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From: Ross
Remote Name: 76.101.10.109
Date: 29 Aug 2007
Time: 12:47:05 -0400
Luthier’s Weblog 8/29/07 I love browsing design websites. Like this one: Josh Rubin Cool Hunting About . Any kind of design. As in the rest of life, 90% of all design is ill-conceived, but a few examples are like cool water: transparent and refreshing. Even the bad stuff is useful if it is original. It can get one to think outside the box. We each of us have this marvelous high-intensity beam called attention that we can focus on anything we choose. Its easy to allow ourselves to focus on diversions because it requires a minimum of energy, but what a joy it is to focus our attention in the hidden nooks and crannies (I believe this is the first time I’ve ever employed that cliche!) of our lives or our jobs. Here are things we take for granted, but things that can often be profitably re-examined. It is this mindset that I am trying to bring to musical instrument construction. Achieving this right mindset is a kind of a knack, which becomes easier the more one practices. The enemy, of course, is ease and amusement. A kind of mental rigor is required to keep the attention focused on things which are hidden or marginally apparent. As a repairman, I have been aware for many years of the disparity in the number of neck resets required by the flattop guitars of the C.F. Martin company and the Gibson guitar company. The ratio of neck resets is at least 10:1, with Martin instruments requiring far more. This is not because there are 10 times more Martin instruments. Production numbers are not that dissimilar. Rather, I’ve come to crystallize a thought that has hidden unformed in the back of my skull. Martin has utilized a back plate that is arched significantly front to back, while Gibson has consistently used a flat back and evenly tapered sides. The curvature of the Martin back makes it susceptible to straightening (relaxing it’s curve) due to the constant string-induced pull of the neck. Curiously, I have never seen this mentioned in any of the many treatises on the subject. But I have often found myself and my fellows to be curiously incurious. Many clients come into my workshop. It often surprises me when unusual, historical, or revolutionary instruments that are carelessly on display in various stages of repair or construction draw no attention or comment from even the most sophisticated players or enthusiasts of the instrument. It is important to keep alert, and prepared to focus our attention on what may be of benefit. Ross Teigen 8:22 am