long gone, and prewar D-28s cost more than my first house. But what about installing a modern pickup on a Brazilian Santa Cruz?
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Ask the Expert: What’s the Difference Between Long-Scale and Short-Scale Guitars?
Scale length can have a significant effect on playability. But what’s the difference between long-scale and short-scale guitars, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Ask the Expert: How Much Does Grain Orientation Matter?
Differences between riftsawn, quartersawn, and flatsawn wood can be significant. Stiffness-to-weight ratio, highest when boards are perfectly riftsawn, drops noticeably when a top is cut even slightly different. Velocity of sound—the ability to vibrate efficiently—corresponds closely with stiffness-to-weight ratio.
Ask the Expert: What is “French Polishing” and Is It Worth It?
Q: My understanding is that a type of finish known as “French polishing” gives not only a hand-built look to an instrument, but also a better quality of tone and a fuller sound. How does this process work, and is it worth having it done to my moderately priced Samick…
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Ask the Expert: What Happens When Your Flattop Loses Its Flat Top?
To work efficiently, a guitar top must be built lightly enough to vibrate in complex ways.
Guitar Guru: Can You Hear the Difference in Tonewoods?
The short answer is: sometimes. And the short explanation is that different models and different woods can have confusingly overlapping sonic qualities.
Ask the Expert: How Do I Determine the Value of a High-End Guitar?
Q: What exactly is the difference between a “handmade” and a “handcrafted” guitar? Furthermore, in the high-end market, what qualities should a player (not a collector) look for when evaluating the differences between, for example, a $3,500 guitar and a $7,500-plus guitar? —Dan Liechty, Normal, Illinois A: A quick Google…
Ask the Expert: Can a Soft Top Wood Last as Long as Spruce?
Perhaps because of their lighter weight, cedar and redwood tops tend to “open up,” or break in, relatively quickly. However, unless the builder pays adequate attention to longitudinal stability, cedar and redwood tops sometimes open up beyond a point that many players consider optimal, losing low-end definition as the guitar continues to be played.
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Ask the Expert: How Do I Get Rid of this Annoying Buzz?
It can be vexingly difficult to diagnose string buzz. Here’s a list of ten possible causes of a buzzing guitar.
Ask the Expert: Does a Guitar’s Finish Really Affect the Tone?
Traditional finishes, such as varnishes and nitro-cellulose lacquer, take many years or even decades to fully cure, while catalyzed finishes, like urethane and polyester, can cure in a matter of days.
Ask the Expert: How are Guitars Voiced?
In my view, the sound of a guitar is primarily attributable to its design and to the individual woods that it’s made from. Voicing is a process of optimizing the interaction between these two variables.
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Ask the Expert: What Should I Look for When Selecting Wood for a Guitar?
The luthier’s dirty little secret (drum roll . . . ) is that demand for ultra-fancy wood is greater than demand for wood that only sounds spectacular.
Ask the Expert: Should I Reset the Neck on My Vintage Guitar?
Guitars sound best when string load and top resistance are in relative balance. An underloaded top cannot drive enough air to achieve optimum volume, power, and presence; an overloaded top is unable to generate higher overtones and lacks sustain. One key to optimizing the mechanical efficiency of an individual top is knowing, with some precision, how it wants to be loaded.
Ask the Expert: What Causes Random Intonation Glitches?
Q: Using an electronic tuner, I can verify that when my open strings are in tune, my fretted octaves are accurate or nearly accurate. Individual notes of certain chords, however, can be very out of tune, and capoing in some positions requires retuning. I’ve noticed that all guitars, even electrics…
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Ask the Expert: How to Know When to Hang ‘er on the Wall
I have a Takamine dreadnought that I bought used, and it has been a trusted companion for the past ten years. I like it because it was affordable when I was just learning, and it sounds good. It’s become harder and harder to play in the last six months, so…
The Importance of a Strong Bridge Glue Joint
I play a Gibson LG-0 that my mother handed down to me—she got it as a teenager in the ’60s. It’s a great guitar and in pretty killer shape considering all it’s seen. A few months ago, I noticed that the bridge was pulling up. (I can get a piece…
DIY Maintenance: How to Adjust String Height at the Bridge
Every guitar needs regular maintenance, and at some point, no matter how careful you are with your instrument, it’s bound to need some kind of repair. If, say, your old campfire guitar isn’t fun to play anymore because the action (the distance between your strings and the fingerboard) is too…
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Guitar on a Budget: Pros Offer Advice on Getting the Most Out of Your Gear
Even if you’re the kind of guitar-obsessed nut who spends hours cruising reverb.com or your favorite online guitar shops for your dream guitar(s) when you really should be sleeping, the stark reality is that when it comes down to it, most guitarists need to make cost-conscious buying decisions. The realities…