Quote:
Originally Posted by tippy5
This subject does open up a lot of questions.
I have a 5lb Macassar ebony back guitar that apparently relies on the top for the tone. I have a late 50's Gibson that I can feel in my ribs.
I know that too thin of sides can cause the neck joint to move and need a reset. I had a Martin that had two CS warrantied resets and on the third go round they declined another reset. They said the sides were no longer up for the job. BTW: They were wonderful through both 7 month repair cycles.
So a question is how light or active can a back be designed to and matched for what grade stiffness of braced spruce top?
Are there some folks who commission active lightly built sides and backs for a type of top? Hmm...
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Sides are built differently than back or tops. Because the plate is long, narrow (and bent) they add relatively little color to the tone. Their function is more like that of a drum side: enclosing the box and holding the top and bottom plates in place around their edges.
Smart customers do not tell their builder how to build a guitar. Instead the tell the builder how they want to the guitar to sound and respond, and trust the builder to know how best to provide that sound and performance.