Loudest possible sound..

[Ben-Had]

Originally Posted by Jim.S

I also used cardboard (a bit of breakfast cereal box) for the tornavoz.

Actually, cardboard or balsa is what I was originally thinking of using to keep the weight down.

[naccoachbob]

Originally Posted by Ben-Had

Actually, cardboard or balsa is what I was originally thinking of using to keep the weight down.

I don't guess a toilet paper roll would be big enough? I guess that shows where my mind went!
J/K

[arie]

Originally Posted by Jackknifegypsy

I've got an old Silvertone, birch all 'round, that I want to change from the floating bridge type, to a permanent one, but the new bridge, with a 5/16" saddle, is so low to provide me with decent action, that I only have about 7/16" off the sound board to the bottom of the strings.

Otherwise, big neck re-set.

it's part of the design (the higher, floating, and often adjustable bridge). if i'm not mistaken your top is fairly dished as well? this would but the fretboard extension at a most unfavorable plane relative to a shallower neck set right? this seems like a lot of work...

[Alan Carruth]

grachi wrote:
"take a jumbo body with east indian rosewood and adirondack top, forward shifted bracing, 12 string, heavy gauge strings, using a small rock for a pick... And make the action something ridiculous like 1/4th of an inch off the fretboard. Then play a G chord. I bet it would make someone deaf "

I passed that one by...

I took voice lessons at one point from a fellow who had a Master's in guitar from Berklee. He saw one of Freddie Green's guitars once at a vintage show: a 19" Stromberg archtop. The low E was about a .070", and it was a quarter inch off the fretboard: the original setup, according to the owner. My friend asked to try it. He said it took him a few seconds to muster the grip to form a chord securely, but when he hit the strings everybody in the ballroom turned around to look. When you don't have a decent amp, you do what you've gotta do...

[Ben-Had]

I wouldn't want to shake hands with a guy that could play that guitar!

[Jackknifegypsy]

You're right. The only action I can get is nearly 3/32" higher than I want. But in order for the 13th to 18th frets to avoid buzzing, I need to have nearly 8/32" action at the 12 th.

I'm considering removing 13-18 fretwires entirely, sanding down the extension by 5/32" or more, then replacing fret wire.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

grachi wrote:
I took voice lessons at one point from a fellow who had a Master's in guitar from Berklee. He saw one of Freddie Green's guitars once at a vintage show: a 19" Stromberg archtop. The low E was about a .070", and it was a quarter inch off the fretboard: the original setup, according to the owner. My friend asked to try it. He said it took him a few seconds to muster the grip to form a chord securely, but when he hit the strings everybody in the ballroom turned around to look. When you don't have a decent amp, you do what you've gotta do...

Ah yes ...the legendary Freddie Green high action ...

I remember reading about Freddie Green's high action as a kid back in the early sixties ( we eagerly devoured every scrap of guitar orientated info back in these pre-internet days) , and my playing partner Billy had a Hofner archtop with an action which probably eclipsed even Freddie Green's ( who was reputed in his latter years to have increased the action at the 12th fret to 10mm ) . Me ... I was happy with the slinky low action on my Hofner Les Paul copy with the tape wound strings ...

Anyway, getting down to the nitty gritty, why on earth did Freddy Green think that by raising the action he was making the guitar louder ?

Obviously by raising the saddle, he was increasing the downward pressure on the top, and that would effect an alteration in tone/volume but the thing is that Freddy Green is probably directly responsible for the fallacious meme embraced by thousands of guitarists that a high action per se equates to more volume. It doesn't. Period.

[lxmaiola]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Ah yes ...the legendary Freddie Green high action ...

I remember reading about Freddie Green's high action as a kid back in the early sixties ( we eagerly devoured every scrap of guitar orientated info back in these pre-internet days) , and my playing partner Billy had a Hofner archtop with an action which probably eclipsed even Freddie Green's ( who was reputed in his latter years to have increased the action at the 12th fret to 10mm ) . Me ... I was happy with the slinky low action on my Hofner Les Paul copy with the tape wound strings ...

Anyway, getting down to the nitty gritty, why on earth did Freddy Green think that by raising the action he was making the guitar louder ?

Obviously by raising the saddle, he was increasing the downward pressure on the top, and that would effect an alteration in tone/volume but the thing is that Freddy Green is probably directly responsible for the fallacious meme embraced by thousands of guitarists that a high action per se equates to more volume. It doesn't. Period.

Thank you. I have a Seagull S6 slim, and have done quite a bit of tinkering with string height/string gauge. All that I found raising the action can accomplish is relieve some of the inevitable string buzz, and take off the first two layers of skin on your fingertips. The easiest way that I found to increase the acoustic volume of the instrument was by increasing string gauge (say from 12's to 13's) and experimenting with higher tension strings/metals. All said and done though, I use Elixir 11's and an action about as high as the width of a quarter...