Tap tone on the closed box
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 4:16 pm
The thread about tap tone going away when the binding channels were cut got me thinking about what "tap tone" really means and how you use it to predict the outcome.
I'm going to guess that we all have a different idea of what tap tone is and what we are looking for. That could be a thread in and of itself. Clay S. raised the question of how telling a good tap tone really is (especially for the back). Alan Carruth said “I think a well defined top tap tone is probably a good thing. Maybe not so necessary on the back. . .”. I have heard many people say that a wood had no tap tone and made a great guitar anyway.
This got me thinking about the box I just closed up last night. I took it out of the clamps this morning and noticed that it didn’t really have much tap tone at all (more like a thud) when I tapped the top as it sat on its back. When I lifted it up so the back was free, it had a nice tap tone. The back also had a nice tone though different from the top. This was exactly the same experience I had with the last two guitars I made and both of those came out quite nice.
I guess at this point, I’m not really asking a question as much as just starting a conversation and not hijacking the other thread.
I'm going to guess that we all have a different idea of what tap tone is and what we are looking for. That could be a thread in and of itself. Clay S. raised the question of how telling a good tap tone really is (especially for the back). Alan Carruth said “I think a well defined top tap tone is probably a good thing. Maybe not so necessary on the back. . .”. I have heard many people say that a wood had no tap tone and made a great guitar anyway.
This got me thinking about the box I just closed up last night. I took it out of the clamps this morning and noticed that it didn’t really have much tap tone at all (more like a thud) when I tapped the top as it sat on its back. When I lifted it up so the back was free, it had a nice tap tone. The back also had a nice tone though different from the top. This was exactly the same experience I had with the last two guitars I made and both of those came out quite nice.
I guess at this point, I’m not really asking a question as much as just starting a conversation and not hijacking the other thread.