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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I've often wondered about why some people are sold on traditional wood guitars over Ovations (aside from the slippage factor) While going down the wall tuning and playing the O's I decided to tune up the old Yamaha classical. I noticed that the solid rosewood wood back and sides seemed to vibrate noticebly more than my O's. You can actually feel the sound through your body, where the Ovations seem to project more sound. I don't know if it's because of the corner of the guitar poking into my chest or what. If that is true, perhaps the reason some people love their wood boxes is because - although their guitars are not projecting as well as Os - they sense they are louder because of the back vibration. When I lay in bed at night playing my classical, I can feel the music rumbling in my chest. Is it just me halucinating?, or has anyone else noticed a difference? It kinda' reminds me of the feeling I used to get while playing in an orchestra with all the other instruments playing around me ... I could "feel " the music more than if I were just listening form a distance. |
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Location: Ohio | Maybe the rumbling you're feeling is hunger?
PBJ usually works for me
Steve |
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Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | :D |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I can feel the bowl vibrate on most of my Ovations. Some more that others.
As far as wood boxes... I don't have enough experience to comment. |
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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | I think what goes on inside a guitar (any guitar) is pretty damn complex. Indeed some of mine give more of a gut feedback than others, but it could have to do with how I hold them. Hard to say exactly the correlation. I had a few guitars back in the day that I swore you could SEE the top vibrate, yet they sounded pretty dead.
I wouldn't buy, nor not buy, a guitar simply based on how the back vibrated against my #3 belt buckle. |
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Location: Germany, where delicious wine is growing (Rheinh) | Hi Bryan,
I've beside of my O's, two guitars with woodbacks. An old Nagoya Suzuki F-180 12-string and a parlor sized classical Höfner (Made in Germany) owned by my wife, a very good sounding guitar, but the playability is not as fine as by O's. The neck is extremly fat.
I feel the same as you feel.
When I play an O, I hear it sounding different from that when my wife plays it, face to face of me.
But when I play a woodbox I " feel" the sound in the same way as my wife is playing it.
I think a woodbox is vibrating and sounding to all directions, an O with it's bowl reflects the sound through the hole(s) away from you.
I hope you understand my bad English.
And...a happy new year to all, with my best wishes!!
Bernie |
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December 2009
Posts: 143
Location: Ontario Canada | Hello Vince,
I have a LaPatrie classical (Presentation) with cedar top. It has been a good companion.
If I put my chin on the classical guitar it doesn't reverberate through my head as much as the 1615.
I play fingerpickin' style on both. I have found the 12 string sounds nicer to me whenever I only have the two top course strings on. Meaning I play it as an eight string guitar. I hardly ever turn the volume knob on top past the 1 or 2 spot.
Jim.
Edited for clarification...
E.046 A.036 D.026 G.020 B.012x2 E.009x2. |
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Posts: 2791
Location: Atlanta, GA. | Maybe it just comes down to whether one prefers a natural wood vibrator or a fiberglass one.
I dunno.
I'm just sayin'. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by bburg:
I think a woodbox is vibrating and sounding to all directions, an O with it's bowl reflects the sound through the hole(s) away from you.
Bernie [/QB] That was the kind of marketing horsecrap used by Ovation back in the day and still rears it's ugly and misleading head now. Psuedo-scientific garbage like this is a complete misunderstanding and misrepresentation of stringed instrument physics. It exists only because it's much easier for the marketing puke to write and the average consumer to understand and than the real explanations, and there are many.
Here's something to consider. If the key to "projection" is a round back, how come traditional roundback mandolins are so damn quiet that they can be eaten by a cheap and nasty plywood F5 copy? |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | That's a good question, and I have no idea how ANY mandolin can project as well as some of them do. Same thing with violins.
I do understand that the top itself is the main part of the guitar, designed to vibrate and produce a desired sound. I don't know how much thought(in traditionally-designed guitars) goes into the choice of materials for the back and sides in relation to affects on sound quality.(probably a lot in respect to classicals) I do know that the solid backed and sided classical guitars I've played sound much better than the ones produced with ply. Of course the Ovation design is a completely different animal and that is probably why Ovations have their own unique sound. I just don't have any clue how much the (Ovation)guitar back design had to do with actual sound production, as much as it did with support and strength for the thin top. This makes me want to go back and read "The Book" to see if there's any discussion on the topic there. |
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Traditional Wood Box Guitar Theory ...
