A luthier who specializes in classical guitars once said at a seminar that the frequency of the tap tone is not as important as the sustain of the tone. A la the longer it rings out the fuller the guitar will sound in the end.
Only just discovered this series and have now spent a solid couple of hours binge watching it with no intention of stopping any time soon. This is just where I am at this moment in time. Outstanding viewing in all respects so far; very informative, very relaxed and very entertaining. The woods used so far, though...man, oh, man * chef's kiss * - I'm drooling.
Very new to guitar building, but not woodworking, so, when you push a chisel into wood the bevel side wants to drive the chisel deeper into the wood. So bevel up tends to drive the chisel out of the wood, giving you more control of your exit point. Great series! Loving it!
I'm a relative newbie to making acoustic guitars. I'm on my 6th one now and have been improving the tone as I get a little better. I've used Kent Carlos Everette's methods of voicing by thinning out the lower bout from 8/64" down to 5/64" which has given the guitar much more sustain, which other players said good things about. Much to learn still which is why I appreciate this channel.
This is my new favorite channel! I’m loving every video. You guys are really killing it with the production value, and just the over-all vibe. Keep being awesome!!
I love this channel. In a couple of videos this channel has turned into one of my favorite. One tidbit to add that is a caliper not a micrometer. My dad and I just started making guitars and we have built our first very similar to you. We didn't have a CNC machine or drum sander but plan on getting these.
Been enjoying your channel. Your pickiness is really impressive. In light of that, I felt the need to point out you called a vernier (aka a dial caliper) a micrometer. A micrometer is a different tool used for measuring machined parts when more precision is required.... like a bearing journal.
This series is amazing so i'm probably binge watching the rest of the night today till i have to wait for a new episode. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how to voice a top. I loved that you described the tone changes in the top when gluing it on and adding the bridge and string tension. That makes so much sense.
I've been really enjoying your videos. I've been building for nearly 30 years but it's always fun to see excellent builders and you've really opened up your process to us all. My own braces are a lot taller and somewhat narrower; I formed my bracing style after Lance McCollum. Anyway, great work, and thank you
You honestly deserve 1mil subscribers, your content is just so good. I see so many other youtubers with 100k to 1mil subs, but I go off the video cause they try to make good content but it's all cringe. You just have that something in your content.
@@DriftwoodGuitars they will be at a million in time I’m sure. This was the best info but I bet you could dedicate a whole series to this and probably the hardest to teach.
Ex cabinet maker and now Fender acoustic player here. I might not buy a guitar from you, but I enjoy watching you and I think I get why you do what you do.
These are so interesting. Thank you so much for putting this content out there. So informative, and so refreshing to hear someone say, "I'm not saying this is how to do it. I'm just saying this is how I do it."
That's a great episode. I use an old 1.25" paring chisel to shape the braces. The bevel angle is really important. Mine is quite steep and I use it bevel side down to scallop. I also arch my braces much more than you do. That's where the paring chisel really does it's job.
It's interesting (and I don't know if it's an American/UK thing) but when I went to school many, many years ago, a micrometer was a "C" shaped object with a completely unintelligible barrel scale and the guage you are using was a Vernier. It still is over here in the UK.
@@eturk8298 Yes, that's right, although the word "Calipers", more often than not, referred to the measuring device (resembling a pair of compasses) that was used to transfer a measurement from one place to another. I remember my dad telling me that when he was a factory manager (Coventry during WWII) he used to keep the precious Verniers in a locked and temperature controlled cabinet in the Quality Control office (They were working on precision, top secret, military instruments). I remember playing with the wonderful Micrometers, all in beautiful wooden cases, that littered our house after he had retired in the early 60's. Somehow the "GO - NO GO" gauges they use so often nowadays don't have the same romance.
Prediction....this channel will be at 30K subs before you get to episode 15 of this build. Recommendation....put in a very brief narrated recap (with b role of previous episodes) of what you are building towards, at start of each build series episode. I think that may entice people to go back and catch up on your previous episodes of this build series. Keep up the good work Chris and Matt!
That x-brace cap is genius. I’ve watched several acoustic guitar build videos and never seen a luthier take that approach. Definitely structurally superior to linen and glue, with no affect on tone. Very cool. On a side note, there is something very satisfying about watching a craftsman like yourself scallop braces with extremely sharp chisels. The slow motion and Charlie Brown like piano backing music makes it even more relaxing…
I saw another builder (French last name, not sure how to pronounce it, starts with B) he explained "voicing" an acoustic, like Marimba bars are voiced. It made a lot of sense to me, as far as understanding it. I saw a documentary on Stradivarius violins, 1 guy was a physicist. He took a bent wire, with small pieces of sandpaper, & scratched off minutes amounts of wood, in specific areas on the inside of a relatively cheap violin. It totally changed the sound quality. A few scrapes here, a few scrapes there,& the inexpensive violin sounded amazing. Of course the cat had all kinds of sonic charts, detailing what area of the instrument top, vibrated during playing diffent notes, etc. Amazingly when the "experts" looked inside the ACTUAL Stradivarius, they found evidence of scraping, of course it was like 400 years old. But apparently Stradivari, had figured that out himself. Now I know why they called the man a genius, it only took, scientists 400 yrs to discover his "secrets". Amazing cat (Strad of course). The guitar is coming along nicely! Very nicely.
