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Topic: Removing sound hole screens makes resonator sound better? |
Tommi Toijonen
From:
Kouvola, Finland
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Posted 31 Dec 2015 8:32 am |
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I just bought an old Hohner resonator with spide bridge. Plays like butter and sounds astonishlingy good.
Since I am a tinkerer I couldn help myself digging the soundhole screens out. Much to my surprise it sounds better without them. I think I'm hearing fuller bottom and more reverb. Friend next to me hears the same.
Am I nuts?
By physics I wouldn't think the screen itself would dampen down the highs but marginally and obviously not at all the bass. The only explanation I can think of is that the screens dampen down the vibration of the top of the guitar. |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 31 Dec 2015 11:19 am
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many players and builders are now going with the open hole approach. i've pulled the screens out of my old dobro and it seems to help.
you wouldn't think it would make much difference but i think it allows a little more sound to come out. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 31 Dec 2015 11:26 am
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The next question is whether the holes are necessary at all. Their main purpose in a regular guitar is to prevent the tone dampening effect that comes from a sealed cavity. Imagine a guitar with no sound hole. For the top and back to vibrate they have to push and pull against the air pressure inside, which has nowhere to go. The hole is more to allow the top to vibrate freely than to let the sound out. With a resonator guitar the resonator itself requires an enormous hole, and the supporting ring inside that takes the weight of the spider always has holes in it, so there would be virtually no sealed-cavity effect.
By the way, the soundhole screens on my Dobro fell out of their own accord because the glue had dried out. I noticed no difference whatsoever, so, for the sake of appearances, I reglued them. |
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David Knutson
From:
Cowichan Valley, Canada
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Posted 31 Dec 2015 3:05 pm
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I have removed the screens from two of my three resos that had them. It made a significant difference on the OMI Dobro and the PBS Gold Tone - both laminated tops. The bottom end seems warmer and there's an overall "balanced" feeling. My Shot Jackson guitar has a solid spruce top, and I noticed no real difference, so I left them in. Haven't a clue if the solid top has anything really to do with it or not. ?
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David K |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 31 Dec 2015 5:09 pm
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Next time I build a resonator guitar I'll omit the two soundholes and see if it makes any difference.
Not that they build resonator guitars, but notice how Ovation's top models have a series of tiny soundholes in the form of artwork, rather than one big soundhole in the centre of the table. |
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Alan Berdoulay
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 1 Jan 2016 11:04 am
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| Thanks for bring those to our attention, Alan. The articles were very interesting and informative. If anyone has one, I would be interested to see photographs or drawings of the baffles described. I realise that it's difficult to expect photographs of the inside of a finished instrument, but I always take photographs of the instruments that I build whilst in the process of construction, so that I can refer back to them after the instrument is sealed up, and most other luthiers do the same thing, especially now that digital photography is so cheap, and uses no expensive filmstock. |
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Greg Booth
From:
Anchorage, AK, USA
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Posted 1 Jan 2016 4:33 pm
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The cone moves air just like a speaker. If not for the sound holes the guitar cavity under the cone would be sealed and the cone's movement inhibited. Anybody who has used a mic to play or record a dobro knows the sound that comes out those holes is very bassy. The effect is small, but removing the screens lets a bit more of that deeper tone out of the body. I think the overall increase if any is noticeable mainly to the player or when a mic is positioned there. Some builders have designed their sound holes specifically to enhance the sound similar to a ported speaker enclosure.
_________________
Greg
Kathy Kallick Band
www.youtube.com/user/aksliderdobro |
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Tom Keller
From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
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Posted 1 Jan 2016 10:51 pm
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I doubt in a blind fold test anyone could tell the difference. But, hey it looks cool and all the cool guys are doing it.
Tom Keller |
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Joe Naylor
From:
Avondale, Arizona, USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2016 5:51 am Screens over openings
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Any screen has a per cent of open area. By putting a screen over the holes it would reduce the open area. It is like speaker cloth or any other kind of woven wire of perf. plates.
Someone thought they looked better maybe but they certainly reduce the open area.
