|
 |
I was
ready for what I found, but if I'd examined that guitar even five years ago, I probably
wouldn't have understood it. Everything finally came together for me in this guitar
built by a master. I had the guitar long enough to patiently measure it with the Hacklinger gauge. I had known for many years that thinning a top toward me middle produces a lower pitch and a bolder note, and that thinning toward the outside results in a higher pitch and a thinner edge to the note. The top graduation of
the Rodriguez, however, was far more defined than I would have thought. I used this information to graduate the top of a guitar that I was just completing. Since the new top was already braced and on the guitar, it was a little tough to measure as I graduated it--but the Hacklinger gauge made that possible, since the magnet placed inside the guitar follows the measuring tool--even over braces (photos). With the gauge, we can more clearly define how to graduate the top, and avoid an inconsistent sound. My discovery, "reverse graduation", is what I'll call it, dramatically improved my guitar in two ways: 1) It refined an already good sound character |
until it's almost right on to that of
the Spanish makers--really, I'm that close to it; 2) The volume was strengthened
considerably, which in turn resulted in an improved action (since the increase in top
thickness under the bridge stiffens the top, the strings can be closer to the fingerboard
without buzzing, and you don't have to play as hard to get the same volume because of the
higher pitch of the notes.) I've got my bass strings set at 1/8" over the
12th fret on the bass side, and a little less on the treble; that's low for a classic! My new graduation starts, and ends, with a thicker top than I previously used,
and is exactly the opposite in its extremes. There are three basic ways to build a top: 1. The simplest way is to leave it ungraduated, or level (one thickness, as is comes from the thickness sander). 2. The "old" way I did it, in which you thin at around the bridge area, generally from the front of the bridge to 1-1/2" in back of the bridge, and all the way across the top. 3. The "new", or "reverse" graduation leaves the top |
||
 |
About three years ago, I
decided to improve the business end of my guitar building by acquiring more precise
equipment, attending guitar conferences and classes, and promoting my guitars throughout
the U.S. In the 30-plus years I'd been building I never put much effort into
any kind of marketing or advertising-- selling mostly to those who came into my shop.
To expand the business, I need to reach out to those who can't sit here in
the shop and watch as I fine-tune a guitar for them. To this end, thanks to Tim Miklaucic, who owns Guitar Salon International in Santa Monica, California, I have started building more guitars, and shipping them around the country. Tim has sold a number of my guitars, and we both appreciate a certain sound quality in a guitar, but it's one that I could never quite get. This is a sound character like some of the great makers like Santos Hernandez, Marcello Barbero, and Miguel Rodriguez produced in their guitars--a very deep, bell-like quality, a haunting sound with overtones, and a slight echo. I finally found it this fall after a 37-year search. In November, I got my hands on a wonderful guitar built in 1962 by Miguel Rodriguez of Cordoba, Spain (Raphael Rodriguez actually, under his brother Miguel's label). When I studied the top graduation, all of the things I'd been working toward for years became crystal clear to me. |
|||
 Next Page>>
|
Welcome to the home page of Tom Blackshear Guitar Builder
