Silly me! Sidesplints!!!!!

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blackalex1952
Blackwood
Posts: 776
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: North East Victoria

Silly me! Sidesplints!!!!!

Post by blackalex1952 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:41 pm

Hi. Due to a break from building for health reasons I have continued on a build, closing the box. BUT!!! I forgot the side splints! I can take the back off and put my usual side splints, or just use some 0.6mm veneer glued in through the soundhole using neo magnets to clamp. The guitar has solid laminated top bindings and kerfed maple back bindings.
Questions...(yes I have the G/G books) The old instruments, eg Gibson and Martin sometimes used cloth or veneer and I have seen many very old ones which have not cracked along the grain of the sides. I get the idea of extra mass in the sides, re the top monopoles having an increased area on the top available. I have been reading about the criteria for Flamenco guitars, and also guitars which use tentalones. Any comments? Will veneers or cloth side splints prevent the sides from splitting? Does the amount of timber in the side splints add enough mass for the sides to be mass loaded by these splints alone? Would using side mass blocks in combination with veneer or cloth be a good idea, given that the side masses can be positioned anywhere in the lower bout and still be effective? I know that if I don't pop the back off and just glue some veneers in through the soundhole I can't check the side splints into the liners, so I still run the risk of side cracks where the grain in the sides is unsupported at the splint to liner junctions. I have had that happen in the past with some very straight grained Indian Rosewood, ie not a lot of cross grain strength. If I go the lazy option and go through the soundhole, has anyone got any alignment tricks for that kind of a job? I figure that if veneers are going to be strong enough to stabilise the side grain they do not require matching the side radius in each splint location as the veneer, unlike solid thicker splints, will curve under clamping pressure.
Well having typed all this, I have almost convinced myself to pop the back off as I haven't bound the box yet. But these questions and any answers given here still intrigue me. I like the idea of light weight acoustic instruments- some of the golden oldies I have played have been very light and resonant. But I have never paid much attention to how well they project and how their near field response is.
"Everything I say on the topic is based solely upon inexperience and assumption!"

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kiwigeo
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Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:57 pm
Location: Adelaide, Sth Australia

Re: Silly me! Sidesplints!!!!!

Post by kiwigeo » Mon Aug 06, 2018 6:37 pm

If it were me....I'd pop the back. The sides haven't been bound so this is a straightforward bit of surgery.
Martin

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