Is there any support under the bridge on a box build. It seems that the tension on the strings would bow the top of the box. However adding a support under the bridge will dampen the sound. Thank's old dan
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As was mentioned there is a balance between dampening the top's vibrations and adding support. I make a lot of box type fiddles which do have a lot of pressure on the box top. I use what has traditionally been used on violins which is a bass bar and sound post. The sound post is, as Wayfinder mentioned, a dowel located slightly behind the treble side of the bridge and the bass bar runs at about a 90 degree angle directly under the bass side of the bridge. Not only do these lend support but they are crucial to the sound of the instrument. The bass bar helps transfer low frequencies along the top and the sound post transfers vibrations to the back so the whole instrument vibrates. Even though the top's vibrations may be dampened a bit the overall sound is greatly enhanced by the overall increased vibrations! I am mainly interested in acoustic instruments but they do present an entirely different set of challenges than a solid body with a pickup. Good luck!
Thanks Jim....you give me a new avenue of thought for my future build. I just finished milling some cherry crotch wood that will lend itself well for the body. I'll try to book match some to get some interesting patterns.
Solid body would not interest me because the journey is much more important to me tan the destination.in this case the destination(sound) is part of the equation however my 75 yr old ears won't be able to tell me much. Old Dan
Dan, my limited builds thus far have been neck-through- box. My bridges are supported by the neck directly under the box lid. I cut a shallow amount of relief in the neck between the bridge and the nut end of the box to enable the lid to vibrate freely, and like Wayfinder I sandwich the piezo disc between lid and neck directly under the bridge. I put a round pocket in the neck for the piezo to sit in, and make a little notch for the wire exit, and bed it all in a bit of hot melt glue.
Thanks for the help folks. The shaker box lids ar typically .25 thick. I'lltry to get them down to .125 and the sides are .080 to and I'll make them about 2.5 deep Dan
Replies
As was mentioned there is a balance between dampening the top's vibrations and adding support. I make a lot of box type fiddles which do have a lot of pressure on the box top. I use what has traditionally been used on violins which is a bass bar and sound post. The sound post is, as Wayfinder mentioned, a dowel located slightly behind the treble side of the bridge and the bass bar runs at about a 90 degree angle directly under the bass side of the bridge. Not only do these lend support but they are crucial to the sound of the instrument. The bass bar helps transfer low frequencies along the top and the sound post transfers vibrations to the back so the whole instrument vibrates. Even though the top's vibrations may be dampened a bit the overall sound is greatly enhanced by the overall increased vibrations! I am mainly interested in acoustic instruments but they do present an entirely different set of challenges than a solid body with a pickup. Good luck!
That's the rub.
The luthier has to ballance the pressure from string tension through the instrument and still find the delicate places to make the vibration audible.
You can side swerve all that ideology and produce a solid body guitar if you want.
It's great fun playing around with the technical side of harmonics..
It's also very rewarding to bang on something you created and make music.