Itzkin OM

[Tony_in_NYC]

Originally Posted by henderson is go

Wait what?

Mario was replacing that top because I said it was too thin. I don't need it replaced. You got two tops anyway. No worries.

[Itzkinguitars]

gluing the tentaleones (spelling ?) I learned this method from Bruce Sexauer

[Tony_in_NYC]

This is going pretty quickly. Looks good!

[Itzkinguitars]

yeah, this is my quickest build so far

[sachi]

What wood are you using to support the sound holes?

[Itzkinguitars]

indian rosewood

[Tony_in_NYC]

Stereo side ports? I like the shape of them.

[Ivob]

man, the soundports are brave...wonder what effect they will have

[Tony_in_NYC]

Originally Posted by Ivob

man, the soundports are brave...wonder what effect they will have

What makes you say that Ivob? They might be long, but they are narrow, so their overall size is not that great. Or is it simply the sideports in general that are brave? I can tell you that a ported guitar will blow you away when you play it. Try one. You know what they say about side ports, don't you?
Once you go port you never....umm...abort? Not quite the same ring as the original, but my point is that ports are great and add a lot to the player's experience. If you have never read about ports before, check this link:
http://www.mcknightguitars.com/soundports.html

Scroll down past the pictures for the info. Thanks to Tim McKnight for doing the research.

[Laurent Brondel]

Originally Posted by Tony_in_NYC

Once you go port you never....umm...abort?

Tony, this is a brave assumption… Everything has an effect on tone, at least potentially.
I have built 5 steel strings with sideports, and I can honestly say that I prefer a guitar without. The best sideports IME are small ones. They seem to have the least negative effect on tone, while fulfilling their intended purpose. Too big, and my opinion is that they bring a harshness to the tone and an unrealistic bass response that are both unpleasant in the long term, even if subtle. It is one of those instant gratification things. All IMHO, of course, and it may be different for archtops.

[Tony_in_NYC]

Laurent,
I understand how you feel about large side ports. In fact on another forum you made a similar comment about something I said to a guy building a very deep body OM.
You and I build guitars for different reasons. You do it for a living. I do it for fun. Not that I would mind if people paid me for my guitars, which they have, but it is not and will never be a source of significant income for me. So you are 100% correct. My ports are an instant gratification thing in a sense. But there are many highly respected luthiers using ports, both large and small in size. I admire your work and have a great deal of respect for the instruments you craft. I hope to build instruments of a similar caliber one day. I am certain you can not say the same for the guitars I have tossed together!! Mainly because you have never seen or heard them, but I bet if you did, you would still not say the same thing! I am joking of course, I think I make a pretty decent guitar. Not anywhere near your caliber, but not garbage either. And I do not think you are calling my work garbage, I am just making an example.
I like side ports. I have built with and without them. If a guitar is for me, it will get a port. If it is for a friend or someone else who is paying for it, they get what they want. Its simple. I do not have the skills to fine tune the sound and tone that my guitars produce and you do. I do not feel a port degrades the tone. You do. There is no harm in disagreeing. One day I hope to get an opportunity to stand side by side with a luthier of your skill level and learn a whole bunch, but for now, I have a couple of kids to feed and a wife to attempt to keep happy, so I slap together my guitars in my garage and when it gets too cold out (I live in NY if my username didnt tip you off) I move my operation to my living room. Not exactly ideal working conditions, but it allows me to work year round and maybe refine my skills a bit each year.
One day, I might begin to think my guitars sound better without ports and that will be the day I stop using them. Until then, you and I will just have to live in harmony, ported or unported! Please do not take this is a disrespectful post because that is not my intention in any way. It is simply my opinion that a port is a good thing. Particularly on my guitars! At one point in my life I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwishes above all other food and I would not even think of eating escargot or sushi, or anything else. Now, I love all food. Except Liver and onions, I still hate that. Tastes change as you mature.
My taste for ports might change as my guitars get better, or I may feel the same as I do today. Who knows? Lets allow our ported and unported guitars and our opinions thereof, to live in harmony (pun intended).
Plus, my "Once you go port, you never abort" comment was about 98% a joke. I just meant I like ports and Ivob might too.

[Ivob]

Originally Posted by Tony_in_NYC

What makes you say that Ivob?

Tony, I don't know how you understood my comment on the ports, I didn't mean nothing bad with the word "brave". I just meant that it was brave to make such ports, regardless of what effect they can have, positive or negative...ok, they may produce great sound, but as Laurent said it may also be the other way round.... Moreover, I'm not a native English-speaker so I sometimes get into missunderstandings in any case i'm crossing my fingers that it will be a good guitar

[Tony_in_NYC]

Originally Posted by Ivob

Tony, I don't know how you understood my comment on the ports, I didn't mean nothing bad with the word "brave". I just meant that it was brave to make such ports, regardless of what effect they can have, positive or negative...ok, they may produce great sound, but as Laurent said it may also be the other way round.... Moreover, I'm not a native English-speaker so I sometimes get into missunderstandings in any case i'm crossing my fingers that it will be a good guitar

I took it to mean that the ports were large and it was daring of the builder to use such large ports.
Ports are not for everyone. Laurent does not care much for them and that is OK. I am not a fan of certain guitar shapes and sizes. Its all a matter of taste I guess, and of course, if you feel the port enhances or detracts from the sound of the guitar.
I can't understand why there have not been any updates on the progress of this guitar. Brian? What's going on?

[Itzkinguitars]

I'm waiting for some parts to arrive

[Tony_in_NYC]

Bummer. What are you waiting for?