Well, I'm getting ready to build my first guitar because the luthier who built my guitar thought my woodworking is good enough that I should. I've got the Bogdanovich book, but this series seems like it's going to be extremely useful to me. So thank you for your stellar efforts. Keep up the good work.
Following the build so closely, working on my own first build. love the series and the granular detail...been working wood for 50 years or so, mostly carpentry and the bevel vs. flat side of the chisel is a matter of the ability to adjust the angle of attack. With the bevel side of the chisel the plane to the edge is very short, so you can adjust it with your hand though a wide range of angles, and quite easily get it wrong, cutting too deep. With the flat side of the chisel the plane to the edge is very long, essentially to infinity (and beyond!) so you can "hew close" to your desired angle but can't adjust the angle much. Thin paring of an established surface you use the flat side so that you stay close, like a plane taking thin shavings, going over a convex curve the plane of the work is falling away so digging too deep isn't a concern and you ride the flat and micro adjust the angle of attack. Chopping out a mortise or cutting a concave shape bevel down and you can easily adjust the angle of attack to ride back out of the curve and avoid cutting too deep.
First thing, I am really enjoying the series and learning a lot. I learn by doing and making mistakes but you are giving great foundational understanding as to why things are done. Second, this has probably been mentioned but there is a very big difference between a micrometer and caliper. What you have is a caliper. Just logistics.
Your intuition on bracing is very good. Very good "Seat-of-the-pants" engineering "Tucking" the fan braces transfers the bending (in the top) into the "X" brace better--the untucked braces would make the top between the end of the fan brace and the "X" brace into a relative hinge.(and subject to cracking) Interesting that the Bass-side fan braces on a Taylor are so large. If the Martin fan braces are substantially smaller, that would partially explain why Taylors are so "Bright" with lower Bass output than a Martin...
As far as bevel up or down, a wood worker uses both depending on what's required. If you're smoothing a flat surface and want to remove material but maintain the flatness you would use the bevel up and the bottom of the chisel acts as a guide like the shoe of a plane. If you want to go down into the wood but then level off, then you would use it with the bevel down which gives you control over the angle of attack that the chisel has to the wood. Of course you have to read the grain direction of the wood and only try to come back up if you're not going against the grain or the wood will split. You've already used both techniques. You used the bevel up when you cleaned up the bottom of the joints for the cross braces where you needed a flat surface. And now you're using bevel down to change and control the angle of attack for the scallops. If you tried using the bevel up here, the chisel would dig down in pretty much a straight line and you'd have little to no control over its direction once you go in so far and you'd end up splitting the wood.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. It’s both entertaining and extremely informative. One of the channels I look forward to watch the most. Always captivating
I have a chisel with two sides the same, each with half the normal angle. I think I like that best for the braces. I also take a razor knife and cut a kerf into the brace at the lowest point and chisel toward the kerf to keep from having an accidental split of the wood. I was not taught how to build guitars, so I am probably doing everything wrong. I am learning lots from your videos, though, so maybe one day I can call myself a luthier!
Excellent video you explain everything in detail voicing a guitar top is a specialty n an intricate job as we shave n shape each brace you hear more tone and tone getting deeper the more mass we remove all so amazing when we finally tension up the strings hear that woooam tone keep building guys
I am an aspiring builder, and this is really inspiring. I’m going to have to give it a try one of these days. Not to say it’s easy and anyone can do it, but you’re giving me a degree of confidence that it’s a skill I could learn.
In here there’s a discussion of how you use you chisels and when. For me, the point of riding on the bevel and not the flat of the chisel is to avoid pulling the blade down. So in cutting down a slope as in carving a brace, you’d ride on the bevel so that you err up and away from the top and from a cut that would dive lower than you intend.
Using a chisel bevel down, I get more control over the depth or aggressiveness of the cut, whereas bevel up the chisel seems to like to dig in and hog more material. Other people's mileage may vary.
I dont know what i enjoyed more? the voicing, the tools used (maple handle chisels... 🥴) ... or that craaazy sounding suction clamp that I loved and would like to see more information on...great insight into the technology.... 🏴
Great explanation of the process. Whilst I love Taylor guitars, I'd sure like to hear someone like Andy Powers talking about this stuff without any care for the brand, just to understand what compromises have to be made with essentially mass produced high end guitars.
look up a video on how Huss and Dalton voice their tops and how they decide what pieces to use as compared to how taylor and other mass producers do it. A huge difference in time investment.
Contact Jay Parkin at Taylor Guitars about having this topic produced as a From the Factory podcast or on Taylor Guitars Primetime on RUclips (live stream Tuesdays at 6 p.m. PT).
I love the cadence of the videos, you dont just ramble off on nonsensical garbage like some other "big name" luthiers do with their videos! Thank you for the excellent content!
But Matt, you want to get paid! LOL! Chris, I heavily modified a chisel for scalloping. I ground away the top bevel on a 1/2" chisel so that it's radiused instead of a flat. For me, it "scoops" better with less tear outs. Rolling back the top of the bevel seems to minimize the fulcrum effect. BTW I used a big box store (Lowes) chisel for the experiment and still use it. LOL! No sense grinding up an expensive one!
