ksdaddy Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I built an archtop acoustic a few years back and I find if I hold it too tightly to my belly I can choke a lot of sound out of it. So the back is moving too. I haven't noticed it so much in other guitars but I'm sure it's there. For reasons I won't even try to guess, the muting of the top via the forearm is much more obvious on some guitars than others. Heck, for that matter, I have owned some guitars that get affected if I fingerpick right over the soundhole as opposed to an inch in either direction. Why are some guitars more sensitive to these things than others? I got nothin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 All the theories here hold something. Body parts, pickguards of various materials etc etc. , But what are we supposed to do? Hang the guitar from a wire and not touch it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Guitars that are too fussy, be it from hypersensitivity to temperature or humidity changes or ones that have to be coddled in one way or another....I tend to ultimately shy away from them and view them as hothouse flowers. Now that's not saying I would attempt to use that as a buying criteria or in fact determining it's place in the guitar caste system, but if a guitar is a whiny little witch that sounds better at 51.2% as opposed to 51.1%, I just don't play it. Ergo my Telecaster has it's perennial place as my bottom b____h. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I built an archtop acoustic a few years back and I find if I hold it too tightly to my belly I can choke a lot of sound out of it. So the back is moving too. I haven't noticed it so much in other guitars but I'm sure it's there. For reasons I won't even try to guess, the muting of the top via the forearm is much more obvious on some guitars than others. Heck, for that matter, I have owned some guitars that get affected if I fingerpick right over the soundhole as opposed to an inch in either direction. Why are some guitars more sensitive to these things than others? I got nothin'. Absolutely. Even I can hear the difference in my guitar depending on the back. If I'm standing with a strap and it's hanging on my gut. pressed down by my forearm - it's more muffled than if I'm sitting on a stool and neither arm nor gut are dampening it. And, I can often feel the vibrations of the back - for the lower bass notes on the 5th and 6th strings. So, although I can't hear it - I'm sure a thick pickguard will have an affect. I love having an lutra-thin, semi-transparent tiger stripe on my J45 Custom. It seems similar to the clear plastic type of scratch/thump plate (golpeador?) found on flamenco/classical guitars.But would never remove the (not flubber) engraved pickguards from my SJ200 of H'Bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 but if a guitar is a whiny little witch that sounds better at 51.2% as opposed to 51.1%, I just don't play it. Thank you KS for a most enjoyable post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.