Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on June 3, 2013 at 4:27am

In order to get that resonator sound, yes you will need the bridge on the metal item. I believe there is also some theory into the best way to attach metal item to the body for the "perfect" combo of strength, and vibration. However, someone else might better explain that.

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Permalink Reply by jeff weins on June 3, 2013 at 7:18am

Take a look at mine "coffee can resonator #3" about 3/4's of the way down the page

https://home.comcast.net/~204mike/forsale.html

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Permalink Reply by colin mcgrath on June 3, 2013 at 7:59am

unrelated: Did you put extra bracing in the olive oil cans?

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Permalink Reply by jeff weins on June 3, 2013 at 9:15am

The 1st one (black) has no bracing, just the neck and 2nd neck piece. The 2nd one (green) has a additional tight fitting 1x2 screwed to the bottom thru the ends. #1 works fine sounds good to me, but the additional bracing in #2 feels better.

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Permalink Reply by Joel Dare on June 3, 2013 at 8:20am

I see that you have the strings AND the bridge touching your can. Do you think that's necessary? Wonder how much difference it makes.

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Permalink Reply by jeff weins on June 3, 2013 at 9:29am

The strings touching the can after the bridge offer little if any sound to the can, the bridge should absorb all the string vibration. But the strings touching the can do serve a function, the can completes the "ground" for the strings,1string grounded, can connects them. i could have connected the string ends, but the can does the job not by design it just worked out that way

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 3, 2013 at 8:23am

Make it bigger

Yes the bridge wants to stand on it.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 3, 2013 at 4:11pm

What the Kid said. As with many other things which are deemed sexy, bigger is better ;-). The reason the bridge sits on the can / reso is, as Jeff has intimated, is that the string vibration gets transmitted through the bridge to the can / reso. The can / reso is acting like a loudspeaker, mechanically amplifying those string vibrations in the most direct way possible. The Dopyera brothers and others figured this mechanical amplification mechanism out back near the beginning of the 20th century, before electrical microphone elements were developed.

If your strings are sitting above the can, with no bridge touching it, then the best you're gonna get is some minor, rapidly decaying vibrational energy transmitted through the plank, and some very minor sound waves transmitted from the strings through the air bouncing off the can. It'll be fairly soft, not loud. Les Paul built his Log ( a plank with strings, no reso, just a split-down-the-middle acoustic grafted to either side) this way, and he added magnetic pickups because the thing wasn't very loud acoustically. Which shouldn't stop you from doing 2 quickie builds, just to test your idea, one with bridge on plank, the other with bridge on can. I'll take bets on the bridge on can. :-)

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 3, 2013 at 6:28pm

If you really wanna use a puny little can, tuna can, beer can etc you can take a tricone, bicone approach - maybe two of em with your bridges two feet standing on one each, Harrison did one like this recently

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Permalink Reply by Joel Dare on June 4, 2013 at 2:02am

Thanks for all the feedback. I've adjusted the design slightly so the bridge sits on the can. I didn't realize my mistake until after I had the initial design.

I've also listened to several coffee can style reso's since I designed this and I don't dig the sound. So, I'll probably skip building it this way. I may adapt the style a bit to a more standard acoustic sound or I may just go with a bar piezo again.

I build my first (and only) guitar with a solid body and a bar piezo. I'm pretty sure the body size makes no difference (except in comfort) on a guitar that uses only a piezo for sound. This 2x4 design is probably better suited to that. The piezo, connections, soldering, and need for an amp do bring the price up a bit though. I was looking at this sort of in the eyes of a homeless man. How cheaply could it be made?

Time for a redesign. Thanks again, I appreciate all the insights.

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