Thanks for the information. I am a piano tech as well and I well remember the instructor having a piece of piano soundboard with a tuning fork attached and when he struck the tuning fork and then started bending or arching the soundboard you could hear the sound get loud and clear, so there is definately an acoustical reason for the dome. I agree that it would also help prevent cracks, however, the old timers told me that a piano with cracks in the sound board is an indication that there is a good dome and therefore better sound, the cracks are just cosmetic if they don't vibrate.
Good video and thanks for the tip on sources for the sandpaper. I get the advantage the weight of the dish provides when it's on top when driving the bus, but I like to have it on the bottom because you get real time visual feedback on the sanding progress. You can see exactly where and how much sanding dust is accumulating on the dish as you are sanding. This indicates which parts of the rim and the neck and tail blocks are high or low and tells you where you might want to bias your sanding pressure to even things out as you go. As usual, there are multiple ways that work to do most things in instrument building.
great work!.....i motorized my dishes and wow what a difference it makes....driving the bus is hard work when you have 4 guitars in a row!..thanks again love your work!
Thank you so much for sharing all this information. I mentally preparing for my first acoustic guitar build. There are a million questions, and I just came across your videos and many of my questions have been answered. Or at least I am less concerned about it all! You can bet that i subscribed. I also checked out your website. Your guitars are beautiful! I also plan to use woods local to my area of Southern Michigan. I am planning a body of cherry, walnut for the neck and black locust for internal bracing and fretboard. If those choices are bad or i otherwise screw it up, perhaps the next one will be better. Or the one after that. Again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. it is appreciated.
Mcmaster Carr. Thanks for the info! Also, thanks for talking about grain direction when cutting. This was a thing that I never considered when I first started wood working but it's the most important concept to understand. It effects every cut you make on real wood. Rock on!
I got a couple of large square sandpaper sheets and used those this time. They seemed to work fine I think you're probably right on arching the top, plus it's just a bit stronger because of the angle of it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
I have been watching a few of these videos, such great knowledge. My only question is why can I only see them in 360p ? Someone get this man a new camera !! It make it hard to see the details.
My apologies. I have learned some things about video quality since I made this and I think you may see some improvement in my later videos. Hope you'll continue to watch.
@@thepragmaticluthier No apology required, I will definitely be watching more as I find your explanations to be very clear and your reasoning makes sense. I am about to build my first accoustic guitar ( I have made an electric before) so trying to learn as much as I can before I start. Thanks for your educational videos.
I understand a lot of people use them but I don’t. My tops are mostly flat and any radius of either top or back I accomplish by cross brace shaping. I simply prefer the ritual of the work.
Thank you for your video on using a sanding disc. Very well done however I have a question. Why don't you radius the rim with the kerfing already attached and do both the sides and the kerfing at the same time
If the linings were installed before doming: a lot of lining width would be lost in the process, it would be more time consuming to sand away all of that material, the lining can easily be gently persuaded to reasonably comply with the domed rim so that a second sanding is just a finessing operation.
Absolutely! The key thing to remember is that whatever radius you choose for the top and or back, is the same dish you would use to glue the braces to the plate. Good question. Thank you for participating.
Hello Pragmatic Luthier! Great, great video. Thsnk you very much for this video. Question for you...I see you used a 40' radius dish for the top of the guitar in your video. Do you use the 40' dish for all of you guitar tops? What radius dish do you use on the back? Can a 40' radius be used for the front and back with resulting good tonality?
The radius that use for a top is a function of my assessment of its stiffness and the tonal quality I'm aiming for. As for backs, it's similar, but more related to how reflective or percussive i want the back to be. I see no reason why you couldn't combine any two radii in an instrument, but I have observed that the greater the radius of the top, the more it affects neck angle, something that must be taken into account.
@@thepragmaticluthierby greater the radius on top and its impact to neck angle, I'm assuming you mean a smaller number, like 15' radius may be more challenging than a 40' radius?
