Improving bass response after it is built?

[johnnparchem]

Thanks John. I'll give my failing ears a work out on the one I am in the middle of now

Ed

Not the one where the bass is stronger than the treble that you mentioned in a previous post I hope. I do not know how to make a top stiffer other than taking it off the guitar and re-bracing.

[ruby@magpage.com]

If you look at my picture of the bracing, it is ladder braced, and has a doubler around the sound hole. In addition, Haans told me he makes his ladder braced 6 string tops .12 or .13 - this one is .12. I don't know how you could make it any stiffer.

Ed

[rcnewcomb]

After a week under tension and doing additional setup the bass has improved. The redwood top seems to provide a lot of punch to the attack on the treble strings. I'd like to hear it in the hands of a flat-picker. I'm going to keep it under tension for another week and then reset the neck.

At this point I'm willing to let it age for a year before I start sanding on braces.


On to build #3.

[Diane Kauffmds]

After a week under tension and doing additional setup the bass has improved. The redwood top seems to provide a lot of punch to the attack on the treble strings. I'd like to hear it in the hands of a flat-picker. I'm going to keep it under tension for another week and then reset the neck.

At this point I'm willing to let it age for a year before I start sanding on braces.


On to build #3.

Absolutely! Let that lady loosen up. She doesn't know that she's a guitar...she still thinks she's a tree. She'll continue to open up for a long time.

[ruby@magpage.com]

Will you use redwood again? What will #3 look like?

Ed

[rcnewcomb]

Will you use redwood again?

Yes. I've always had a fondness for the wood ever since I played a Redwood/Walnut Breedlove when that company was first starting out. I like the attack that is similar to cedar, but a bit warmer- more like a mahogany top. Seven years ago we moved to Northern California and I am literally surrounded by more than a dozen redwoods at my house, so I continue to appreciate redwood.

As a victim of wood-acquisition-syndrome (WAS) I've collected the following wood:
Top Sets: Spruce (2), Western Red Cedar (3), Redwood (3)
Back & Side Sets: Mahogany (1), Wenge (1), Bloodwood (1), Peruvian Walnut (1), Black Limba (1)

[rcnewcomb]

Further update: The bass response continues to improve. It is starting to take on that D28 bass quality.

Lesson learned: don't judge the sound of a guitar in its first few hours after the initial string-up.