What is a "British" guitar? (upcoming NGD)

thomasross20 · August 2023

Have you considered the bracing position? I was listening to forward vs standard vs rear shifted bracing patterns and the forward shifted sounded better.

earwighoney · August 2023

Tannin said:

A laminated body, on the other hand, is usually (but not always) a cheaper, generally inferior way to build a guitar. Certain very carefully considered and manufactured instruments excepted, a laminated back simply can't produce the same quality of sound you get from a good all-solid back. It starts out inferior and doesn't change much, where a solid back tends to get better with age.

Laminated backs, on the other hand, tend to produce a fairly OK sound so long as the top is half decent and are quite consistent. Think of them as being like tinned soup: they are never, ever going to earn a Michelin Star from anyone but at least they'll all be pretty much the same as each other and you (the guitar manufacturer) can churn out thousands and thousands of them without worrying too much about matching your construction to your timber. None of them (probably) will be truly awful, and none of them will be particularly good. Tinned soup.

Laminated sides are different. The sides have no real impact on the sound of the guitar, they are really just a way to hold the top and the back apart. You could make them out of anything. Quite a few high-end boutique makers (the people making guitars in the £8000 price bracket) use laminated sides because they are easier to bend, have no impact on the sound quality, and can be made as thick as you like, which helps add weight to the body. (Tops should pretty much always be light and backs mostly should be reasonably light (depending on the design) but heavy sides are often a very good thing. Some builders add weights to sides (glued onto the inside) as part of the process of fine-tuning the tone of a fine instrument.)

Laminated backs can occasionally be desirable, eg for Selmer style instruments, and Guild style archbacks. The laminated archbacks take away the need for back bracing, and are supposed to have unique projection issues from it.

Laminated sides seem to be defacto in fashion right now amongst contemporary acoustic guitar builders. Do you know where this trend originated from? A quick google seems to suggest it has been around for a while but Smallman Guitars seemed to really propel the innovation. I've never heard a Smallman played in person, they are supposed to be quite something when heard up close.

I know Laminated necks have been around for a long time. Larson Bros (IMO one of the greatest) were using them in the 1930's.

Timcito · August 2023

Tannin said:

We need to distinguish here between a laminated neck and a laminated body. Completely different things.

A laminated neck is generally regarded as a high-end feature. It costs more to manufacture, and is (in theory) more stable. And of course it looks great. There is no effect worth mentioning on the sound quality. At its simplest, you take one bit of timber and split it up the middle. Then you reverse one of the pieces and glue them back together. Because the two parts are reversed with respect to one another, and tendency to bow (say) to the left from one part is exactly opposed by the other part which (of course) wants to bow right. Result: a very stable neck.

That's right. Most of the high-end Ovations have that lovely 5-piece neck, which, apparently, makes it rock solid.

Timcito · August 2023

stufisher said:

Great call @Timcito ; ... I'm also a fan of Moon guitars ... have been ever since I first saw Dougie MacLean live c.20 years ago.

My only other experience of a maple back-and-sides guitar had been a Taylor 30th Anniversary model. It looked fantastic, but the sound was pretty dead. I subsequently read that maple had little sustain and was more suited to a band setting in which notes needed to cut through but not necessarily sustain. So, when I picked up the Moon OM in Sitka and maple, I was expecting a similar fast attack with little sustain. Wrong. It sang like you wouldn't believe. It was alive with a gorgeous, ringing sustain.

Oh, why didn't I buy it!

thomasross20 · August 2023

Always buy when the magic happens or face eternal regret

Kittyfrisk · August 2023

thomasross20 said:

Always buy when the magic happens or face eternal regret

You are accruing wisdom, grasshopper.

TheBigDipper · August 2023

thomasross20 said:

Always buy when the magic happens or face eternal regret

Beautiful expression of "Shoppers Law". The thing you didn't buy at the time and go back for later has always been sold to someone else.

Tannin · August 2023

thomasross20 said:

Always buy when the magic happens or face eternal regret

That makes good sense. I have also thought of applying this wise principle to other parts of life. For example, "Always propose marriage when you have a hard-on or face .... "

Hmmm ... on second thoughts, maybe not.

thomasross20 · August 2023

Lol

guitarjack66 · August 2023

thomasross20 said:

Always buy when the magic happens or face eternal regret

If within budget, is my caveat.

Tannin · August 2023

^ Just so. And the (at last count) seven hundred and three Mrs Tannins might have a word or two to say on the matter also.

Soupman · August 2023

I was browsing another acoustic site and came across this link to the Brook newsletter:

https://www.brookguitars.com/category/latest-news/

I know a few members think highly of them, but this was the first time I've come across the range of stuff they do. Nice jobs they are too!

Anyway, a good way down the newsletter is a picture of a certain Aussie gentleman who's just ordered a Lyn from them.....
Your cover's blown Tannin!
Great stuff!!

rze99 · August 2023

Rob Armstrong.

Rob Armstrong started making guitars in Coventry in 1970. He works alone: each instrument is unique, and handmade using basic tools. He now aims to complete about 15 commissions a year – leaving time for development and consultancy for Loughborough University. Rob has made guitars for George Harrison, Bert Jansch, Gordon Giltrap, Fairport Convention, and the Albion Band. In 1989, many of these musicians made a tribute CD entitled Master Craftsman. He has produced some unorthodox instruments including long scale guitars, baby guitars, and double necks even a steel-string acoustic made from polystyrene packaging. In July 2010 his workshop was destroyed by fire (and Armstrong himself was injured), but by November that year he was back in business. Armstrong designed the Gordon Giltrap Signature model acoustic - which was mass produced and distrbuted by JHS.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/backbeat-coventry-band-claim-place-10871532.amp

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What is a "British" guitar? (upcoming NGD)

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