I have a salad bowl that I want to use for a build. I was trying to think of something to use for the top, and while i was considering modifying circular cutting board, one of our compadres reminded me that a thick cutting board would be an awful lot of work to shave down to size to a proper soundboard thickness.
But that got me wondering: how thick is too thick? Any opinions?
Tags:
Here in China, you can get large sheets of thin plywood laminate, which carpenters glue onto the built-in book cases, cupboards and closets when they build-out new flats (condos) or re-furbish old flats. It's actually about 3/16" thin plywood, but it makes for a nice soundboard, and they have several different kinds of woods as the outer laminate. I used some cherry faced laminate and ended flipping it around so the backside was visible as it matched the wood I was using in my side walls of my box better. Look around for a wood supplier that sells wood laminates.
-Rand.
Here in China, you can get large sheets of thin plywood laminate, which carpenters glue onto the built-in book cases, cupboards and closets when they build-out new flats (condos) or re-furbish old flats. It's actually about 3/16" thin plywood, but it makes for a nice soundboard, and they have several different kinds of woods as the outer laminate. I used some cherry faced laminate and ended flipping it around so the backside was visible as it matched the wood I was using in my side walls of my box better. Look around for a wood supplier that sells wood laminates.
The bigger the top, the thicker you can go. Case in point - pianos use a spruce soundboard that's about 5/16" thick.
I would stick to about 1/8" for guitar sized tops. The type of wood may make a difference too. At a guess, something in the spruce/pine family would be the best vs. a hardwood. On the other hand, Gibson made a lot of nice hollowbody guitars with laminated maple or mahogany tops.
It would be fun to experiment with various species of wood or plywood and thickness and see what you get.
You can hold the wood by the edge and tap in the middle to get an idea of how well it vibrates and what it will sound like before installing.
Thin is definitely the way to go for acoustic properties, but the very best top woods are fragile and a little tricky. I have studied the construction and bracing of vintage and contemporary acoustic guitars, violins etc and the bracing involved is an art in itself.
In my opinion the ideal top woods are only ideal in relation to their design and in an optimized structure, but I doubt worth all the trouble in an improvised instrument such as what you described, especially if you plan to install piezo circuitry and amplify it and/or for the typical neck-through design with solid support under the bridge.
With that in mind, the economics and easy workability makes the laminated ply stuff suggested by Rand attractive for your "experimental" build. They have some nice thin pieces locally here at Micheals craft store and at a store called Hobby Lobby, also a craft store. I would suggest trying a 1/8 or so thick top constructed with that.
If you want to construct your own top out of what we would call "tone wood" there are spruce top sets and such available from Stewmac, Luthiers mercantile, Dick, etc. But these are typically rough sawn pieces in need of much prep and such before being ready for any use. Lower grade sets arent to pricey in general though, and if you are equipped to surface and fit/glue a bookend set together, you could build something nice that way.
Now all that said, how about a chamois stretched over the bowl while wet and allowed to dry/shrink.................
Thanks for the info, Mark. I'm not familiar with chamois and its properties... From what I breezed through online, I assume it's like banjo skin? That might work well for the film can banjo I'm planning later on this year; this experimental build, however, is becoming something akin to a modified sitar.
-scott
Mark Bliss said:
Now all that said, how about a chamois stretched over the bowl while wet and allowed to dry/shrink.................
Yeah, thats kinda what I was saying, LOL!
My reference to using a chamois was meant as a generic "how about a cheap skin" for a top.
Yeah, thats kinda what I was saying, LOL!
My reference to using a chamois was meant as a generic "how about a cheap skin" for a top.
Scotty,
I bet formica countertop material would make a fine top, it is .075" in thikness. It would need to be back braced. I'm thinking it would be very bright in sound. Just a thought.
Bob
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray on Tuesday. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Taffy Evans on Sunday. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. Apr 25. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango Apr 22. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!