An old German master carpenter taught me ‘bevel up to dive down and bevel down to skim around. ‘. Or some such thing like that only with an accent and that grandfatherly patience. 🥲 Damn I wish he stuck around longer there was so much to learn.
I have a friend (used to have, we're not friends anymore) who stepped on her guitar... to reach a bookshelf. She was surprised it caved in. She was a decently smart woman last time I saw her, no blunt force damage on her head or anything. This might be an extreme example but sometimes people do negative IQ stuff out of nowhere.
Alvarado your thought process is genius they way you analyze every bit of your instruments is beyond artistry. Thanks for these videos and for all the content you provide. I will send you an email with a link for some info you may find interesting. Thanks again! P.S. Matt that violin!
Just one correction though, the treble strings don't have more tension than the bass strings, check any steel acoustic string set's tension chart and you'll know the cumulative tension of the three lower strings are always higher than the upper strings, the reason for the treble side to be more braced is to make sure they don't vibrate as much as the bass strings so the mids and highs ring more clearly and sustain better.
I use chisels both bevel up and down. Mostly down, but if I’m pairing, it’s always bevel up. Occasionally, I go bevel up on other tasks, too, but mostly bevel down.
I'm not a luthier, nor have I built any guitars. Though I'm going to be changing that in the future. But speaking from experiences in other fields, I'd like to toss of couple of observations out there. Now I could be totally off base, so I'm leaving it open that I could be totally wrong and speaking out my @$$.. You've taken things down with the top that has allowed "maximum" amount of vibration and longer wave lengths prior to any addition of all the things that come into play in the build process as you mentioned. Which is very notable in your tap test comparison. With that said. Something I think that maybe people are missing. Is your attention to fit between parts in the construction. You make sure that everything is tight fitting. Which in turn is going to allow the WHOLE to transfer energy evenly across the structure. Anything loose fitting is going to act as a dampener, soaking up energy instead of allowing it to move back and forth across the structure. Until all the energy has dissipated. Think about how buildings are designed to keep them from falling down in earthquake zones. They have dampeners built into the structure to allow energy to be soaked up before it can travel through the whole structure multiple times. Bridges have to have the same considerations. There are many examples of bridges failing from what I believe "that(energy transfer)" not being taken into enough consideration. Also what the overall harmonic response is in the overall structure. Which can actually amplify difference resonant frequencies depending on conditions. Now if one were to look at the guitar in the same way. If the construction allows those resonant frequencies to reverberate through the structure, but also back into the strings and allow those harmonics to be expressed. I feel that is as important as any "voicing" that could be done. Also leading to a much wider/fuller sound to be expressed from the instrument. As I said. I could be totally off base but I'm betting I'm not.
I knew there was bracing in a guitar but man there's ot going on inside there. Had no idea it had so much to do with the sound. I always thought it was mostly structural. Going to be an amazing guitar. Thanks for sharing 👍.
Great video, thanks. I do a lot of bevel down chisel work. I have a pair of chisels that are thicker than my full set, and they're my go to because of the larger 'foot'. I don't put a secondary bevel on these so the cutting edge is touching the wood when the bevel is seated. I do want one of those curved chisels, that's cool. I remember seeing one in a video taken at the Taylor factory, but I forgot about it. It's a lot like my favorite carving chisel, a bent gouge- excepting it not being a gouge and all. I've played with the idea of using a small gouge to carve concave sides on the braces for less weight while retaining some stiffness. As I'm far too green to judge anything like this properly, I'm not likely to try it soon. Keep 'em coming, I love watching your sub number grow!
I love this channel! You guys earned yourself a new subscriber. I have never built guitars, but I definitely want to and you guys inspire me to give it a shot!
I am all over the place with watching your videos but I can't stop to go back the first one. LOL Love the video work Matt but perhaps at times focus more on what Chris is doing. I'm 69 and just play guitar and am intrigued with how the guitar works so these videos are great to watch and learn. Sometimes the music gets in the way but it is nice and soft (it's just my old ears LOL). You should put an URL link to your guitar site. One last thing maybe add the the titles to the music your are using? Maybe you should not due to copyright? LOVE the Jazz music...period! Cheers!
Awesome - great job on the videos. I usually bevel down. I feel I have more control. Every time it's bevel up - it seems to take off more wood than I like.
We now sell hand selected and resawn Tonewoods on our website! Each piece was found by Chris Alvarado, and almost always has a story to go along with it. Go check out the selection at www.driftwoodguitars.com/tonewood
Man... I had a guy who had 2 pallets of Costa Rican cocobolo and I was trying to find a buyer. Perfect for necks and bodies. But someone eventually bought the lot.
When scalloping the x-brace, why not take your razor saw and cut a small notch at the middle point so when your chisel meets the middle there’s no chance of splitting the brace?
Hi! Just viewed this interesting video! Thanks for the insight into your craftsmanship. I was wondering...did you make the vacuum base for your plates, or is it something that can be purchased? Awesome channel!! Thanks so much!
Just a Thought... In another 10 or 15 years, as your guitars age and achieve Super Instrument status... you'll be able to say... "This is how YOU should do it". Enjoy the series, and your deep insights. Makes me want to try to make one... errr. No never mind. It looks so complicated!
