Wren Guitar Works: Bearclaw/Ziricote/Snakewood

[David Wren]

[RJVB]

Intriguing photo, and what will become one sexy bottom!

But now why does remind me of a boat being built in a basement?

[David Wren]

Originally Posted by RJVB

Intriguing photo, and what will become one sexy bottom!

But now why does remind me of a boat being built in a basement?

Thanks RJ ... it's a special chunk of Ziricote, that's for sure.

[David Wren]

[David Wren]

[David Wren]

[TomB'sox]

So this part of your build always intrigue me. I understand the concept that the patterns that form help you tune the top. Are you going for a consistent pattern for each guitar or is it based on the type of woods being used for top and B&S woods. Do you use the patterns to help determine where you need to carve your braces then also?

I apologize for the long questions.

Tom

[AlanHw]

Originally Posted by David Wren

Gotta love this art deco theme~ Beautiful work, David!

[David Wren]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

So this part of your build always intrigue me. I understand the concept that the patterns that form help you tune the top. Are you going for a consistent pattern for each guitar or is it based on the type of woods being used for top and B&S woods. Do you use the patterns to help determine where you need to carve your braces then also?

I apologize for the long questions.

Tom

Hey Tom ... thanks for the question. Here's a very brief overview of some of the voicing techniques I use.

The little laptop you see in the photo is just showing a spectrum analysis of the top ... in other words, which notes it is most receptive to at this stage of it's existence (which will all change when it's glued to the sides and change again when the bridge is glued on etc). One of the tricks of voicing is to predict, for instance, the main top (monopole) frequency of the top ... to prevent too much "admitance" on that frequency. As an example, if the final main top frequency is tuned right on a note (i.e. not between notes), the main fundamental of that note when played on the guitar will be almost immediately be lost when the string is plucked. That's just one example.

As far as the Chladni patterns are concerned ... they are just a graphic representation of the frequency response (of the top in this case ... some builders run patterns on the back as well). You can run Chladni patterns on the raw unstrutted top to get an indication of the long-grain and/or cross-grain stiffness. You can run Chladni patterns on the strutted top and do some free-plate tuning a la Alan Caruth. You can run Chladni patterns once you close the box to get an idea of how the different coupled resonances of the air, top and back are reacting to each other. In general terms, you also keep track of all of this data until you can relate this to the sound of the finished instrument ... and ultimately control at least some aspects of the sound of your guitars consistently.

Hope this gives at least a hint of what's going on with this photo?

[David Wren]

Originally Posted by AlanHw

Gotta love this art deco theme~ Beautiful work, David!

Thanks so much Alan! This little Art Deco inlay will also tie in with the end graft as well.

[David Wren]

[David Wren]

[TomB'sox]

Thank you David, that was a great answer. I learned a lot from that. I have played several guitars that sounded great, but when I would play the G string mostly when fretted to an A, the note sounded dull or thuddy without the resonance of the other strings. I now wonder if those tops happened to be tuned to an A note. If I find that again, I wonder if tuning down (or up I guess) a half note, if I would notice a difference when fretting what would now be an A flat or A sharp??? I can't wait to try it.

[David Wren]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Thank you David, that was a great answer. I learned a lot from that. I have played several guitars that sounded great, but when I would play the G string mostly when fretted to an A, the note sounded dull or thuddy without the resonance of the other strings. I now wonder if those tops happened to be tuned to an A note. If I find that again, I wonder if tuning down (or up I guess) a half note, if I would notice a difference when fretting what would now be an A flat or A sharp??? I can't wait to try it.

Hi Tom ... glad it made at least a bit of sense. To be clear, ALL guitars exhibit too much admitance on a variety of notes associated with the main resonant frequencies. The better instruments eventually start exhibiting a more even response up and down the fingerboard as they are played in (and they MUST be played to get this better response).

[David Wren]