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No not that waist!

I'm following the Cumpiano book an I started making a template for my guitar. I drew it out on cardboard and "freehanded" the curves using Cumpiano's bout/waist measurements. I cut the template out of Lexan and then started comparing it to my other guitars (fender, alvarez, ovation). The waist size given by Cumpiano is 9 3/4", which is smaller than some of those guitars by 1-2". After some research I found that most guitar waists are between 10-11". I'm new to this but I've read enough to know that any measurement on a guitar is critical because it will affect the sound one way or another.

So what is your waist size? And why?

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nay

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What style of guitar are you after?

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Aoibeann

Woops, guess thats info that would have been helpful. I'm building the steel string dread detailed in the book. The waist just seems thin to me.

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nay

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Nathan,

It's a while since I read the Cumpiano book but I'm pretty certain it "ain't no dread" that he shows how to build. More OM'ish - or a dread with a corset Dave White38984.6371064815

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave,
That's exactly why I'm asking the question. The guitar is an inch longer, and the bouts are about an inch wider than any of my guitars. But then the waist is an inch or so smaller. It was just weird to me. When I drew out the guitar it DID look like it was wearing a corset

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[QUOTE=nathan c] Dave,
That's exactly why I'm asking the question. The guitar is an inch longer, and the bouts are about an inch wider than any of my guitars. But then the waist is an inch or so smaller. It was just weird to me. When I drew out the guitar it DID look like it was wearing a corset [/QUOTE]

Nathan,

As I said that's because Cumpiano is teaching you how to build his guitar not a dreadnaught. OM'ish is probably wrong as it has a 16" wide lower bout and you are right - at 20" long the body is a bit longer than a lot of guitars. Maybe it's more of an SJ.

If you want to build a dreadnaught then you should get a set of dreadnaught plans and build from these. you should still be able to follow the Cumpiano methods shown in the bokk should you wish to do so.Dave White38984.6500694444

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave you're right. I read the description of the guitar wrong. It's not a dread. I don't have a particular size in mind. I had planned on building the guitar in the book. Still it looks funny with the thin waist.

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nay

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[QUOTE=nathan c] Dave you're right. I read the description of the guitar wrong. It's not a dread. I don't have a particular size in mind. I had planned on building the guitar in the book. Still it looks funny with the thin waist. [/QUOTE]

nathan,

Well . . . beauty is in the eye of the beholder Personally I like tight waisted guitars. In my view what it gives you is more focused mids and trebles and more balance across the strings - what fingerpickers look for. The dread gives you more focus on a strong bass for the boom chukka Bluegrass etc sound.Dave White38984.6689583333

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I have drawn up the cumpiano model and an OM ...cumpiano's is about 1/2" longer in the body than a martin OM
Cumpianos reminds me of what is called a small jumbo these days

Nathan,

I have a plan of the guitar from the book. I think it is availbale for purchase from the MIMF web site. It is a Grand Concert guitar, sort of a larger OM. The plan as drawn is actually quite tasteful and this particular plan has a lot of very good details, including a template for shaping the sides. It might be worthwhile buying it if you want to copy the guitar in the book. I have it, and other plans, for reference only. I will be drawing all of my own shapes except for the one that I will borrow from my buddy Mike Collins!

Shane

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Canada

The waist on the dread pattern I have is right at 10 7/8"...I believe it is from a Martin D28.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

G'day Nay,
            You will find that Martin's model ' M ' (Grand Auditorium ) is about the same dimensions with a 16" lower bout , 20 " body and an upper bout of 11 11/16 .

I have built a guitar of these dimensions ( 9 3/4 " waist ) and a lot of people have made comments on how comfortable it is . Looks good too !

Regards Craig Lawrence

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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I was an OM...now I'm more of a Dreadnaught!
Seriously, I like the smaller waist sizes like the OM, Auditorium, and Concert guitars. I've even added shims to the mold now and then to pull 'em in tighter...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

i am about a 40 inch waist


Homeboy

A lot bigger than it used to be in H.S.......

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
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Just for some general info here on all my mid and small size guitars the waist is a 1 11/16" radius attached to the transvers arc of the the upper and or lower bout with a tangent line. The example below is my SJ

MichaelP38985.6993981482