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| The sound of a newly built guitar http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=15735 |
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| Author: | Larry Drover [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | The sound of a newly built guitar |
Hey guys .....I know that a guitar will sound better and better with age...But is there a seasoning period after final setup....Seems to me that a guitar takes a little while to come into its sound,,so to speak.....Is this the case or is it just me getting familiar to its sound.?...Larry |
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| Author: | Michael Dale Payne [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
Referred to as opening up This takes weeks to months depending on several factors and even then is an ongoing process till the guitar stabilizes some what under tension. |
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| Author: | martinedwards [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
Yup, it always amazes me the improvement, even overnight, leaving a new guitar strung up. still, I'm amazed that there's any sound at all when I put the strings onto a new build!! |
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| Author: | Wayne Clark [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
How long do you wait before you finish the setup? It seems like I should leave the strings under tension for a while before I finish the frets and the saddle. |
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| Author: | Hesh [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
When I complete a guitar I try to play that one all I can until I complete the next one. During this initial period I hear some changes or opening up and I note any issues that I have with the set-up. If I were doing this for a living I would give them a couple weeks of playing and then tweak the final set-up since things like neck relief will set in. I also find that Adi topped guitars take far longer to open up but when they do it is very worth the wait. |
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| Author: | Sam Price [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
WayneC wrote: How long do you wait before you finish the setup? It seems like I should leave the strings under tension for a while before I finish the frets and the saddle. I leave it a week to 10 days... As for the wood "opening up", I noticed a marked tonal change in the Sitka spruce topped guitar I built after a year of playing it. If I played it more often, I guess it would have opened up sooner. |
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| Author: | Michael Dale Payne [ Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
Interestiing note here: I have always figured that as the spanking new guitar settled in under tension that there would be a significant change in intonation. in particular I expected GDAE to go a bit flat as the guitar opened up. However, though I have noticed a bit of change in the intonation on a few of the guitars I have built, I have no had much if any perceivable change in the vast majority of them. The tone always seems to gain complexity but rarely have I had to re-intonate after break in. don't know if I have just been lucky or what |
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| Author: | Wayne Clark [ Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:36 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The sound of a newly built guitar |
MichaelP wrote: Interestiing note here: I have always figured that as the spanking new guitar settled in under tension that there would be a significant change in intonation. My experience so far is one guitar, so I'm probably over-thinking the problem. I was thinking the same thing, that the string tension would pull the top and bridge resulting in the intonation going flat by some small amount. I have a lot to learn. |
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