It is the same with many industrial applications that I will not bore you with.
Joe Naylor
steelseats
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Joe Naylor, Avondale, AZ (Phoenix) Announcer/Emcee owner www.steelseat.com *** OFFERING SEATS AND Effects cases with or without legs and other stuff ****** -Desert Rose Guitar S-10, Life Member of the Arizona Carport Pickers Assoc., Southwest Steel Guitar Assoc., Texas Steel Guitar Assoc., GA Steel Guitar Assoc., KS Steel Guitar Assoc. (Asleep at the Steel) tag line willed to me by a close late friend RIP |
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John Sluszny
From:
Brussels, Belgium
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Posted 2 Jan 2016 11:20 am
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I have a GoldTone PBS-M squareneck guitar.
I'd like to remove the sound holes to hear the tone differences,but I don't know how to carefully do it ? Any advices ? Thanks ! |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 2 Jan 2016 11:39 am
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| John Sluszny wrote: |
I have a GoldTone PBS-M squareneck guitar.
I'd like to remove the sound holes to hear the tone differences,but I don't know how to carefully do it ? Any advices ? Thanks ! |
Some soundhole covers are just pushed in, and are a tight fit, whilst others are glued in. If I had to remove one I would put masking tape around it, to avoid damage to the finish of the top, and then insert an Xacto blade under the ridge to remove glue. Another way is to completely remove the resonator and spider and push it out from the inside, but that depends upon the construction of the instrument, If there is a hoop under the spider which has been glued in, you won't be able to get your hand under the soundhole.
If it doesn't come out easily I would reconsider whether I really want to remove it.  |
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Don Barnhardt
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2016 6:12 pm
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| I took the screens off my rings because I thought it looked cool. Haven't noticed any appreciable difference in tone but they are a handy receptacle for finger picks that fall off when playing. |
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John Sluszny
From:
Brussels, Belgium
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Posted 3 Jan 2016 11:33 am
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
If it doesn't come out easily I would reconsider whether I really want to remove it. |
Right,good advice,I changed strings instead,sounds great,thanks !  |
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Tom Franke
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 3 Jan 2016 12:42 pm
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I've been told to use dental floss to remove screens, but I haven't personally tried it. Obviously, it would not work for glued in screens, but on friction fit ones, I can see how it might. The idea is to work the floss under the screen all around so that you can get a fairly even lift on it.
I put the screens back in my Tut Taylor Virginian, which I bought used with the screens in the case. The former owner told me he used floss to remove them. Any change in tone was slight and negligible for my around-the-house type playing. I decided not to risk dropping something in the holes, and I think it looks better with screens in.
I can make a much bigger improvement in sound by improving my bar technique. |
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John Sluszny
From:
Brussels, Belgium
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Posted 3 Jan 2016 3:43 pm
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Last edited by John Sluszny on 4 Jan 2016 11:01 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 3 Jan 2016 8:57 pm
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Jerry Douglass was the first person I ever saw who took the screens out. He was playing an old Regal, I think, and he was using some kind of acoustic guitar pickup. (I want to say a Lawrence, but I'm not sure)
But the pickup was held in place with rubber bands. On the bass side, the rubber band went through the hole where the screen used to be, and passed through the other hole, and hooked on the treble side.
Edited to add---I was looking for a picture of the rig I described, but I couldn't find one. BUT, I noticed that Jerry had screens on his Scheerhorn(s), his Guernsey, the Reed, and his signature Beard guitar.
So what about the guys who use the rings, but without the screen wire in 'em? Is that like beauty rings, that the hot rodders used to put i their rims? |
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Greg Booth
From:
Anchorage, AK, USA
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 4 Jan 2016 11:50 am
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| Cosmetically, if the top is made of laminated material, the rings tidy this up, prevent fraying and you from seeing the laminations, and make it a lot easier for the builder. If the top is one solid piece of wood, all he needs to do is sand it smooth before finishing with lacquer. Don't forget that a regular guitar has a rose which covers up the edges of the soundhole. I've never seen a resonator guitar with two little rosettes. |
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