this is my latest build - a cohiba red dot box. after hearing the way it sounded with no hole in the lid, i just couldnt make myself cut into it. after holding my phone and cupping my hand around back to direct the sound, i had the idea to build the sound scoop to direct sound outward. this thing projects awesome! i guess the hole being in the side allows the lid to have full resonation........i love it. anyone else ever do this?
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
Replies
Very cool Chad - nice idea and thanks for taking the time to point it out to me! Don't get me wrong though I have nothing against sound holes, I just don't tend to use them as most of my builds use magnetic pickups - they tend to be plenty loud for unplugged practice without as well.
The way I look at it is that the volume is tied to the size of the soundboard, its ability to vibrate and the tension of the strings. If you're making holes in the soundboard, there is less area to vibrate, and if you take this too far you can end up with less volume. I think of soundholes as outlets to direct the sound - just as you've done with the sound scoop.
Super nice build too by the way ;-)
thanks man - i still have a lot to learn. this was my 4th build.
thanks again
thats awesome randy!
Any idea is a good one and worth trying, we do it all the time, I've done a lot of experiments and came to the conclusion that a resonant lid is just the beginning - if the bridge and neck are rigid and have minimum mass the resonance goes through the whole guitar not just the box.
The idea of sound holes is to let the sound reveal its character and volume, without holes the sound will be muffled, any modification to sound holes will alter the sound, much like adjustments on a graphic equaliser, but not change the overall character. The Cohiba boxes are renowned for their resonance, volume and character, try the same idea with different boxes.
Keep up the experiments! interested to hear how they sound (-:
oh i will, no doubt. i'm hooked on these builds pretty heavy.......lol. this was just the fourth of many to come.
thanks for the feedback friend. Great tunes by the way!
Nice!!
thanks Dan - this scoop may be a standard for me moving forward. i need to post a clip, this thing is super loud.
If it works, go with it!!!