Official Luthiers Forum!

Well said Dennis, I'm with you all the way. No such thing as too many good ideas or too much inspiration.

Cheers

Kim

HE HE HE HE.

Actually Kathy has been dropping buy evey now and then for couple years. She is like Frank You never know when they will pop in, but they are always welcome

[QUOTE=Bill Greene] Ok, I'll bite, what's the problem with dreads? [/QUOTE]
Well, nothing, really. If you like 'em, you like 'em; but here's my take on the (mostly) tongue-in-cheek members' response to d****n****ts....

The problem is both psychological and the physics of sound. The psychological part: for a very long time (late '60's to early '80's) about all you could find in a music store were dreds. Especially at the low-to-mid price scale, but at the other end, too--if you bought a Martin, you bought a dread. It got to where, when people thought of a guitar, it was dred-shaped. It took hand builders to reinvigorate the market for other body styles, so individual builders are now getting the last laugh! The physics part: dreds were designed to do one thing well--accentuate the bass. If that's what you need, that's what you get. If you've ever heard a dred-playing flatpicker take a solo, you may have noticed that those bottom three strings come through big and round, but when he gets to the upper strings you hear a sound that, in print, resembles something like, "tinky, tinky, tinky." [As an aside, I've never understood why they find that to be acceptable] Guitars of just about any size with a narrower waist give a more balanced sound across and along the fingerboard. Can be used for anything--even bluegrass, if players would give 'em a try!

PLEASE NOTE: There are exceptions! One of the most lively and balanced guitars I've ever played was a simple sitka & mahogany dred built by Dana Bourgoise! If I'd had the funds, I'd have bought it in an instant. It can be done, so go for it, Bill!

Carlton, thanks for taking the time for enlightening us, it now makes more sense, this is also why i only knew dreads, cause it's the only thing they sell in most music stores not promoting all the other shapes, or me not knowing they even existed, the only thing i could differentiate then was the cutaways on some! I'll always have a place for dreads in my heart even if it's just for their beautiful shape but i find myself having to build all the other shapes now if i ever want to see and hear a difference which is i guess A GOOD THANG!

So, ok, i'll try to be careful not to tease too much with the D word, undestanding that for some of you, D****N****t might be an insult!

Boy o Boy have i got sooooo much to learn!

Thanks again

Serge

I love dreadnoughts...and there's no reason one can't be built that has a good tonal balance.
If it isn't balance, the builder is doing something wrong.
Yes, they are built to have a strong low end, but there's no reason it can't have it all.
There are so many factor involved in construction parameters that can effect the sound. Bracing, top thickness, depth, etc etc all effect the end result.
Of course, some folks like the boomy sound that a lot of dreads produce, and the highs too.

It's all subjective anyway, right?

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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.
Only badly."

[QUOTE=Don Williams] I love dreadnoughts...and there's no reason one can't be built that has a good tonal balance.[/QUOTE]
Yep. As I noted above, there are exceptions to that booming bass sound. However, the builder has to compensate for the dread's basic shape, which favors that big bass, and that takes a lot of experience, IMO.

We need something to make us look official...maybe some gold bracelets or something...and shouldn't we have a disclaimer like, "void in states where prohibited, must be 18 or older to apply, offers not valid to forum employees or their family members, employees must wash hands before returning to their workstations"....

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Ok, I stole the first part from Napolean Dynamite, but the disclaimer could work couldn't it?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I like Dreds as well, however, my Dred is my own design and pattern and although the same basic shape exists, the waist is a little tighter, and the Upper and Lower bouts are a bit different from the plans I have seen and guitars I have measured out. I call it my Dred style. I have my cut out templates, molds and bending molds for my Dred, Classical and what I call my Grand Concert. This took alot of time, but it was fun,I try not to ever get in much of a hurry. I spend most of my days sitting at a drafting table or in front of Auto Cad so this just seemed like the thing to do. In my next life I am just going to order stuff that already is out there!

Mike
White Oak, Texas