What do you make of this ?

[steveh]

Originally Posted by Portland Bill

Well he must be doing something right as some of the leading players use his instruments.

And are FAR from cheap.

Hope to hear one soon as I am off to see David Russell in July - front row seats!

Cheers,
Steve

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Pretty nutty. You just end up with a small internal box (air cavity) without the advantages of the physical comfort of playing a smaller sized guitar (plus the added cost and weight involved).

Well, this is actually perfect!! I've been searching for a solution like this. I'm usually more of a big bodied sound guy but do appreciate the tight focussed projection and clarity of a smaller guitar but find absolutely no comfort in smaller bodied guitars. I'm most comfortable hugging a big un. I have mentioned to Joel before that I really want one of his smaller bodied sounds in a larger body, and I think that this might just be the answer!

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Well, this is actually perfect!! I've been searching for a solution like this. I'm usually more of a big bodied sound guy but do appreciate the tight focussed projection and clarity of a smaller guitar but find absolutely no comfort in smaller bodied guitars. I'm most comfortable hugging a big un. I have mentioned to Joel before that I really want one of his smaller bodied sounds in a larger body, and I think that this might just be the answer!

Perfect. That is the one case that makes it at least logical. For me, my favorite couch guitar is something around an 00 size.

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Perfect. That is the one case that makes it at least logical. For me, my favorite couch guitar is something around an 00 size.

OO sized guitars give me back aches. Even OM sized ones are a bit small for my liking. 15.5" lower bouts seem to be just right for me so yes, I suppose it would only be logical in my kind of odd cases. Not so sure what the actual reason is for this particular piece and I'm curious too!

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by Portland Bill

This was a response from a builder on another forum to my question

Pretty simple, really.

If you want the theory, sound radiation from a simple source (like a guitar soundboard monopole mode) is proportional to its effective area divided by its effective mass. The problem is that mass grows a lot faster than area does, as a guitar soundboard gets larger and the deformations due to string tension are kept under control. So as a soundboard gets smaller, a/m increases. The "sweet spot" is definitely smaller than 360mm across the lower bout.

As Mencken said, for every complex question there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. For a given top thickness, mass and area change in the same proportion. In fairness to your unnamed builder, he is right that to prevent deformation of the top, mass will need to grow faster than area because the top will need to get thicker. But it will not grow "a lot faster as area does." Because stiffness will increase as the cube of any increase in thickness, mass will only grow slightly faster than area.

The problem with a too-big top is the proportion of its mass to the momentum input by the strings, which remains constant.

I have done some double wall building. It gets the sides very stiff. Damann seems (like Smallman) to be concerned with getting projection and perceived loudness in a concert instrument, to the exclusion of some other desirable aspects of sound. I am told that he succeeds. My worry about double wall construction is that if you need to cleat a crack, there is no way to get a cleat inside the wall. But a crack can't get very far with all the wood glued across the sides.

[Portland Bill]

Small guitars tend to sound small,although they may have power they tend to lack a bit of lower frequency depth.
I have never played a Dammann but have some superb recordings by a number of artists that record with them.
Lack of depth in the bass is not something I would associate with them,in fact quite the opposite.

Andrew York's recording of a Bach suite does a mighty fine job,along with his beautiful phrasing of imitating a cello.
I think there is something more to this design than just the size of the top.

[Jim.S]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

My worry about double wall construction is that if you need to cleat a crack, there is no way to get a cleat inside the wall. But a crack can't get very far with all the wood glued across the sides.

I'd be more worried about damaging that thin cedar skin, how do you fix that. Thinking about it a double side crack repair seems easier than a re-top. I would have to slap a pick guard on it but I'm a rough old steel string player.