beecee
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Arched flatback?Guild also made the F50 (maple, unbraced arched back) and the F50R (rosewood, arched flatback).
Arched flatback?Guild also made the F50 (maple, unbraced arched back) and the F50R (rosewood, arched flatback).
Pretty sure that was a misprint F50R would be a braced flatback. I think that the F50 and F50R are discontinued, but I'm pretty sure that, with the current Oxnard production, maple is always pressed laminate archback and all other woods are solid flatback. With the Asia produced Westerly Collection guitars a wider selection of woods is used for the archbacks, with mahogany being most common, though maple only ever seems to be used for archbacks.Arched flatback?
Pretty sure that was a misprint F50R would be a braced flatback. I think that the F50 and F50R are discontinued, but I'm pretty sure that, with the current Oxnard production, maple is always pressed laminate archback and all other woods are solid flatback. With the Asia produced Westerly Collection guitars a wider selection of woods is used for the archbacks, with mahogany being most common, though maple only ever seems to be used for archbacks.
Eastman did a production carved archback for a while.Plenty of nitpickers.
Arching the back produces more volume, and no production instrument is going to get a carved back.
Arching. Great Curves!
Musings on violins, violas, cellos, and bows from luthier Andy Fein and the musicians at Fein Violins.blog.feinviolins.com
The sides are curved only in one direction. From top to bottom they are flat. And the kerfing that attaches the top and bottom also keep the side curves solid. Those tight curves give the sides a lot of strength.The sides are curved. So what’s the difference? And what dictates the need for the backs to be arched?
Some high end boutique builders are laminating their sides these days for rigidity.
If you can find the opportunity do a back-to-back comparison with a Martin d18 and an Arched back spruce top Guild d25. Very similar guitars, about $1,000 difference in price, and the laminated Arched back on the d25 versus flat solid mahogany back on the Martin. Then you'll know the difference
Thank you. Very kind, thoughtful and informative. Some of the responses I received went from sublime to absolutely ridiculous. Thanks for being the former.The sides are curved only in one direction. From top to bottom they are flat. And the kerfing that attaches the top and bottom also keep the side curves solid. Those tight curves give the sides a lot of strength.
With an arched back, there are 3 ways to achieve this: carving it out a solid piece of wood, as in high end arch backs. Time consuming and expensive; a D4 (for example) would end up costing thousands more. It would also need to be thicker than a typical acoustic back, adding weight.
Some spruce tops were pressed using heat and a lot of mechanical pressure, as on some Guild archtops from (at least) the 50s. Easy to do with a soft wood like spruce, considerably harder to do with maple, which is considerably harder.
Or laminate the backs in a form. Easy to do and you get a rigid, arched, structure that is also able to be thin enough to not outweigh an acoustic.
Some high end boutique builders are laminating their sides these days for rigidity. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or apologize for.
The flip side of all this is vintage Harmony and Kay guitars, all solid woods, solid pressed tops and backs and nobody really raves about the tone all that much, granted they used a lot of poplar, but still, single ply woods do not necessarily equal better tone.
I thought it was to fit in the hollow of my cut abs.The final answer: An archback increases the ability of the guitar to wobble when placed on its back on top of a formica kitchen counter.
Couple of factors: It's much easier to steam-press a laminate of 3 or more layers than it is to steam press a solid sheet of the same thickness. Over time, the stability of the arch itself could suffer from humidity and solid sheets are also much more prone to cracking from dryness.I'm seeing a JF65-12 for sale from 1996 and the back is pressed laminate maple for the back. The sides are solid maple. I'm completely ignorant about the characteristics of woods for building guitars, I do love the sound of maple. I had a Northwood 000-80 flame maple which sounded so good. But why wasn't the maple made of solid wood for the back like the sides?
It most likely will be.30 seconds of search says the JF65-12 is supposed to have an arched back. It is a lot easier to have an arched back by bending a laminate. Indeed the right kind of nitpicker might claim that a solid arched back is properly called carved.
A: They're only being bent in one plane, not a complex curve.The sides are curved. So what’s the difference? And what dictates the need for the backs to be arched?
Oh there are such models!Why not make a RW version with an arched back?
Patience, see my other answers. It's not all about volume, I think the "volume" issue is overrated. It's more about the overtones and projection, "presence".So, Guild built the RW JF55-12 to be quieter?
Maple tends to sound thin and over-trebly in flatbacks. As a tone wood it benefits from tha archback design, and most Guild maple bodies have ben arch backed from day one with the F40.The cost due to carving I understand. But it doesn't answer the question as to why the JF65-12 couldn't have a flat solid wood back? Ok more volume. Why not make a RW version with an arched back?
So, Guild built the RW JF55-12 to be quieter? The cost due to carving I understand. But it doesn't answer the question as to why the JF65-12 couldn't have a flat solid wood back? Ok more volume. Why not make a RW version with an arched back?
laminate back and sides
I wonder why Guild chose to use laminate back and sides on so many of their acoustic flat tops. Was it a cost factor? Easier to produce? I think it would make a stronger guitar and not as prone to cracking but how does it affect the tone? Does anyone know the answer or have some thoughts.letstalkguild.com
Mr. P has lots of interesting takes on this. So I will leave it here from 2006