Website Links
Description
Voicing through the access panel; don ’t weld the hood shut It is important to remember, even in this time of internet gurus, ubiquitous lutherie schools, and unlimited access to information, that voicing is not only a personal matter, but one fraught with vagaries. In other words, your mileage may vary. I often find that my initial intent changes as I get started and rethink the process as the results start coming in. Don ’t get fooled by a few good results, nor thwarted by a few failed attempts. This is another work in progress. The title of this workshop refers to an idea that hit me once I started using the access panel, developed not by me but by Abe Wechter (with Richard Schneider). Many well-known luthiers design their guitars and then build them, under what I think is a false assumption that they will automatically be all they can be. Certainly good design is the beginning; but is it the end? One wouldn ’t design a car and then weld the hood shut. It is almost certain to need some adjustments to run its best. The variability of wood, climate, mood, and taste leave me wanting the option of revoicing the instrument after it has been played in a bit. The Access Panel presents us with a wonderful opportunity to play the guitar immediately and continuously while we make both sweeping and infinitesimal changes to the instrument. I have done as little as remove approximately 2 grams of bracing and had dramatic results. Conversely, I ’ve also removed entire braces, redesigning on the fly, all with the guitar strung, if slightly detuned to lessen the tension on the top. I ’ve even had the unexpected result of making what felt like a big change, only to hear no change at all. While it is difficult to remember a tone for weeks or months or years, it is within our power to remember a tone for five or fifteen minutes as we make small adjustments and listen along the way. The access panel can be designed into the guitar from the start; clearly this is the best approach. However, as you see from the photos above, the panel can be added later and still offer the benefit of allowing revoicing or rebracing to either correct a problem or simply enhance an already good guitar. This retrofit can be done in about two hours, start to finish, with no refinishing. From there, any voicing in which you wish to engage can be done in minutes. Think “checking the oil, ” not “doing a valve job. ” Or, if more major tonal alterations are in order, you could use the analogy of changing the injectors, or hot-rodding the compression. I have, I ’m embarrassed to admit, reclaimed an otherwise unmusical experiment. The guitar looked great, played great, felt great; however, it sounded like a wounded goose, with a midrange that honked —not pleasant or musically useful. With witnesses, a very good classical player, in attendance testing and giving me feedback, I was able to completely alter the voice of the guitar to a very good sounding, very musically satisfying instrument, all in less than one hour. On another occasion a customer who was happy with their instrument, but with some minor reservations, asked me to do some revoicing.