I usually keep track of top and back final thickness, as well as all of the brace dimensions, as well as the bridge plate thickness. I also measure the weight of each bridge and record all of the types of wood I used. It’s also important to record and thing you did differently on that guitar so you can know why it may sound different than your normal designs.
Can you talk a little more about shaping the braces into a pyramid, the name that you couldn't remember. Is that to reduce weight or just for aesthetics? If it's for weight, why not consider making thinner and taller braces? I'm just curious your thought process on not only the thickness of your brace but also the width and the shape.
I have learned so much from your videos. I've always wondered what makes different guitars sound so different from each other. I can see why spruce is so resonant and how different tone wood hardwoods create such different resonances along the frequency scale. But I would like to hear your opinion on that. For example, why did you choose ebony, versus, say, rosewood or mahogany?
Beautiful brace job! I agree with you about Taylors. I think they're more acoustic/electric instruments. But some people like those bright, crisp basses . . . me, not so much. To each his own. Interesting that Martin does not scallop the fan braces on their "reimagined" standard series. They do the main braces though. They also now have a big block of wood under the fretboard extension. Do you think that will help with the folding in?
Would you be able to release some of you guitar photos as 16:9 HD to use as a desktop background? Your guitars are gorgeous and it pains me to not be able to find any desktop wallpapers. Thanks 😀
I'm curious whether you ever check deflection of the top as you voice it. I tend to flex as well as tap while voicing free plates, and press down on the top with my thumb once it is glued into the rim before the box is closed. Some folks, like Siminov, like to carefully measure that deflection as they fine tune the latter steps of voicing, but I am more intuitive in my method. I would love to hear your thoughts on deflection as it relates to voicing. Great videos, by the way. Thanks for all the hard work.
Chris, have you ever (or has anyone ever) rayed the fan braces out from the upper X brace arms, rather than the lower. It may be an illusion but it seems that may allow the lower bout, above the X brace, to flex a little more freely. (in a horizontal fashion)
I have a new favorite channel! You guys are great! I love the videos. I'm not a guitar builder, just a player, well, I don't know if you guys would consider it playing! Lol But, my question is, about tone wood. I see a lot of country players use Ovation guitars which are mostly plastic or resin. What are your thoughts on these as far as tone goes?
My only thought would be the thickness of the braces.. 6mm wide and 3mm tall.. Wouldn't 3mm wide and 4mm tall be roughly the same but oriented for more strength.? Is there a minimum width that would be mandatory? A taller thinner brace with a tapered top should be the best option. Possibly allowing for bridges over.. I think it was Kasha I saw the braces scalloped inverted with the portion of the braces flat farther from the top and having minimal contact with the surface. It looked weird but the engineering principles would say.. Less weight.. More stiff.. But still less contact thus more vibrating area. Anybody? That and I prefer cedar tops but this is super cool looking. My ts-97 was a $50 basketcase that was likely stepped on so I steamed and reglued the braces... But it became my favourite guitar immediately. My friend with a Martin played it and was jealous.
In the voicing process something is missing to me: I don't understand where and how many material to remove. Then, I don't understand if I can add material to improve the voicing somehow.
Voicing tap tests:
7:40 - unvoiced
19:30 - 50%
31:32 - final voicing
31:36 - before and after
A luthier who specializes in classical guitars once said at a seminar that the frequency of the tap tone is not as important as the sustain of the tone. A la the longer it rings out the fuller the guitar will sound in the end.
Only just discovered this series and have now spent a solid couple of hours binge watching it with no intention of stopping any time soon. This is just where I am at this moment in time. Outstanding viewing in all respects so far; very informative, very relaxed and very entertaining. The woods used so far, though...man, oh, man * chef's kiss * - I'm drooling.
Thanks so much! Happy viewing.
Thanks guys. Great stuff. It looks like you need one brass plane and two brass balls to voice an expensive piece of wood like that!
This might have to be a t-shirt 😂
Very new to guitar building, but not woodworking, so, when you push a chisel into wood the bevel side wants to drive the chisel deeper into the wood. So bevel up tends to drive the chisel out of the wood, giving you more control of your exit point. Great series! Loving it!
I'm a relative newbie to making acoustic guitars. I'm on my 6th one now and have been improving the tone as I get a little better. I've used Kent Carlos Everette's methods of voicing by thinning out the lower bout from 8/64" down to 5/64" which has given the guitar much more sustain, which other players said good things about. Much to learn still which is why I appreciate this channel.
This is my new favorite channel! I’m loving every video. You guys are really killing it with the production value, and just the over-all vibe. Keep being awesome!!
We sure appreciate that!
I love this channel. In a couple of videos this channel has turned into one of my favorite. One tidbit to add that is a caliper not a micrometer. My dad and I just started making guitars and we have built our first very similar to you. We didn't have a CNC machine or drum sander but plan on getting these.
Been enjoying your channel. Your pickiness is really impressive. In light of that, I felt the need to point out you called a vernier (aka a dial caliper) a micrometer.
A micrometer is a different tool used for measuring machined parts when more precision is required.... like a bearing journal.
This series is amazing so i'm probably binge watching the rest of the night today till i have to wait for a new episode. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Im so happy that you started uploading. I love these videos
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how to voice a top. I loved that you described the tone changes in the top when gluing it on and adding the bridge and string tension. That makes so much sense.
