Official Luthiers Forum!

G'day again!

I've noticed in my wandering through the archives some pictures of guitars with soundholes in the upper bout in addition to the normal soundhole. I haven't seen or read of anything like this before. What is this hole for? What are the pro's and con's?

Joel.

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If God had wanted us to drink beer, he would have given us stomaches.

This is called a soundport. It gives the player more sound. I have never made one myself, but you are right, we see it quite often. It seems to be the new "fashion"

So its like a built in fold back? Not a bad idea.

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If God had wanted us to drink beer, he would have given us stomaches.

Soundports are kind of nice. They come in all forms.
here is one of mine.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Andy, did you reinforce the paw on the inside?

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Aoibeann

I have heard and strumed guitars w/ sound-hole port and yes, the sound for the player is much improved--some claim the ports improve the overall sound.

I love sound ports, and do believe it gives the player a 3D kind of sound to the instrument. I also think it increases projection too! This is just based off of my experience, and no statistical research to back it up. I always reinforce the area with a black & white veneer after the sides are bent. I know Paul Woolson does his before, but to me it was easier after. As long as you don't plan to bind the sound port after, you will be okay. I used a soft foam as a caul to glue it in the veneers.

Here is one I did on my bouzouki:



Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Soundports are great. I just played a builders OM last night with a soundport and found that it really improved the sound for the player. Think of it as a monitor. A simple test of covering and uncovering the soundport convinced me.

My own measurements suggest to me that the port is mostly good as a monitor. It gets some of the high-end sound, that they would normally only hear in reflections, out to the player. A large port can alter the timbre of the instrument. Again, my own experiments say that they don't improve the overall sound output significantly.

Now, I have to say that I have found one paper that claims they do add to the output. He did his measurements differently from mine, and that may have made a difference, so I'm trying to repeat his results. I also think that my tests were more like the 'real world', so even if I can get the results he got they may not mean as much as they seem to on the surface. Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath.

Dulcimers seem like a good candidate for side porting.
Have done some drawings but no builds yet.

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

Lillian
Yes, there is a thin veneer of ebony

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I have a soundport on my new guitar. When I play the guitar with the soundport covered the guitar does not sound as good to me. I am thinking of having soundports added to some of my other guitars. I do not know if people sitting a few meters in front of me could notice a difference but I surely can while I am playing.

deletedHoward Klepper39063.0945601852

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.