Manzer wedge questions

[rogthefrog]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Nope, not in this life time...

Are you sure? :P I've played one of Bruce's Schoenberg dreads and it was the best dread I've ever played or heard, by a mile.

[rogthefrog]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

Most of the folks I know who make wedge bodies add a little to the treble side and subtract as much from the bass. The end block and neck block are the usual depth, and the total air volume in the box is the same. I've used about a 1" (25mm) difference in side depth most of the time, and it's really helpful. It's about like taking 1" off the width of the lower bout.

I use a 'Smith' wedge. One of my student had an uncle who was an inventor, and held a lot of patents. It's a sort of sport in his family to try to find them all, and he has patent search software on his computer. A few years ago he did a search on guitar patents, and found one by a fellow named Smith from 1969 (iirc) on the 'wedge' body. I mentioned this on line, and eventually Linda got in touch with me about it. I sent her a .pdf copy of the patent, and she got back to say that his reasoning was the same as hers.

Sometime after she make the 'Pikasso' guitar with it's wedge body she talked about the idea with another luthier. Later on he needed to make an ergonomic guitar for a customer and 'invented' it himself, forgetting the conversation with Linda. After she got that straightened out she started pushing the 'Manzer Wedge' terminology. It was not for financial gain; so far as I know she never asked for any money. She simply wanted the credit.

As far as I'm concerned, she deserves at least some credit; after all, she had never heard of Smith when the idea came along, so it was an independent invention. But we can't ignore the patent, either. Sometimes an idea is just 'in the air', and the credit ends up going to the person who either gets to the patent office first (the Bell telephone), or the one who does the most to get the word out.

Iirc Mike Doolin also made tapered body guitars of his own design.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Nope, not in this life time...

Mini-dread?

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by rogthefrog

Are you sure? :P I've played one of Bruce's Schoenberg dreads and it was the best dread I've ever played or heard, by a mile.

I am sure...

[Bruce Sexauer]

I make dreads both wedged and unwedged, though I am mostly known for my smaller Guitars. Being convinced that wedging has no downside, it has become a nearly standard feature of my work, excepting those few conservative customers who can’t accept it. Certainly it has never happened to one of my Schoenberg’s, for instance.

Perhaps this dread-centric video will not be too much more of a hijack:

https://pegheadnation.com/instrument...-dreadnoughts/

[jazzizm]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I make dreads both wedged and unwedged, though I am mostly known for my smaller Guitars. Being convinced that wedging has no downside, it has become a nearly standard feature of my work, excepting those few conservative customers who can’t accept it. Certainly it has never happened to one of my Schoenberg’s, for instance.



Perhaps this dread-centric video will not be too much more of a hijack:



https://pegheadnation.com/instrument...-dreadnoughts/

Thanks Bruce, very interesting video and super nice guitars! No wedge to be seen though. Can you point me, by any chance, to some photos of your wedged dreads? So I can show them to my guy, telling him „see? It can be done.“

One more question: did you ever have trouble finding a well fitting hard case for those guitars? Because I understand that the treble side of the guitar will be even deeper than a standard dread’s. Will I have to have a custom case made?

Thanks for your input.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Without looking straight at the bottom of the guitar from several feet back, you're not going to notice the wedge on my guitars. I think most iterations of the wedge concept are way overdone, making the guitar unwieldy both ergonomically and as you mention, for fitting into a case properly. My wedge is typically just 5/16" and it does the job of making the guitar seem smaller under the right arm w/o being otherwise intrusive. A wedge as large as 3/4", which is common, tilts the top and the neck to a degree that I find has to be addressed by modifying my ergonomic technique, which seems counterproductive.

By the way, I am a top-down builder, and the wedge is more easily accomplished my way than with the more typical top-up method, though it can be done either way, apparently.

I don't really seem to have the picture you want, but these are recent wedged dreads:

[jazzizm]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

By the way, I am a top-down builder, and the wedge is more easily accomplished my way than with the more typical top-up method, though it can be done either way, apparently.

Can you explain that please?

[Bruce Sexauer]

Standard American guitar construction come from Germany via Martin, and it starts out building a box with the side attached to the back, and the top is added later.

The Spanish tradition, from which my work springs, starts with the top and adds the sides, and finally the back.

It is easier to wedge a back after the box is made than to start with the wedged back and then add a “level” top.

[dekutree64]

I built a wedge one time, but didn't like it. Technically the back is tilted, but when holding the guitar it's the soundboard/fretboard that get tilted... and that means more bend on my left wrist to keep the same relation to the frets. Fast track to carpal tunnel.