I've been really enjoying your videos. I've been building for nearly 30 years but it's always fun to see excellent builders and you've really opened up your process to us all. My own braces are a lot taller and somewhat narrower; I formed my bracing style after Lance McCollum. Anyway, great work, and thank you
You honestly deserve 1mil subscribers, your content is just so good. I see so many other youtubers with 100k to 1mil subs, but I go off the video cause they try to make good content but it's all cringe. You just have that something in your content.
We sure appreciate it my friend! We sure are working on it.
@@DriftwoodGuitars they will be at a million in time I’m sure. This was the best info but I bet you could dedicate a whole series to this and probably the hardest to teach.
For me it's bevel down for light cuts with more control, and bevel up for deeper cuts, or diving cuts, unless I am just shaving the surface a bit...
Ex cabinet maker and now Fender acoustic player here. I might not buy a guitar from you, but I enjoy watching you and I think I get why you do what you do.
I appreciate that.
These are so interesting. Thank you so much for putting this content out there. So informative, and so refreshing to hear someone say, "I'm not saying this is how to do it. I'm just saying this is how I do it."
That's a great episode. I use an old 1.25" paring chisel to shape the braces. The bevel angle is really important. Mine is quite steep and I use it bevel side down to scallop. I also arch my braces much more than you do. That's where the paring chisel really does it's job.
Thanks for watching.
It's interesting (and I don't know if it's an American/UK thing) but when I went to school many, many years ago, a micrometer was a "C" shaped object with a completely unintelligible barrel scale and the guage you are using was a Vernier. It still is over here in the UK.
We always called them calipers in engineering school
@@eturk8298 Yes, that's right, although the word "Calipers", more often than not, referred to the measuring device (resembling a pair of compasses) that was used to transfer a measurement from one place to another. I remember my dad telling me that when he was a factory manager (Coventry during WWII) he used to keep the precious Verniers in a locked and temperature controlled cabinet in the Quality Control office (They were working on precision, top secret, military instruments). I remember playing with the wonderful Micrometers, all in beautiful wooden cases, that littered our house after he had retired in the early 60's. Somehow the "GO - NO GO" gauges they use so often nowadays don't have the same romance.
Prediction....this channel will be at 30K subs before you get to episode 15 of this build.
Recommendation....put in a very brief narrated recap (with b role of previous episodes) of what you are building towards, at start of each build series episode. I think that may entice people to go back and catch up on your previous episodes of this build series. Keep up the good work Chris and Matt!
I hope you’re right! Also, super good suggestion on the recap! We’re gonna make that happen!
Really happy I found this video series. I super appreciate this great information about, and a sober approach, to the craft! Thanks!
That x-brace cap is genius. I’ve watched several acoustic guitar build videos and never seen a luthier take that approach. Definitely structurally superior to linen and glue, with no affect on tone. Very cool.
On a side note, there is something very satisfying about watching a craftsman like yourself scallop braces with extremely sharp chisels. The slow motion and Charlie Brown like piano backing music makes it even more relaxing…
I saw another builder (French last name, not sure how to pronounce it, starts with B) he explained "voicing" an acoustic, like Marimba bars are voiced. It made a lot of sense to me, as far as understanding it. I saw a documentary on Stradivarius violins, 1 guy was a physicist. He took a bent wire, with small pieces of sandpaper, & scratched off minutes amounts of wood, in specific areas on the inside of a relatively cheap violin. It totally changed the sound quality. A few scrapes here, a few scrapes there,& the inexpensive violin sounded amazing. Of course the cat had all kinds of sonic charts, detailing what area of the instrument top, vibrated during playing diffent notes, etc. Amazingly when the "experts" looked inside the ACTUAL Stradivarius, they found evidence of scraping, of course it was like 400 years old. But apparently Stradivari, had figured that out himself. Now I know why they called the man a genius, it only took, scientists 400 yrs to discover his "secrets". Amazing cat (Strad of course). The guitar is coming along nicely! Very nicely.
Well, I'm getting ready to build my first guitar because the luthier who built my guitar thought my woodworking is good enough that I should. I've got the Bogdanovich book, but this series seems like it's going to be extremely useful to me. So thank you for your stellar efforts. Keep up the good work.
'Thumb Plane was one of the first tools I bought"...???? We gave it to you for Christmas! Another FYD!
Following the build so closely, working on my own first build. love the series and the granular detail...been working wood for 50 years or so, mostly carpentry and the bevel vs. flat side of the chisel is a matter of the ability to adjust the angle of attack. With the bevel side of the chisel the plane to the edge is very short, so you can adjust it with your hand though a wide range of angles, and quite easily get it wrong, cutting too deep. With the flat side of the chisel the plane to the edge is very long, essentially to infinity (and beyond!) so you can "hew close" to your desired angle but can't adjust the angle much. Thin paring of an established surface you use the flat side so that you stay close, like a plane taking thin shavings, going over a convex curve the plane of the work is falling away so digging too deep isn't a concern and you ride the flat and micro adjust the angle of attack. Chopping out a mortise or cutting a concave shape bevel down and you can easily adjust the angle of attack to ride back out of the curve and avoid cutting too deep.
First thing, I am really enjoying the series and learning a lot. I learn by doing and making mistakes but you are giving great foundational understanding as to why things are done. Second, this has probably been mentioned but there is a very big difference between a micrometer and caliper. What you have is a caliper. Just logistics.
it is a pleasure to watch you guys!
