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If you were building a 000/OM sized guitar for a blind fingerstylist, which woods would you pick? Obviously the visual attraction isn't a factor, simply sound.

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Aoibeann

Mahogany B/S with Lutz or Addi spruce top. Very traditional (the Addi at least) and will give a great well rounded sound assuming it's braced and profiled right.

I'm sure there are other's here who will have different Ideas, but that is what I would use.

Hesh just finished a mahogany/Addi Dread, ask him about the sound. Hesh's Mahogany/Addi Dread

Here is a link on fingerstyle design that you may be interested in as well.Rod True39033.5225115741

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Rod's pick sounds right on to me. EIR would be a good alternative for a little mellower sound.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I'd do a mahogany back/sides with a redwood top, and I'd brace/build for maximum volume...maybe even try the double sides for increased projection.Bill Greene39033.5269791667

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Lillian, that was a very clever question! It forces us to think in terms of the sound we like more than the fancy woods we like to see. We who can see are very visually oriented, and I sometimes wonder if we partially hear with our eyes...


So, I would go along with the mahogany, with either red spruce, or redwood or cedar. I love rosewood guitars, but my ear has always gravitated toward mahogany.

Unless we're talking Brazilian/addi...then that is a combo that frequently workd really well for me. I guess you have to ask the person what kind of sound they're looking for and go from there.


Don Williams39033.5473263889

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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."

I have a blind friend who is extremely musical. She has developed excellent listening skills including perfect pitch, is grade a nine classical vocallist and is also only one of three people in the UK who can write braille musical notation.

Therefore my concern would be to get the intonation as near perfect as possible!!!!! She is quick to tell you if something is 'errr so slightly out of tune.

But for woods, I would go for an all-rounder. Indian or braz rosewood, ebony fretboard, addi top.



Sam Price39033.569849537

I would do Walnut with a redwood top braced in spanish cedar.
I love the clarity and warmth of the Walnut and Redwood alike... and works great for a fingerstyle guitar. Besides, I'm sure a blind person would apreciate the scent the walnut and cedar will provide!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

talk to colin about what it's like having someone with perfect pitch listen to your guitar; it's even worse when they are playing one of them.

had a client some years ago who was blessed/cursed with perfect pitch, and it was HHAAARRRRDDDD!!!!!!!

ask her what it is like for her to sing with instuments which are not perfectly tuned/intonated and you may get an inkling. no matter how good you get it, it will not be perfect, since it can't be, and she will hear it.

you have a building and an education challenge ahead of you. you may want to consider one of the various different fretting systems to get things closer to "perfect"

as to woods, talk to her about what she prefers, the somewhat dry, crisp attack and decay of mahogany vs the compelx tonal structure and sustain of the rosewoods, and go from there.

Thank you for all the responses. Please let me qualify, this isn't for some who is blind, but it was a question I posed to get feedback on wood combinations based purely on sound. Don nailed it with his comments. We build with the visual as a very strong factor of our decisions. I was interested in what people would say if the visual aspect was taken out of the equation.

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Aoibeann

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael] talk to colin about what it's like having someone with perfect pitch listen to your guitar; it's even worse when they are playing one of them.

had a client some years ago who was blessed/cursed with perfect pitch, and it was HHAAARRRRDDDD!!!!!!!

ask her what it is like for her to sing with instuments which are not perfectly tuned/intonated and you may get an inkling. no matter how good you get it, it will not be perfect, since it can't be, and she will hear it.

you have a building and an education challenge ahead of you. you may want to consider one of the various different fretting systems to get things closer to "perfect"

as to woods, talk to her about what she prefers, the somewhat dry, crisp attack and decay of mahogany vs the compelx tonal structure and sustain of the rosewoods, and go from there.[/QUOTE]

Oh yes indeed Michael, my wife's perfect pitch has nearly led several times to divorce! But she has saved me money on expensive strobes for set-up! As some of you may know she played violin with the London Symphony Orchestra for a number of years and apparently something like a quarter of the players had perfect pitch, mainly among the string players and the theory developed that perfect pitch can be learned. String players with no frets or stops to help them, get their hearing educated early in the learning process.

As to the original question, I would have to say what type of music do they want to play? Then no matter what the anser was build them a Mahogany/Euro(or Adi, Lutz, Englemann) or for a richer sound Mahogany/WRC (or Redwood)

ColinColin S39033.6851851852

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

See Lillian, here is the living proof that women always ask one question trying to get a different answer... and we here are supposed to guess?


I gotta show this thread to my wife... I'll let you guys know what she thinks of my newly found "evidence"!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Now Peter, I wasn't trying to deceive anyone, it was simple a poorly worded question. I should have framed it better. But the meat of the question is still there.

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Aoibeann

[QUOTE=Aoibeann] Now Peter, I wasn't trying to deceive anyone, it was simple a poorly worded question. I should have framed it better. But the meat of the question is still there. [/QUOTE]

Just kiddin'

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I know.   

I work with a bunch of guys and quite frequently they forget I'm not one of them exactly. Gives me so interesting insights.

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Aoibeann

Lillian, I thought you just had a great attitude, but your just calloused to most mens... er...for lack of a better word... sensibilities?    Billy T39034.0160185185

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

EIR with lutz top is what i'd consider because i love what i heard from no 2 even when played fingerstyle but i'd also give great consideration to a redwood top, i love the "ping" that i hear when i tap mine!

[QUOTE=Billy T] Lillian, I thought you just had a great attitude, but your just calloused to most mens... er...for lack of a better word... sensibilities?    [/QUOTE]

No, not calloused, justed amused is all Billy.   

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Aoibeann

colin, there is at least one vendor over here selling his "system" which is "guaranteed" to teach perfect pitch.

also i couldn't agree more with your contention that playing a non-fretted instrument is conducive to improving one's pitch perception. despite the specific courses in my brief carreer as a formal music student, when i started to try to learn the violin some years later my pitch perception improved dramatically. that being said, i still am too dependent on my strobe . when my ancient conn died during the summer, i was at a loss until it's peterson replacement arrived.crazymanmichael39034.4697685185

Hesh, you are right about the Honduran Rosewood. Matt Gage built a slope-D out of honduran rw a couple years back that he brought with him to the ASIA Symposium. It was outstanding. I'm a fan! Addi Spruce & HRW is a great combo.

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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."

I'm going to again suggest my favorite combo. And again this will surprize some

IRW back and sides/Koa top (.110 thickness for an OM)

Personal preference for a strong mid range on a finger style. The Koa is bright enough that the treble come through nicely but with finger style spruce the mids are a bit lost for my ear. that's why. Now if Koa back/sides and Koa top it would be too dark.MichaelP39034.6914236111

Very interesting, i'd love to hear one made with that combo one day!