#1
|
|||
|
|||
Top-wood suggestions
This is kind of a shot in the dark, but it's worth taking.
I have the opportunity to "Franken-build" a pile of parts. To make a long story short, the eventual end result will be a nylon-string, parlor guitar. The "trick" with it is that, being me, all the parts come from Ovation, including a hard-to-find parlor-sized bowl. I am looking for an alternative top wood since I have quite a few spruce-topped guitars already. (I do have access to some good, torrefied spruce though.) I also have a lead on a nice, very stiff piece of sinker redwood. Despite the above, I am curious as to any suggestions the experts here might have. So think of this as a fun, little experiment. The neck has 14 frets to the body (a bit unusual for nylon strings), and Ovation bowls are known for overall balance with maybe a slight nudge toward the mid-range tone-wise. So...what do you all think?
__________________
Well, it looks like one of those desiderata days..... MY OVATIONS Spruce: Patriot #76, 1768-7LTD, 1122, 6774, 1779 USA, 1657-Adi Redwood: 2001-X, 1537-X, 1713-X, FD14-X, Dan Savage 5743-X Koa: 2078LXF, 1768-X, 1997-X 12-string: 1755, 1615-X Walnut Exotic tops: 1768-XWF (Bubinga), 1987-M (Mahogany), Adamas 1681-X (Q. Maple) Others: MM-68-7LTD Mandolin, MM-868-X Mandocello |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
I'm not a luthier, and my only percieved knowledge is from reading, so my thoughts may be of little value or even wrong. With that said, I assume for a nylon string guitar you will want a very low density topwood (cedar, Engelmann spruce, European spruce are typically low density). Also, a topwood with high overtone content might be desired.
__________________
Chuck 2012 Carruth 12-fret 000 in Pernambuco and Adi 2010 Poling Sierra in Cuban Mahogany and Lutz 2015 Posch 13-fret 00 in Indian Rosewood and Adi |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
What Chuck said: get the lowest density piece of top wood you can and leave it thick enough to get the requisite stiffness. With that plastic back you're going to need all the help you can get, so I'd suggest you look for a decent piece of Western Red cedar. It's usually lower in density than most of the spruces, although there's a lot of overlap between all the softwoods. Also, WRC usually has much lower damping than spruce.
Redwood is quite variable, and, like the little girl in the nursery rhyme,: "When she was good she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was horrid". I've gotten redwood, like the well-known LS log, that combined the stiffness and density of good Red spruce with damping that's as low as that of Brazilian rosewood. I've also seen redwood that had stiffness and damping numbers that were not much better than cardboard. The small experience I've had with 'sinker' wood suggests that there's no magic to it; if the wood was god when they sunk it, it will probably still be pretty good. As always, you need to look at the piece of wood, not the species or the sales hype. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Build a Wooden Guitar
Aloha,
Forget the Ovation Lyrachord back, even if the back is free. Build an all-solid wood guitar. It'll improve more over time w/ playing. I know there are many fans, but the reasons for Ovation's popularity among pro's like Glenn Campbell had less to do with tone than with traveling toughness & feedback control & that they were free. He played wooden guitars in the studio & at home. Make a wooden guitar (Honduran Mahogany B&S) with a Sitka Spruce top (stronger) if you're just starting out as a luthier. Redwood & Cedar tops are softer than Spruce & more easily cracked while working on them, They also can't handle errant picks as well. I wouldn't waste my time on Lyrachord anything. Never liked Ovations or Applauses. Great innovation by the Kaman's. Cool looking. Nice niche for 40 years. But not a wooden guitar. Good Luck! alohachris Last edited by alohachris; 01-28-2017 at 01:45 PM. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
A brand new duet I wrote with my daughter: https://youtu.be/u0hRB7fYaZU Olson Brazilian Dread #1325 Olson Brazilian SJ #1350 Olson Tiger Myrtle Dread #1355 Olson Brazilian Jumbo #1351 Olson 12-string Jumbo (one of only a few) Martin D-42 Johnny Cash #51/200 (only 80 made) And a few others Quite a few limited edition and rare Martins ----------------- http://www.kekomusic.com |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Ignore those couple of posts above - - -
If you want to 'Frankenbuild' on an old Ovation platform - do it. Sounds like a fun project and I'm sure you will be rewarded for your efforts. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Here's some more of the story. I won't be doing the build. The economy caught up to me several years back, so financing such things are out of the question for the foreseeable future. But over the years, I managed to accumulate a decent load of Ovation bits and pieces, and a friend of mine enjoys re-building Ovation wreckage. So we made a deal, I'll give him all I've got (Lord knows I can use the space anyway.), he builds me something fun and different and gets to keep all the rest. So truly, it's fun for him, and it's fun for me. I can't wait to see what comes of it all. BTW, I'm still leaning towards the SRW for no valid reason whatsoever, but does anyone know how Port Orford Cedar sounds with nylon strings?
__________________
Well, it looks like one of those desiderata days..... MY OVATIONS Spruce: Patriot #76, 1768-7LTD, 1122, 6774, 1779 USA, 1657-Adi Redwood: 2001-X, 1537-X, 1713-X, FD14-X, Dan Savage 5743-X Koa: 2078LXF, 1768-X, 1997-X 12-string: 1755, 1615-X Walnut Exotic tops: 1768-XWF (Bubinga), 1987-M (Mahogany), Adamas 1681-X (Q. Maple) Others: MM-68-7LTD Mandolin, MM-868-X Mandocello |