Has anyone ever had soundport regrets?

[Wardo]

Pretty sure Saint Luthier himself would fire a bolt of lightnin in my general direction if I let anyone go hacking into my D-18 which sounds just fine as it is...lol

[Strat80hm]

No regret indeed - the soundport really help me with my technique/sound and also the volume i m playing at - as opposed to banging the strings by fear of not being heard when playing in pure acoustic setup.

The next step in having absolutely NO regret is when it comes to amplified situation: i need to be able to close this side-hole the same way i use and anti-feedback-cover on the main soundhole.

Therefore i m working at finding a satisfactory solution:
- possibly some "door" that would stay on the guitar (as opposed to said-rubber cover)
- maybe some solution that would allow open/half-open/closed positions.
- something not fragile.

I studied "sliding doors" for a moment but seems that the best way could be some "revolving door" design similar to this

I m guessing there s some sort of "hinge" (metal or even wood) beneath this system. And probably the "door" itself is padded for added strength.

If anyone successfully built some door to their soundport:
- can this be done on a finished guitar (as opposed to in progress, unglued)?


Thanks for any tip

[guitararmy]

If you know anyone with a similar guitar with the old barn door electronics
(like my Blueridge BR160), maybe you could compare the sound with the barn door closed and open. I don't know how close it would be to a port, but it might give you an idea of whether you hear something you like or not...

[EllaMom]

Wade Hampton Miller wrote two things that have nearly sold me on a port:

"What I found is that on those relatively rare occasions when I fingerpick softly, the soundports work beautifully, exactly as advertised, giving me a sort of "stage monitor" effect."

and

..."seems to no longer matter when I play with a pick"

Then Yrksman wrote:

"but as accompaniment to my singing I don't like it"

I ONLY play fingerstyle, never use a pick, and I never sing. Plus, I only play for myself, softly. Seems like a soundport might be a good idea, say in my Teton or Seagull.

Thanks!

[TBman]

I don't regret putting mine in. A sound port really enhanced the volume on my Seagull, which I play often. My Washburn D-10S I almost never play so it doesn't matter any more.

[sdelsolray]

I suspect that putting a soundport into the upper bass side of a guitar will change the amount of air moving in and out of the soundhole, all other things being equal, and result in a difference in the character (i.e., amplitude, relative frequency response) of the sonics projected from the face of the guitar outward. Of course, a soundport will change what the player, who ears are above and behind the instrument, hears.

I don't have any scientific tests or data to support this hypothesis, and I would be surprised if anyone else does.

[Wade Hampton]

Looks to me like you've thought it through, EllaMom! Seems like a soundport would be a good match for how you play.


whm

[ljguitar]

Hi String…

My regret after 3 sideports in personal guitars is that in the past I let guitars go because the projected well for others to hear, but I couldn't hear them well enough and now I realize a guitar like that benefits tremendously from a sideport.

[srick]

John -

last year I cut one into my Guild GAD 30. I was not impressed one way or the other. Since that time, I have found that playing in various rooms within my house does a much better job of reflecting sound back.

Rumor has it that Guild and the Blueridge are built in the same Chinese factory (GREE http://faridaguitars.com/FACTORY.htm). And I can tell you, after cutting the soundport, I was shocked at how thick the finish on my Guild was. I suspect that the finish and the slightly heavy bracing hold these guitars back just enough from being spectacular.

That being said, the heavier build of your Blueridge will make it easier to cut a successful port, so i don't think that you will ruin it.

best,

Rick

PS - A post from Blueridgeguitars.net in 2007 supports the factory rumor - Search on "Farida Guitars Grand Rewards - And in that forum you'll also see a picture of Kydave with a (gasp!) Blueridge guitar!

[srick]

Just noticed that I got pulled into the zombie thread. Wonder if the OP ever did the deed?

[string1399]

Nope, I never did. I was somewhat surprised to see the original post reappear since I no longer own the guitar.

[srick]

Originally Posted by string1399

Nope, I never did. I was somewhat surprised to see the original post reappear since I no longer own the guitar.

Well that answers that!

[muscmp]

just glue it back in if you don't like it. no one will notice.

play music!

[ObiWanSymbian]

Originally Posted by Spook

Even if you are one of those folks that names inanimate objects, a sound port will work about the same in your guitar as it does in similar guitars.

That statement put a smile on my face.
;-)))))

[Alan Carruth]

sdelsolray wrote:
"I suspect that putting a soundport into the upper bass side of a guitar will change the amount of air moving in and out of the soundhole, all other things being equal, and result in a difference in the character (i.e., amplitude, relative frequency response) of the sonics projected from the face of the guitar outward. Of course, a soundport will change what the player, who ears are above and behind the instrument, hears.

I don't have any scientific tests or data to support this hypothesis, and I would be surprised if anyone else does."

I've got some data (actually, more than just some...). AS usual, these things are more complicated than they 'ought' to be, but a few fairly simple statements can capture most of it.

Assuming you're adding a port to an existing guitar:
1) the 'Helmholtz' or 'main air' resonance will shift upward in pitch a bit. You'd get much the same result from simply enlarging the main sound hole.
2) there may be a very slight reduction in the sound output at that resonant pitch from the main hole, however, the port adds it's own contribution to that. Overall, the output of the two lower resonances of the guitar, the 'main air' and 'main top' resonances that constitute the 'bass reflex couple' tend to get stronger when a port is opened, and sometimes a lot stronger.
3) other than that it's hard to generalize as to whether the instrument puts out more or less power at a given pitch: high frequencies may suffer overall. It's possible that the total output could even drop slightly, but it's hard to say. If the output changes that's a sign that the overall efficiency of the instrument has changed, and that doesn't seem to happen to any great degree one way or the other.
4) a port you can look into does tend to direct more sound out toward the player. After all, a side with no hole in it is not a great sound producer, and a hole is likely to be better. Aside from the increase in the low-pitched 'main air' resonance there's also some high frequency stuff coming at you as well. I'm doubtful that the low frequency change is very helpful, but the high frequency stuff does seem to make a difference.
5) there are changes in the timbre due to the port being able to 'hear' internal air resonances that the main hole doesn't. It's likely that the difference is as important as anything in giving the impression of effectiveness when a port is opened: our senses are all set up to detect small changes. Often that impression diminishes over time as the novelty wears off.
6) the further the port is from the main hole, and the bigger it is, the larger the effect.

I did a blindfold playing test at two Montreal shows, a local folk festival and a GAL convention (over 100 players) , to see if players could hear the difference between an open and a closed port in a noisy environment. They did; hands down. Although I did not get blindfold data on the listeners, most of them seemed to feel it didn't make much, if any, difference. Another test that a friend of mine did suggested that players did not hear the difference in small, 'lively', quiet rooms. Thus it seems that where you play matters as much as anything else. If you do lots of 'restaurant gigs' you may love a port. Also, some of my customers with compromised hearing say the port is very handy.