Thank you guys for creating these videos. It's amazing that we get this stuff for free online.
Your intuition on bracing is very good. Very good "Seat-of-the-pants" engineering
"Tucking" the fan braces transfers the bending (in the top) into the "X" brace better--the untucked braces would make the top between the end of the fan brace and the "X" brace into a relative hinge.(and subject to cracking)
Interesting that the Bass-side fan braces on a Taylor are so large. If the Martin fan braces are substantially smaller, that would partially explain why Taylors are so "Bright" with lower Bass output than a Martin...
The Martin fan braces are a lot smaller than the Taylor ones for sure.
As far as bevel up or down, a wood worker uses both depending on what's required. If you're smoothing a flat surface and want to remove material but maintain the flatness you would use the bevel up and the bottom of the chisel acts as a guide like the shoe of a plane. If you want to go down into the wood but then level off, then you would use it with the bevel down which gives you control over the angle of attack that the chisel has to the wood. Of course you have to read the grain direction of the wood and only try to come back up if you're not going against the grain or the wood will split.
You've already used both techniques. You used the bevel up when you cleaned up the bottom of the joints for the cross braces where you needed a flat surface. And now you're using bevel down to change and control the angle of attack for the scallops. If you tried using the bevel up here, the chisel would dig down in pretty much a straight line and you'd have little to no control over its direction once you go in so far and you'd end up splitting the wood.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. It’s both entertaining and extremely informative. One of the channels I look forward to watch the most. Always captivating
I have a chisel with two sides the same, each with half the normal angle. I think I like that best for the braces. I also take a razor knife and cut a kerf into the brace at the lowest point and chisel toward the kerf to keep from having an accidental split of the wood. I was not taught how to build guitars, so I am probably doing everything wrong. I am learning lots from your videos, though, so maybe one day I can call myself a luthier!
Excellent video you explain everything in detail voicing a guitar top is a specialty n an intricate job as we shave n shape each brace you hear more tone and tone getting deeper the more mass we remove all so amazing when we finally tension up the strings hear that woooam tone keep building guys
I am an aspiring builder, and this is really inspiring. I’m going to have to give it a try one of these days. Not to say it’s easy and anyone can do it, but you’re giving me a degree of confidence that it’s a skill I could learn.
In here there’s a discussion of how you use you chisels and when. For me, the point of riding on the bevel and not the flat of the chisel is to avoid pulling the blade down. So in cutting down a slope as in carving a brace, you’d ride on the bevel so that you err up and away from the top and from a cut that would dive lower than you intend.
Using a chisel bevel down, I get more control over the depth or aggressiveness of the cut, whereas bevel up the chisel seems to like to dig in and hog more material. Other people's mileage may vary.
I dont know what i enjoyed more? the voicing, the tools used (maple handle chisels... 🥴) ... or that craaazy sounding suction clamp that I loved and would like to see more information on...great insight into the technology.... 🏴
Great explanation of the process. Whilst I love Taylor guitars, I'd sure like to hear someone like Andy Powers talking about this stuff without any care for the brand, just to understand what compromises have to be made with essentially mass produced high end guitars.
look up a video on how Huss and Dalton voice their tops and how they decide what pieces to use as compared to how taylor and other mass producers do it. A huge difference in time investment.
Contact Jay Parkin at Taylor Guitars about having this topic produced as a From the Factory podcast or on Taylor Guitars Primetime on RUclips (live stream Tuesdays at 6 p.m. PT).
Amazing - can't wait to watch the next episode. Cheers from Toronto
Have a job you love, never work a day. Sir, you have love and passion. Verrrrrryyyyy iiiiinnnnteresting. Nice work.
So true! Thanks so much
I’m amazed at how well you understand wood and how to shape it. p.s. that guitar is going to sound amazing.
Just for comparison..
Initial tap tone: 7:42
After some voicing: 19:30
Final voicing: 31:30
Thanks!
Waiting for next video 🔥🔥
I love this series.y’all make it fun and educational. But fun.
Wow I love this. This is very VERY SIMILAR to the way I do mine 😊😊. Great job on these beautiful videos! Thanks
I love the cadence of the videos, you dont just ramble off on nonsensical garbage like some other "big name" luthiers do with their videos! Thank you for the excellent content!
I sure appreciate that! Thanks for watching.
I would love to know what that vacuum thing is he's using to hold down the soundboard
Dudes the best luthier on RUclips and doesn’t even know 😂 good job boys !
But Matt, you want to get paid! LOL! Chris, I heavily modified a chisel for scalloping. I ground away the top bevel on a 1/2" chisel so that it's radiused instead of a flat. For me, it "scoops" better with less tear outs. Rolling back the top of the bevel seems to minimize the fulcrum effect. BTW I used a big box store (Lowes) chisel for the experiment and still use it. LOL! No sense grinding up an expensive one!
An old German master carpenter taught me ‘bevel up to dive down and bevel down to skim around. ‘. Or some such thing like that only with an accent and that grandfatherly patience. 🥲 Damn I wish he stuck around longer there was so much to learn.
I didn't even know voicing a guitar was a thing! Pleasure to watch and learn, thanks!
Happy to help!
