Hollow body acoustic

[GrahamDzd]

Hi, first I am just a player - not a luthier.

I have some nice wood, Tasmanian mahogany which I would take from an old Headboard from a bed which I cannot bring myself to throw out as the wood is lovely and it has some sentimental value.

I ran into a local luthier the other day and asked him if he thought he could build an acoustic guitar from the wood. His answer was yes - and he is keen, however through our conversation it turned out he has never built an acoustic, only electric(s).

I don't want to be serial number 1 (even 2 wouldn't make me comfortable). I have seen the Fender Acoustasonic - a hollowed out electric body with both acoustic and electric pickups - and was wondering if that might be the compromise design. There are a few youtube videos of folks making copies of the Acoustasonic either building new bodies or by hollowing out cheap guitars and putting an acoustic type soundboard over the routed out shape.

My question - is there any reason that a new, thinish body for such a build could not be usual acoustic shape? I'd be happier with that shape Vs. standard LP, SC TC type thing. I know another answer would be "find a different luthier" but where I live, in rural canada, that's easier said than done. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

[mr. beaumont]

If a person has never made an acoustic...I wouldn't give them wood I cared about.

Now, if that guy can make a good electric, I'd have that mahogany become a Les Paul Jr. style body, put a P-90 in it, and have a kick-butt guitar.

[Fathand]

What part of rural Canada are you from? Lots of guitar builders all over Ontario. I'm working on acoustic guitar builds 10-13 right now after building 20+ other instruments.

You would be better to travel a bit or ship your wood to someone with some acoustic building skill then to pick someone only because they are close. If we knew your location, maybe a recommendation could be made for someone not too far.

[printer2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5u6yiVRpEQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9IfVKa8M9I

These are not bad recordings of the Acoustasonic. The sound in front will be fuller than where the player's ears are. I am finishing up my own hollowed out guitar but with a live back. It had a thick solid back that did not resonate and there was less sound out of the sound hole. Also maybe Indonisian Mahogany, or Tasmanian Blackwood? I am not sure there is a Tasmanian Mahogany.

[H165]

If a person has never made an acoustic...I wouldn't give them wood I cared about.

Same here.



You can see some interesting designs in the Carvin AC175 (steel) and CL450 (nylon crossover) guitars.

https://reverb.com/item/14828072-car...id-spruce-rare

https://reverb.com/item/1170389-carv...lectric-guitar

[GrahamDzd]

Thanks for the comments guys. I live in Nova Scotia - Lunenburg. I think Tasmanian Mahogany might also be called Tasmanian Blackwood (though it is red) - it came from a custom furniture build in Oz a long time ago.

I play in a basement group and one of the guys got an Acoustasonic as we are primarily acoustic players - he loves the guitar and it seems to fit well with the two traditional acoustics in our group - that's probably where the idea came from.

I am meeting the Luthier today to look at the wood and discuss possibilities so I can post an update later on.

[Rudy4]

What you can do with your re-purposed wood is going to be defined by the wood dimensions, how it's already joined, and thickness.

If your wood is generally 3/4" in thickness you might think about doing a "mirror image chambered body" such as I've been having fun with by utilizing big box store common 3/4" pine to make uber-lightweight silent and electric guitars. (My "Jagsquire" design is documented HERE for those who want to do the same...)

Given those constraints, the rest is simply how creative and adaptable your luthier is. There's no particular reason why the basic body form can't be more like the traditional guitar shape. That normally isn't done because designers are embracing the nontraditional aspect of these concepts and not disguising the design or cloaking it in a more traditional look.

You'll find with these types of boundaries that what you end up with is going to be determined in large part by what electronics will be used. The new class of "quasi-acoustic" guitars like the Acoustisonic series of Cordoba Stage series all use dedicated electronics with at least basic modeling technology involved.