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Hi, I need suggestion for Tinozza ABG building. I will build for my nephew for her wedding gift. I think this Tinozza big enough for her (lowerbout 18" and sides width 6" body length 23"). Can I reduce to be a little smaller? but without reducing the sound. Thanks alot.

I don’t know much about ABGs but from what I know of guitars, reducing the size of the body will definitely affect the sound.

However, it’s no guarantee that the effect will be negative … you might like it. If you have never built instruments to these plans before then you will have no basis for comparison anyhow. Remember that bigger body doesn’t equal “bigger sound” (whatever that means).

I once built a jumbo acoustic for a client who wanted something really big - we ended up at over 18” for the lower bout. He loves it. I’m happy with it too … but I’ve built 00-size guitars (~14” lower bout width) that sound louder with fuller bottom ends. But the jumbo is loud enough and well-balanced, which is what he was after - it was to be a studio axe destined to record rhythm guitar tracks buried way down in the mix.

So my vote is, reduce the body size of this ABG, if you want . You could also consider reducing the width (to make it easier for the player to get their arm around) but with deeper sides (to get back some of the lost soundbox volume)

Make it comfortable. 18x23x6" isn't really big enough for good sound anyway.

One project I've been wanting to try for a long time is to design a flat top bass that actually functions as an acoustic instrument. More like 24x40x10" body, played standing up like a double bass.

Thanks DennisK.

Thanks joshnothing, I will try to reduce, but I'm waiting maybe other suggestion for me.
https://www.liutaiomottola.com/instrume ... ocId970875

Another design possibility to make the ABG feel smaller without losing to many cubic inches is to do a curved back design. This allows the player to wrap the guitar around their midsection, which may be an advantages for smaller players and rotund fellows such as myself.

Another approach, along the lines of what Clay suggests, is to build with a Manzer wedge. My last dozen (or so) guitar builds (mostly jumbos) have taken that approach and the results have been positive -- easier to play, yet without reducing box volume. Initially, I built with one side about 0.75" deeper than the other. With time I've evolved to builds as tapered as a 2" difference between the widths of the sides (e.g., 3" and 5"). The tapered shape does make routing the binding channels a bit more challenging, but it makes playing the instrument far more pleasant -- and still allows the sonic contribution of a live back.

Thank's Clay. never seen curved back like that. Actually the Tinozza's back is convex, also the top