I just found your page. I really enjoy it.
Charlie the puppy sealed the deal. I subscribed.
Making and teaching. Always a good combination, Good video
I"m not a luthier , but enjoy so much. Thank you!
I have a friend (used to have, we're not friends anymore) who stepped on her guitar... to reach a bookshelf. She was surprised it caved in. She was a decently smart woman last time I saw her, no blunt force damage on her head or anything. This might be an extreme example but sometimes people do negative IQ stuff out of nowhere.
Finally!!!!! Thank you guys!
We did it for you!
@@DriftwoodGuitars nahhhhh Really???? You guys rock! Ill have driftwood build me a guitar someday!
Alvarado your thought process is genius they way you analyze every bit of your instruments is beyond artistry. Thanks for these videos and for all the content you provide. I will send you an email with a link for some info you may find interesting. Thanks again!
P.S. Matt that violin!
Thanks man!
You are brilliant in these videos, I’m so enjoying these.
The slow mo shots are brilliant! Makes me feel like I'm really part of the process. Great work guys!!
Just one correction though, the treble strings don't have more tension than the bass strings, check any steel acoustic string set's tension chart and you'll know the cumulative tension of the three lower strings are always higher than the upper strings, the reason for the treble side to be more braced is to make sure they don't vibrate as much as the bass strings so the mids and highs ring more clearly and sustain better.
I use chisels both bevel up and down. Mostly down, but if I’m pairing, it’s always bevel up. Occasionally, I go bevel up on other tasks, too, but mostly bevel down.
Cool episode, learned new stuff so a good day. Chisels - bevel up chisel digs in, bevel down chisel rises.
Thanks! Same with my chisels.
I'm not a luthier, nor have I built any guitars. Though I'm going to be changing that in the future. But speaking from experiences in other fields, I'd like to toss of couple of observations out there. Now I could be totally off base, so I'm leaving it open that I could be totally wrong and speaking out my @$$..
You've taken things down with the top that has allowed "maximum" amount of vibration and longer wave lengths prior to any addition of all the things that come into play in the build process as you mentioned. Which is very notable in your tap test comparison.
With that said. Something I think that maybe people are missing. Is your attention to fit between parts in the construction. You make sure that everything is tight fitting. Which in turn is going to allow the WHOLE to transfer energy evenly across the structure. Anything loose fitting is going to act as a dampener, soaking up energy instead of allowing it to move back and forth across the structure. Until all the energy has dissipated.
Think about how buildings are designed to keep them from falling down in earthquake zones. They have dampeners built into the structure to allow energy to be soaked up before it can travel through the whole structure multiple times. Bridges have to have the same considerations. There are many examples of bridges failing from what I believe "that(energy transfer)" not being taken into enough consideration. Also what the overall harmonic response is in the overall structure. Which can actually amplify difference resonant frequencies depending on conditions.
Now if one were to look at the guitar in the same way. If the construction allows those resonant frequencies to reverberate through the structure, but also back into the strings and allow those harmonics to be expressed. I feel that is as important as any "voicing" that could be done. Also leading to a much wider/fuller sound to be expressed from the instrument.
As I said. I could be totally off base but I'm betting I'm not.
I knew there was bracing in a guitar but man there's ot going on inside there. Had no idea it had so much to do with the sound. I always thought it was mostly structural. Going to be an amazing guitar. Thanks for sharing 👍.
Thanks for watching! I’m glad you’re getting something from it
Great video, thanks. I do a lot of bevel down chisel work. I have a pair of chisels that are thicker than my full set, and they're my go to because of the larger 'foot'. I don't put a secondary bevel on these so the cutting edge is touching the wood when the bevel is seated. I do want one of those curved chisels, that's cool. I remember seeing one in a video taken at the Taylor factory, but I forgot about it. It's a lot like my favorite carving chisel, a bent gouge- excepting it not being a gouge and all. I've played with the idea of using a small gouge to carve concave sides on the braces for less weight while retaining some stiffness. As I'm far too green to judge anything like this properly, I'm not likely to try it soon. Keep 'em coming, I love watching your sub number grow!
I love this channel! You guys earned yourself a new subscriber. I have never built guitars, but I definitely want to and you guys inspire me to give it a shot!
Thanks for that! Glad to have you aboard. A lot of new videos coming soon!
I am all over the place with watching your videos but I can't stop to go back the first one. LOL Love the video work Matt but perhaps at times focus more on what Chris is doing. I'm 69 and just play guitar and am intrigued with how the guitar works so these videos are great to watch and learn. Sometimes the music gets in the way but it is nice and soft (it's just my old ears LOL). You should put an URL link to your guitar site. One last thing maybe add the the titles to the music your are using? Maybe you should not due to copyright? LOVE the Jazz music...period! Cheers!
I look forward to the goofy smile ,slow mo shot of Chris every vid. Hilarious
Awesome!!
Love that you are making guitars on a level that’s above the norm. Honestly, I wonder if your moonlighting as Dead Pool
Maybe I am!
Awesome - great job on the videos. I usually bevel down. I feel I have more control. Every time it's bevel up - it seems to take off more wood than I like.