If you can get a copy of Guitarmaking by Arthur Overholtzer - he feels that a flat top is better sounding. His reasoning is that the lack of stress from doming allows a better vibration of the top. Don't know if that's true of not but that's what he says
I think Overholtzer as probably very astute in his thinking,, but dome my tops to actively stiffen them in order to enhance high frequency oscillation and to allow for the propensity for shrinkage. I have a copy of Overholtzer's book. It's a must have treasure.
I appreciate that you won’t say something unless you know it is true or accurate. I watched a video of a guy making and installing a rosette. He said it has no purpose structurally and that they are purely ornamental. I have always been told a rosette reinforces the sound hole. What are your thoughts on this? Also thank you for calling the lining by its appropriate name. It bugs me when builders call it kerfing.
I think it would be difficult to support the notion that a rosette can add any structural integrity to a top, unless it was composed of rings or solid wood strips. Even then, a rosette might have only "some" ability to limit cracking at the sound hole. A rosette might add to the stiffness of the sound hole region of a top, which I'm told can be beneficial as it might reduce undesirable flexing of the top in that region. I personally have NO objective expert information to support these notions. I view a rosette as an aesthetic opportunity and a way to introduce an aesthetic theme to the whole guitar. And I agree with you regarding the "Kerfing/Lining" nomenclature. The one that makes me cringe is referring to the construction of a guitar as a "build". I hate it when people indiscriminately turn verbs into nouns. Thanks for your interest in my videos.
Thanks for taking the time to do these videos and sharing your experience and knowledge.
Thanks for the information. I am a piano tech as well and I well remember the instructor having a piece of piano soundboard with a tuning fork attached and when he struck the tuning fork and then started bending or arching the soundboard you could hear the sound get loud and clear, so there is definately an acoustical reason for the dome. I agree that it would also help prevent cracks, however, the old timers told me that a piano with cracks in the sound board is an indication that there is a good dome and therefore better sound, the cracks are just cosmetic if they don't vibrate.
Good video and thanks for the tip on sources for the sandpaper. I get the advantage the weight of the dish provides when it's on top when driving the bus, but I like to have it on the bottom because you get real time visual feedback on the sanding progress. You can see exactly where and how much sanding dust is accumulating on the dish as you are sanding. This indicates which parts of the rim and the neck and tail blocks are high or low and tells you where you might want to bias your sanding pressure to even things out as you go. As usual, there are multiple ways that work to do most things in instrument building.
Thanks for the info!
Thank you again. I always look forward to your videos. You explain things to where a child could understand it.
Thanks, Kevin. Once again, good stuff.
Great video!
great work!.....i motorized my dishes and wow what a difference it makes....driving the bus is hard work when you have 4 guitars in a row!..thanks again love your work!
Thanks for the video! Good information.
Thank you so much for sharing all this information. I mentally preparing for my first acoustic guitar build. There are a million questions, and I just came across your videos and many of my questions have been answered. Or at least I am less concerned about it all! You can bet that i subscribed. I also checked out your website. Your guitars are beautiful! I also plan to use woods local to my area of Southern Michigan. I am planning a body of cherry, walnut for the neck and black locust for internal bracing and fretboard. If those choices are bad or i otherwise screw it up, perhaps the next one will be better. Or the one after that. Again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. it is appreciated.
Mcmaster Carr. Thanks for the info! Also, thanks for talking about grain direction when cutting. This was a thing that I never considered when I first started wood working but it's the most important concept to understand. It effects every cut you make on real wood. Rock on!
I just use regular sandpaper sheets glued to cover the surface
Valuable information, I enjoyed every minute of it.
I got a couple of large square sandpaper sheets and used those this time. They seemed to work fine
I think you're probably right on arching the top, plus it's just a bit stronger because of the angle of it.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
I have been watching a few of these videos, such great knowledge. My only question is why can I only see them in 360p ? Someone get this man a new camera !! It make it hard to see the details.
My apologies. I have learned some things about video quality since I made this and I think you may see some improvement in my later videos. Hope you'll continue to watch.
