Why aren't more people doing this?

[Mooh]

I had a scalloped cutaway added last year by Joshua House to a guitar he built for me ten years ago. It gives me a few added frets access on a guitar that is mostly used as an instructional instrument in lessons. I rather like it.

[dekutree64]

Originally Posted by Beat Up G

Just say no to all cutaways.

Say no to 14 fret necks And also these scoop cutaways. Say yes to 12 fret full cutaway with low profile heel.

With no cutaway, the first thing that cuts you off from playing chords is when your hand/wrist runs into the shoulder of the guitar. With a scoop cutaway... you still run into the shoulder of the guitar. With a full cutaway, the thing that cuts you off is when your thumb runs into the heel. A lot of 14 fret cutaway guitars have even less reach than you can get with a 12 fret cutaway, just due to a chunky heel.

Of course, 14 fret cutaway with low profile heel is even better reach... but not many players really need that much.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by Beat Up G

Just say no to all cutaways.

Just say No to No cutaways. Variety is good.

[DesolationAngel]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

I'm not nearly good enough to worry about cutaways.

I'm with Kip

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by bancika

Plus, visual appeal is debatable. I think that sums it up why it's not more common

Yes, that. Yuck.

[Tom West]

Alan Carruth has done these and I must say that he does a much better job then the one you show. This looks like an after thought. Alan's look very professional.
Tom

[RyanM1]

If you want to see a great design for upper fret access, check out David Myka's guitars. There's absolutely no neck heel. He somehow builds the heel on the inside of the body.

[DESERTRAT1]

In the words of Tommy Tedesco, "There's no money above the 5th fret". God bless those who play up there but I'm not sure there are enough of them to create a big market for what I can only assume is a fairly expensive option.

[wade63]

Ive shied away from cutaways worried about volume but as previous posts have said, once you play a smaller bodied quality guitar you realize bigger is not always better

[brucefulton]

[redir]

Originally Posted by dekutree64

Say yes to 12 fret full cutaway with low profile heel.

I like that combo myself.

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by DESERTRAT1

In the words of Tommy Tedesco, "There's no money above the 5th fret". God bless those who play up there but I'm not sure there are enough of them to create a big market for what I can only assume is a fairly expensive option.

This was a sarcastic and somewhat bitter remark intended as a swipe at the typical pop star who uses a guitar as a prop and strums some open chords while performing, and as a complaint that someone who could really play the whole instrument, like Tedesco, didn't get the kind of money that the pop stars get with paltry guitar playing skills. People who think he was saying you can be a good guitarist and never bother getting out of first position are misunderstanding him.

[franchelB]

Originally Posted by vpolineni

I've been looking at cutaways and am wondering why more builders aren't using this design





It seems to make more sense to me since you're not losing any volume inside.

As for me, I'll just say that even though both my acoustic guitars have a cutaway, and I love it, I rarely play above the 7th fret. It really is more about form than function. Secondly, the work involved in putting a cutaway on a guitar costs more than a guitar without a cutaway. Lastly, I don't believe the volume difference is drastic when comparing a guitar with a cutaway to a non-cutaway guitar.

[Alan Carruth]

From what I've seen, the 'bevel' cutaway can be useful or not, depending on how you play. The folks who use 'Classical' technique, with the thumb behind the neck, tend to find it more useful than players who wrap their thumb around the neck.

So far as I know, nobody has actually measured the acoustic effects of putting in a cutaway, so any pronouncements on that will be speculative. Not that that will stop any of us from making pronouncements....

My opinion is that, if there is any effect, it has more to do with the change in air volume than top area. The upper bout of the top really doesn't produce much sound, although, of course, what it does produce is in the higher frequency range where it's more audible. One of my 'golden eared' customers feels that is easier to record guitars with a cutaway than ones without, and since he has spent the better art of his professional life in studios, recording and being recorded, I have to give that opinion some weight.

'Bevel' cutaways, and particularly the 'recurve' type that I make, are a lot more work than normal cutaways. For one thing, there is simply no way to do the purfling except by cutting the channel by hand, and that takes a reasonable level of tool chops. Lots of time, too.

That may change. I heard that somebody is working on a hand held CNC router. The motor floats on the base a bit, and there's some sort of line-following sensor built in, so that all you need to do is guide it more or less close to the desired line, and the cutter follows it exactly. That would make this sort of thing a plausible option for some factories, although I'm sure the price would still be high.

[Bluepoet]

As someone who wanders above the 12th fret, only when wiping the strings with a cloth, I still enjoy the look of cutaways, but not these bevels. I wouldn't mind having that bevel for the upper body, for the strumming arm to, perhaps, rest in, though.

I also like guitars with no cutaway, as long as they aren't big blocks of wood, like a dreadnaught...give me shapely, every time...I like Barbie waists, so sue me....