Great video
We now sell hand selected and resawn Tonewoods on our website! Each piece was found by Chris Alvarado, and almost always has a story to go along with it. Go check out the selection at www.driftwoodguitars.com/tonewood
Very good info, thanks much!
great job on the videography... new subscriber here.. love ur work
Man... I had a guy who had 2 pallets of Costa Rican cocobolo and I was trying to find a buyer. Perfect for necks and bodies. But someone eventually bought the lot.
When scalloping the x-brace, why not take your razor saw and cut a small notch at the middle point so when your chisel meets the middle there’s no chance of splitting the brace?
Incredible!
Hi! Just viewed this interesting video! Thanks for the insight into your craftsmanship. I was wondering...did you make the vacuum base for your plates, or is it something that can be purchased? Awesome channel!! Thanks so much!
Just a Thought... In another 10 or 15 years, as your guitars age and achieve Super Instrument status... you'll be able to say... "This is how YOU should do it". Enjoy the series, and your deep insights. Makes me want to try to make one... errr. No never mind. It looks so complicated!
Thank you for these videos
When you make notes, what things do you take note of? Is there a typical outline you use to look for specific parameters?
I usually keep track of top and back final thickness, as well as all of the brace dimensions, as well as the bridge plate thickness. I also measure the weight of each bridge and record all of the types of wood I used. It’s also important to record and thing you did differently on that guitar so you can know why it may sound different than your normal designs.
Can you talk a little more about shaping the braces into a pyramid, the name that you couldn't remember. Is that to reduce weight or just for aesthetics? If it's for weight, why not consider making thinner and taller braces? I'm just curious your thought process on not only the thickness of your brace but also the width and the shape.
I have learned so much from your videos. I've always wondered what makes different guitars sound so different from each other. I can see why spruce is so resonant and how different tone wood hardwoods create such different resonances along the frequency scale. But I would like to hear your opinion on that. For example, why did you choose ebony, versus, say, rosewood or mahogany?
Beautiful brace job! I agree with you about Taylors. I think they're more acoustic/electric instruments. But some people like those bright, crisp basses . . . me, not so much. To each his own. Interesting that Martin does not scallop the fan braces on their "reimagined" standard series. They do the main braces though. They also now have a big block of wood under the fretboard extension. Do you think that will help with the folding in?
Not only do I think it’ll help, I also do it on my guitars. It’s a great way to reduce movement of the neck joint
Bravo!
Are you guys going to do a teardown video of a Fender acoustic,
The unvoiced one in the beginning sounded best !
How does each specific shaping effect the tone? How do scallops effect the tone? Pyramid shaping? Etc?
Would you be able to release some of you guitar photos as 16:9 HD to use as a desktop background? Your guitars are gorgeous and it pains me to not be able to find any desktop wallpapers. Thanks 😀
I'm curious whether you ever check deflection of the top as you voice it. I tend to flex as well as tap while voicing free plates, and press down on the top with my thumb once it is glued into the rim before the box is closed. Some folks, like Siminov, like to carefully measure that deflection as they fine tune the latter steps of voicing, but I am more intuitive in my method. I would love to hear your thoughts on deflection as it relates to voicing. Great videos, by the way. Thanks for all the hard work.
Great series, Chris. Who makes your vacuum clamp system?
Chris, have you ever (or has anyone ever) rayed the fan braces out
from the upper X brace arms, rather than the lower.
It may be an illusion but it seems that may allow the lower bout, above
the X brace, to flex a little more freely. (in a horizontal fashion)
I’ve never seen it done.
Thank you 😊, is there any reason why this can't be done with sanding?
I have a new favorite channel! You guys are great! I love the videos. I'm not a guitar builder, just a player, well, I don't know if you guys would consider it playing! Lol
But, my question is, about tone wood. I see a lot of country players use Ovation guitars which are mostly plastic or resin. What are your thoughts on these as far as tone goes?
Very interesting. What are your views on tall vs wide braces, and how they affect tone? Your guitars have some of the nicest tones I've heard. Thanks
I really thing it’s just two ways to skin the same cat. Nothing is wrong, just different.
A taller thinner brace would certainly be lighter at the same strength. Would it sound better? No clue!
Would the higher surface contact of a wide brace increase the tone transfer or reduce it through increased stiffness?
@@scottakam would that depend on what way the grain runs?
I would LOVE to hear a guitar of yours made with Cyprus as the tonewood! Would this build interest you?
I actually have a guy who’s sending me some cypress to try out soon.
My only thought would be the thickness of the braces.. 6mm wide and 3mm tall.. Wouldn't 3mm wide and 4mm tall be roughly the same but oriented for more strength.? Is there a minimum width that would be mandatory? A taller thinner brace with a tapered top should be the best option. Possibly allowing for bridges over.. I think it was Kasha I saw the braces scalloped inverted with the portion of the braces flat farther from the top and having minimal contact with the surface. It looked weird but the engineering principles would say.. Less weight.. More stiff.. But still less contact thus more vibrating area.
Anybody? That and I prefer cedar tops but this is super cool looking.
My ts-97 was a $50 basketcase that was likely stepped on so I steamed and reglued the braces...
But it became my favourite guitar immediately. My friend with a Martin played it and was jealous.
In the voicing process something is missing to me: I don't understand where and how many material to remove. Then, I don't understand if I can add material to improve the voicing somehow.
The “apex” is the top or highest part of something. Not sure if that’s the word you were looking for….