@@thepragmaticluthier No apology required, I will definitely be watching more as I find your explanations to be very clear and your reasoning makes sense. I am about to build my first accoustic guitar ( I have made an electric before) so trying to learn as much as I can before I start.
Thanks for your educational videos.
I understand a lot of people use them but I don’t. My tops are mostly flat and any radius of either top or back I accomplish by cross brace shaping. I simply prefer the ritual of the work.
Ive got an old piece of granite countertop that i use. Perfectly flat. Free from people remodeling their home
Thank you for your video on using a sanding disc. Very well done however I have a question. Why don't you radius the rim with the kerfing already attached and do both the sides and the kerfing at the same time
If the linings were installed before doming: a lot of lining width would be lost in the process, it would be more time consuming to sand away all of that material, the lining can easily be gently persuaded to reasonably comply with the domed rim so that a second sanding is just a finessing operation.
@@thepragmaticluthier Thank you for your reply and your advice is well noted. I greatly appreciate your postings.
Thank you for the information. Can one use the same radius sanding dish to glue the top braces?
Absolutely! The key thing to remember is that whatever radius you choose for the top and or back, is the same dish you would use to glue the braces to the plate. Good question. Thank you for participating.
Hello Pragmatic Luthier! Great, great video. Thsnk you very much for this video. Question for you...I see you used a 40' radius dish for the top of the guitar in your video. Do you use the 40' dish for all of you guitar tops? What radius dish do you use on the back? Can a 40' radius be used for the front and back with resulting good tonality?
The radius that use for a top is a function of my assessment of its stiffness and the tonal quality I'm aiming for. As for backs, it's similar, but more related to how reflective or percussive i want the back to be. I see no reason why you couldn't combine any two radii in an instrument, but I have observed that the greater the radius of the top, the more it affects neck angle, something that must be taken into account.
@@thepragmaticluthierby greater the radius on top and its impact to neck angle, I'm assuming you mean a smaller number, like 15' radius may be more challenging than a 40' radius?
Yes,. As the radius decreases, the higher the bridge location area is from the plane of the rims, creating a necessary increase in the neck angle.
If you can get a copy of Guitarmaking by Arthur Overholtzer - he feels that a flat top is better sounding. His reasoning is that the lack of stress from doming allows a better vibration of the top. Don't know if that's true of not but that's what he says
I think Overholtzer as probably very astute in his thinking,, but dome my tops to actively stiffen them in order to enhance high frequency oscillation and to allow for the propensity for shrinkage. I have a copy of Overholtzer's book. It's a must have treasure.
I appreciate that you won’t say something unless you know it is true or accurate. I watched a video of a guy making and installing a rosette. He said it has no purpose structurally and that they are purely ornamental. I have always been told a rosette reinforces the sound hole. What are your thoughts on this? Also thank you for calling the lining by its appropriate name. It bugs me when builders call it kerfing.
I think it would be difficult to support the notion that a rosette can add any structural integrity to a top, unless it was composed of rings or solid wood strips. Even then, a rosette might have only "some" ability to limit cracking at the sound hole. A rosette might add to the stiffness of the sound hole region of a top, which I'm told can be beneficial as it might reduce undesirable flexing of the top in that region. I personally have NO objective expert information to support these notions. I view a rosette as an aesthetic opportunity and a way to introduce an aesthetic theme to the whole guitar. And I agree with you regarding the "Kerfing/Lining" nomenclature. The one that makes me cringe is referring to the construction of a guitar as a "build". I hate it when people indiscriminately turn verbs into nouns. Thanks for your interest in my videos.
@@thepragmaticluthier thank you for taking time to make your videos. I’m very interested in your acoustic base endeavors.
surely it would be better to have the center of the disk on some kind of spindle so it doesnt move around
Absolutely true if you want or need to streamline or automate your process.
Didn't you do a vid on making a radius dish?
I did, several years ago. It was pretty lousy quality and I just deleted it two says ago.
@@thepragmaticluthier I should have watched it all the way through