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Permalink Reply by Tres Seaver on January 14, 2010 at 2:43pm

Conventional wisdom here at CBN says that you can increase acoustic sound / resonance by:

- Ensuring that a through-neck touches the soundboard as little as possible (typically by cutting a dado in it, perhaps reinforcing on the bottom).

- Using the deepest available box.

- Using the thinnest possible wood for the soundboard (this is why some builders use the bottom, is it is often thinner, or bare.

- Removing any paper attached to the soundboard.

- Using a higher bridge (sharper break over the bridge transfers more of the strings' vibrational energy to the soundboard); note that this often requires adding some angle to the neck, to keep the action low enough.

YMMV, of course.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Webb on January 14, 2010 at 4:10pm

Also, to add to what Tres said...

Where you place the bridge on the "body" can make a big difference in how much sound you get and the tone (warm/bright) you get.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on January 14, 2010 at 4:31pm

Maybe cheat a little bit and try switching strings to get a tick higher pitch, that might make the difference.
I've saved a couple of instruments doing that to try and avoid tearing it down and starting over.
It worked for me.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan deVallance on January 14, 2010 at 6:02pm

lets see a pic . . . . . I also recommend a wood bridge. The metal bridges can take away some of the power of the sound accoustically in my experience.

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on January 15, 2010 at 12:56am

I have built using wood, bone, and brass as a bridge. My standard is now wood.
Add a bone nut. That'll brighten it up and add a bit of volume.
Bone or wood/bone saddle.
My favorite player (right now) has both and it is my fav for acoustic tone.
Plug it in .... I use a cheapo Danelectro eq pedal ( fish & chips) and a Peavey Microbass amp ... and rock the world.

Is there such a thing as Rockabilly/oldtime/punk/gospel?

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Fowle on January 22, 2010 at 4:24am

Randy Webb said:

Also, to add to what Tres said...

Where you place the bridge on the "body" can make a big difference in how much sound you get and the tone (warm/bright) you get.

Any recommendations for where to put the bridge for maximum acoustic volume? Which positions bring which tones?

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Permalink Reply by Randy Webb on January 22, 2010 at 4:39am

Andrew Fowle said:
Any recommendations for where to put the bridge for maximum acoustic volume? Which positions bring which tones?

Closer to the center should give a warmer "meatier" tone and slightly louder volume. The closer to the edge you get, the "brighter" the sound.

BUT.....
placement of sound holes, string angle at the bridge, and other factors all effect each other

The footprint of the bridge (size of the part touching the box) can effect the tone too.

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