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Questions: Bracing Reinforcement

Questions: Bracing Reinforcement

by Jeffrey R. Elliott

Originally published in American Lutherie #91, 2007



François Leonard of Port-Louis, France, asks:

I’m guitar maker in France and I’ve been following and reading articles in American Lutherie since many years. I had recently an order for a 10-string guitar and I’m asking myself how much I need to reinforce the design of the bracing. My bracing is not so different from the one Jeffrey Elliott uses and talks about in his AL#56 article “Shaping the Sound.”


Jeffrey R. Elliott of Portland, Oregon, responds:

My experience is more extensive with 8-string guitars, but I believe the same principles apply. I suggest the following:

Select top wood that is more stiff than you would choose for a 6-string, one with all the characteristics you usually look for, but also with a somewhat extended tap-tone range toward the lower pitches.

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Questions: Rebec Building Plans

Questions: Rebec Building Plans

by Cammie Mills

Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009

 

Cammie Mills from the Internet asks:

I am looking for the building plans for a rebec.


Cammie Mills found the plans:

Paul Butler offers a plan for the 3-string rebec (also known as a soprano) on his website. His page covers how he built one and gives a mildly detailed history of the instrument. The site in general is very informative. He also provides links to more information as well as a link to some music for the rebec and how it sounds.
http://crab.rutgers.edu/~pbutler/rebec.html. ◆

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Questions: Guitar Rib Depth

Questions: Guitar Rib Depth

by R.M. Mottola

Originally published in American Lutherie #85, 2006

 

Mark Korsten of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY asks:

The article concerning how the rib depth of guitars should be adjusted when plates are domed was clearly written and illustrated (AL#84). I truly appreciate the insights offered by author R.M. Mottola. Being a neophyte luthier, however, I have what is probably a naive question. How does changing the depth of the guitar’s ribs modify the manner in which the bindings are fitted to the binding ledge? It’s a fairly easy operation to bend the binding when the plates are flat. However, when the depth of the ribs are varied, doesn’t that introduce another plane to the geometry? Do you simply use more flexible, thinner bindings or stronger binding tape to keep things tightly apposed in the ledge?


R.M. Mottola responds:

Although the doming of the plates means that the side depth of the ribs must be varied so the ribs and plates can be glued, this type of construction has little effect on binding. The ledges can be routed using a router resting on the plate or inverted in a router table. In either case the doming is so slight that the routing can be done just as if the plates were flat. And although the bindings must be bent vertically to accommodate the varying rib depth, the amount is so small as to be inconsequential. ◆

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Questions: Vintage Strings

Questions: Vintage Strings

by Fan Tao

Originally published in American Lutherie #91, 2007

 

Andrew Lines from the Internet asks:

I am looking for information on original string types as fitted to early Orville Gibson archtops as well as 1920s and ’30s instruments such as the L-5, New Yorker, and Master 400. I understand that these were originally metal strung, pure copper or Monel wound, but can’t find any info on gauges or core-to-winding ratios.


Fan Tao of D’Addario Strings in Farmingdale, New York, replies:

I’ve asked Jim D’Addario and several other guitar players around here, and no one knows. They all say it was long before their time. We have historical information only on modern D’Addario products, (back to the 1950s). However, there is some information in the book D’Addario: The Player’s Choice: 1905–2005 by Baker Rorick commissioned by D’Addario in 2005. Chapter 2 starts:

“Before WWII, most steel-core strings had been wrapped with copper, silver-plated copper, or ‘commercial bronze’ (90% copper and 10% tin and other alloys). Monel — the trade name for a nickel-copper alloy — became a popular wrap wire in the 1920s, and its high nickel-steel content also made it viable for use with electromagnetic pickups and amplifiers. John Sr. [he passed away in 2000], searching for a louder, brighter, stronger, and longer-lasting string, experimented with different alloys of copper and tin, and developed a formula using 80/20 bronze (80% copper and 20% tin, also called brass) windings over a steel core. Trying different core-to-wrap ratios, he used a lighter core than other string makers, which ended up being the key to a better sounding string.... One of the first people to recognize [their] superiority was John D’Angelico.... It’s not known when [they met], but it is known that by 1937 C. D’Addario & Son had begun supplying their new 80/20 bronze roundwound strings to D’Angelico....” ◆

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Questions: Jig for Oval Rosettes

Questions: Jig for Oval Rosettes

by R.M. Mottola

Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009

 

Greg Pacetti of Fairbanks, Alaska asks:

I’m in pursuit of some kind of jig for oval rosettes.


The Questions column editor responds:

Probably the single best source of info on cutting oval rosette channels appeared in the American Lutherie article “Making Oval Mandolin Rosettes” by Jonathon Peterson, et al. (AL#41 p. 34, BRBAL4 p. 140). In it, seven builders describe their methods. ◆