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Well, end pins (the pin that goes into the heel block, normally used as an attachment point for a strap) are purely a practical, and aesthetic, item. I have a few guitars without them, a few that have a simple tapered ebony or bone pin, and a few that have a jack installed – I don’t think any of them have any effect on the tone of any guitar.
This is, I think, a discussion of bridge pins, and, saddles too, I guess. I am strongly of the opinion that the only real effect bridge pins have on tone (assuming they fit correctly) are thru the mass they add to the bridge. There may be some collateral effect, like how dark back and sides give a guitar more bass, but thats hard to prove. I think you can effect more change in the tone of your guitar by tensioning (twisting) the strings to tighten the windings than by changing pins –
Now, saddles are a completely different matter. They actually carry the string energy thru to the bridge and to the top of the guitar, so the density and material used for the saddle will definitely have an effect. What that specifically is, I’ll let the “experts” who sell fancy saddle blanks pontificate on that – but I have a Larrivee that came with a Tusq saddle, and I replaced it with a mammoth ivory saddle, and it did Not make it sound better – it lost a lot of the highs and clarity. Putting the Tusq back improved it immensely. I’ve also tried walrus ivory – ehh, looked ok, but no big whoop.
Good bone – and there are a few grades of bone – but good, hard, dense bone – seems to have all the characteristics needed. Its very reasonable in price and easily available, so I’ve kinda given up searching for (and paying for) fancier alternatives. Yes, there may be some small differences in the tonal quality they can impart, but I think a change of strings, or even a different pick, can offer a lot more –
I think there is very little resonating soundboard up there, but it means a slight decrease in the volume of air in the box, which probably has a slight effect on the Helmholz frequency. But honestly, I don’t think I could ever hear a difference even if I tried, and the fretboard access (and possibly the cool factor) certainly make it a very desirable feature –
It would be pretty sweet to find a full time paying gig that only required having fun going to parties! Next year, I hope we can get some great audio from all the great music that goes on at these –
It’s now on the list – but I think it’s a subject that truly depends on the player, and on the top itself. The top material, its thickness and its stiffness has to taken into account when shaping the braces. We should not stop a discussion because we’re expecting Richard to provide “answers”. Matt has some great insight into how the bracing works, especially as a perceptive musician, and I know a number of other forumites have alot of experience with this, so I would encourage them to contribute their comments, especially how they perceive the bracings contribution to tone with different top materials.
It also is a subject that is hard to explain purely in words, so next trip to the mothership I will have to start getting some pictures of various tops in process – especially of I can get some hardwood tops in the works!
Yow! If this doesn’t sound like a podcast, I don’t know what does!
Honestly, I have so little to offer – what I understand is that scalloped bracing helps push energy to the high points, and make the valleys more flexible, because of where weight is located. Tapered simply distributes energy along the entire brace more evenly. But how that correlates to tone and attack, and how it can be used to modify or regulate same, is way above my pay grade –
Our good friend Carolyn just posted this – in case any of you Don’t follow her –
The Elmwoods (my band) played the Kensington Circus Pub last night, and we told the audience that all donations were going to the Alameda County Foodbank – we raised $314 dollars. I’ve already got a small handful of picks that I gave to the band –
Those are some pics that I had made with some re-used artwork I had asked my son to do so we’d have a logo for the podcast. I had recd a discount coupon for custom pick printing at Clayton Picks for Black Friday, and ordered hoping I’d have them in time for the Xmas party. So I handed most of them out, leaving a pile with Richard that he could hand out as he thought fit. They’re just 1.07 Ultem.
It was easy to reduce the artwork and get a decent image for a pic, but after the holidays, I’m hoping my son will have time to do something special for a coffee mug – y’all will be the first to know! And if we come up with a couple ideas, I may need to get a vote on which y’all like –
I’d love to do a recording, and I’ll try to get something together over the holidays. I may have to get someone who can really play to do this thing justice –
I’m realizing, to a new degree, what kind of relationship one makes with a Santa Cruz guitar, or really, any well-made hand-built guitar. Even if you buy a new one when you’re 20, and you play the snot out of it for 50-y0 years, it will be going on to someone else, probably still in its prime. This is my first, truly “new” Santa Cruz guitar. I have some older ones, some almost 35 years old, and they are wonderful, mature voices. I may not play each alot, but I take care of them, and know that they’ll be capable of creating wonderful music long after I am gone. And it makes me realize how great it is when someone doesn’t have the patience to get to know a great instrument, selling cheaply to pursue something the internet says is the next great thing –
So, this is new – completely. Just off the set-up bench, still on its first set of strings, lacquer is probably still curing. How well can I judge this? I can compare myself at best to an inexperienced vintner trying to judge a wine you know can’t be at its best for a little while – how long? hmmmm –
It has so many really great qualities, but the tone, and the balance, have changed a pretty fair bit in just a few days – and I don’t think its done. It’s opening up – getting fuller, richer, just . . . Better. I feel like it’s gonna take some weeks – maybe months – before I will really start to know what its gonna be like most of its life. It’s pretty weird knowing I have something that will be at its best the longest, when I’m not around anymore to enjoy it. But while it brings me joy for the next decade, or two – I can’t hope for anything more –
I will try to get something up shortly, but I don’t think it’ll be really accurate – we’ll see –
In the meantime – Hank, I know you, if anyone, knows the joy of picking up a new, custom SCGC – a 50th anniversary FTC sounds like an outstanding idea! And still plenty of time to plan!
Its granadillo – I had a large plank (very large!) that I had gotten about 40 years ago, and it was at least 80 years old then. I was saving it to do something incredibly special with – and realized that Mr Hoover was going to be able to achieve far more with it than I ever could, I asked him to consider making FTCs with it – I always thought that a little mor of the richer, more overtones, sound that seems to come from rosewood, as opposed to maple, might give an FTC a very interesting sound. Richard chose redwood for the top, and I chose a little bling in the headstock and neck, otherwise we kept it all pretty simple. Its been a non-priority for some time, well over a year actually, so I wasn’t really pushing anyone for it, but I got the call that it would be ready for pickup at the Xmas party.
Its pretty wild – very dry and forceful, a little mid-rangey, but still extremely new – my very first brand new Santa Cruz – and I’m just planning on playing it a fair bit more, getting it a bit more broken in and opened up, before I try to describe it. Although, at this point, it looks to me like the most beautiful guitar I’ve ever seen –
