cutaways and resonance

[Anandbhat]

From a purely acoustic standpoint, do non-cutaway hollowbodies have more clarity,resonance and sustain than cutaways?
Thanks.

[kris]

I do not think so...
Probably a little deeper sound...but not for sure.

[oldane]

Originally Posted by Anandbhat

From a purely acoustic standpoint, do non-cutaway hollowbodies have more clarity,resonance and sustain than cutaways?
Thanks.

As Kris wrote, maybe a tad more depth and a bit more volume - as an average tendency. Hardly any difference as far as sustain concerns. The area of the cutaway is not where the most vibration goes on. But I think it's hard to make general statements. Not two guitars are alike, especially not acoustics. There are so many factors which can make the sound and volume different between two guitars even if they are of the same brand, model and batch. And we will never know how this particular guitar would have sounded if was/was not made with a cutaway, because it is what it is and not something else.

[TruthHertz]

Too many factors. Do you mean will a D'Aquisto cutaway New Yorker sound crappy next to a little plywood parlor archtop? Who's building it? Does the builder know how to work a cutaway into arching patterns? What body size?

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...y-archies.html

Originally Posted by NSJ

1. Do they sound better acoustically?

2. When you do you really go to town in the 15th position? I.e, do you really need a cutaway? If you need to play something up there, you could probably play most of it, anyway. Classical guitarists do it. Why can't jazzers?

Hey look! Somebody else asked the same question. Maybe some of the people on that thread could weigh in again if they changed their opinions.

I'd take the parlor guitar over the D'Aquisto. I think it does sound better. D'Aquistos cutaways are too big, then you have to put a cutaway in it to play it and the sound goes to hell.

David

[kris]

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

Too many factors. Do you mean will a D'Aquisto cutaway New Yorker sound crappy next to a little plywood parlor archtop? Who's building it? Does the builder know how to work a cutaway into arching patterns? What body size?

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...y-archies.html





Hey look! Somebody else asked the same question. Maybe some of the people on that thread could weigh in again if they changed their opinions.

I'd take the parlor guitar over the D'Aquisto. I think it does sound better. D'Aquistos cutaways are too big, then you have to put a cutaway in it to play it and the sound goes to hell.

David

Jazzmans like comfortable guitars.Classical guitar is for classical music.
Jazz guitar is for jazz music.
Not every jazz guitar is comfortable anyway...

[Anandbhat]

Thanks for the replies.
I should have stated that I meant same model,same maker.
Eastman AR805 would be one example.Everything would be the same but the cutaway.

[fws6]

exactly the same topic was discussed a few weeks ago here:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...y-archies.html

[Synchro]

I've heard that cutaways take their toll on acoustic performance but I can't seem to live without them. I know that much beyond fret 12 the sound gets pretty thin but I find myself routinely hitting fret 15 and occasionally venturing up to fret 17 so a cutaway is a must. I also do a lot of octaves and it really comes in handy there.

On my non-Jazz playing I get way up there, on one Surf tune I need a 22 fret guitar. it gets pretty dicey up that high and my accuracy suffers but if you're going to play "Penetration" you need that D.

[Anandbhat]

Thanks for the link,FWS6.
About covers it for me.

[kamlapati]

Simple answer: the effect of the cutaway on tone is smaller than the effects of all the other variables (made out of different trees, made on different days, touched by different people, etc.), even on two guitars that are otherwise identical.

(Experience based on my L-5 and L-5 CN, and on all the other guitars I've played.)