Tag: Ask the Expert

Here are answers to many questions about acoustic guitar care and repair. If you’re uncertain about guitar care and maintenance, the ins-and-outs of guitar building, or another topic related to your guitar, we’re here to help! Ask Acoustic Guitar’s repair experts by sending an email with the subject “Repair Expert” to editors.ag [at] stringletter.com.

Ask the Expert: What’s the Difference Between Long-Scale and Short-Scale Guitars?

Scale length can have a significant effect on playability. But what’s the difference between long-scale and short-scale guitars, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Dana Bourgeois
January 24, 2020

Ask the Expert: How Much Does Grain Orientation Matter?

Differences between riftsawn, quartersawn, and flatsawn wood can be significant. Stiffness-to-weight ratio, highest when boards are perfectly riftsawn, drops noticeably when a top is cut even slightly different. Velocity of sound—the ability to vibrate efficiently—corresponds closely with stiffness-to-weight ratio.

Dana Bourgeois
January 10, 2020

Ask the Expert: What is “French Polishing” and Is It Worth It?

Q: My understanding is that a type of finish known as “French polishing” gives not only a hand-built look to an instrument, but also a better quality of tone and a fuller sound. How does this process work, and is it worth having it done to my moderately priced Samick…

Dana Bourgeois
December 20, 2019

Ask the Expert: What Happens When Your Flattop Loses Its Flat Top?

To work efficiently, a guitar top must be built lightly enough to vibrate in complex ways.

Dana Bourgeois
November 29, 2019

Bourgeois Custom OMC Soloist acoustic guitar cutaway and neck heel

Guitar Guru: Can You Hear the Difference in Tonewoods?

The short answer is: sometimes. And the short explanation is that different models and different woods can have confusingly overlapping sonic qualities.

Dana Bourgeois
November 15, 2019

Ask the Expert: How Do I Determine the Value of a High-End Guitar?

Q: What exactly is the difference between a “handmade” and a “handcrafted” guitar? Furthermore, in the high-end market, what qualities should a player (not a collector) look for when evaluating the differences between, for example, a $3,500 guitar and a $7,500-plus guitar? —Dan Liechty, Normal, Illinois A: A quick Google…

Dana Bourgeois
November 8, 2019

Ask the Expert: Can a Soft Top Wood Last as Long as Spruce?

Perhaps because of their lighter weight, cedar and redwood tops tend to “open up,” or break in, relatively quickly. However, unless the builder pays adequate attention to longitudinal stability, cedar and redwood tops sometimes open up beyond a point that many players consider optimal, losing low-end definition as the guitar continues to be played.

Dana Bourgeois
October 25, 2019

Ask the Expert: How Do I Get Rid of this Annoying Buzz?

It can be vexingly difficult to diagnose string buzz. Here’s a list of ten possible causes of a buzzing guitar.

Dana Bourgeois
October 11, 2019

Ask the Expert: Does a Guitar’s Finish Really Affect the Tone?

Traditional finishes, such as varnishes and nitro-cellulose lacquer, take many years or even decades to fully cure, while catalyzed finishes, like urethane and polyester, can cure in a matter of days.

Dana Bourgeois
September 6, 2019

Ask the Expert: How are Guitars Voiced?

In my view, the sound of a guitar is primarily attributable to its design and to the individual woods that it’s made from. Voicing is a process of optimizing the interaction between these two variables.

Dana Bourgeois
August 23, 2019

Ask the Expert: What Should I Look for When Selecting Wood for a Guitar?

The luthier’s dirty little secret (drum roll . . . ) is that demand for ultra-fancy wood is greater than demand for wood that only sounds spectacular.

Dana Bourgeois
August 9, 2019

Ask the Expert: Should I Reset the Neck on My Vintage Guitar?

Guitars sound best when string load and top resistance are in relative balance. An underloaded top cannot drive enough air to achieve optimum volume, power, and presence; an overloaded top is unable to generate higher overtones and lacks sustain. One key to optimizing the mechanical efficiency of an individual top is knowing, with some precision, how it wants to be loaded.

Dana Bourgeois
July 12, 2019

Ask the Expert: Do Vintage Guitars Live Up to Their Reputations?

The best vintage guitars sound pretty dang amazing. On closer inspection, though, the picture can be more complicated.

Dana Bourgeois
June 28, 2019

Guitar Guru: Do the Tonewoods and Thickness of My Guitar’s Back Have an Impact on its Sound?

Q: “I noticed that some guitars have very stiff backs and there is no difference to the sound whether the back is held against your body or away from it. What are the advantages of stiff vs. active backs?”—Seth Brockman, Tulsa, Oklahoma A: To understand how backs function, look first…

Dana Bourgeois
June 14, 2019

Ask the Expert: What Causes Random Intonation Glitches?

Q: Using an electronic tuner, I can verify that when my open strings are in tune, my fretted octaves are accurate or nearly accurate. Individual notes of certain chords, however, can be very out of tune, and capoing in some positions requires retuning. I’ve noticed that all guitars, even electrics…

Dana Bourgeois
May 24, 2019

1976 Martin 000-28 12-fret acoustic guitar

Guitar Guru: Dana Bourgeois on the Sweet Sound of 12-Fret Guitars

To my ears, guitars with 12 frets clear of the body sound fuller and richer than 14-fret models. Is there any way to get 12-fret sound in a 14-fret guitar?

Dana Bourgeois
May 10, 2019

Ask the Expert: How to Know When to Hang ‘er on the Wall

I have a Takamine dreadnought that I bought used, and it has been a trusted companion for the past ten years. I like it because it was affordable when I was just learning, and it sounds good. It’s become harder and harder to play in the last six months, so…

Mamie Minch
January 4, 2019

Ask the Expert: Commissioning the Right Repair for a Vintage Guitar

Q: I have a 1932 Gibson L-00 12-fret that appears to have had a neck reset and refret before I bought it. After finding a few muted notes around the 14th fret, I asked a local repair shop for an evaluation and was told they would need to sand down…

Mamie Minch
March 5, 2018

Ask the Expert: Fixing String Spacing & Refretting a Bound Fingerboard

Thank you, dear readers, for all your write-in curios and questions over the past months. If I haven’t let you know, I really appreciate it. Sharing your question or concern, even about something small, can help clear things up for other readers—including things they didn’t know they needed cleared up.…

Mamie Minch
November 1, 2017