Mooncaster F holes
- Thread starter pirate
- Start date
TBurst Std
Hero Member
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90%+ just looks.
I say this from a study of acoustic instruments.
Lets take an acoustic guitar. It "amplifies" the sound of the strings by resonating the top and back of the instrument. Tops especially need to be lightweight and resonate. Sides need to be stiff to support the structure as a whole.
With that, lets now understand that the Mooncaster is not a "true" hollowbody electric instrument.
True hollowbodies would be like a Gibson ES300 (NOT a 335), a Casino, or a jazz box. Separate top, sides and bottoms.
The 335 is of that type, except it has a solid piece (plank) of wood down the center connecting the top and back.
A Mooncaster is more akin to a Rickenbacker 360. A solid piece of wood with a LARGE cavity route in it, then a separate piece of wood glued over it.
That piece of wood is at least 2x thicker than your average acoustic guitar top. Its thick enough than little resonation will happen and thus little "amplification" to the strings.
F Holes, sound holes etc were originally crafted to assist with the projection of the "amplified" sound from an acoustic. Even then it was a trade off as you lost stiffness and real estate of your resonating board in effort to control projection.
Think of the changes we have seen in this area, as far back as the 70s with Ovation Adamas guitars. More recently you can look to side ports as well as unique placements, ala McPhereson.
But in a nutshell, its largely looks. A Mooncaster's back (as its part of the sides) will not resonate, and the top so thick its will resonate little, if at all.
I say this from a study of acoustic instruments.
Lets take an acoustic guitar. It "amplifies" the sound of the strings by resonating the top and back of the instrument. Tops especially need to be lightweight and resonate. Sides need to be stiff to support the structure as a whole.
With that, lets now understand that the Mooncaster is not a "true" hollowbody electric instrument.
True hollowbodies would be like a Gibson ES300 (NOT a 335), a Casino, or a jazz box. Separate top, sides and bottoms.
The 335 is of that type, except it has a solid piece (plank) of wood down the center connecting the top and back.
A Mooncaster is more akin to a Rickenbacker 360. A solid piece of wood with a LARGE cavity route in it, then a separate piece of wood glued over it.
That piece of wood is at least 2x thicker than your average acoustic guitar top. Its thick enough than little resonation will happen and thus little "amplification" to the strings.
F Holes, sound holes etc were originally crafted to assist with the projection of the "amplified" sound from an acoustic. Even then it was a trade off as you lost stiffness and real estate of your resonating board in effort to control projection.
Think of the changes we have seen in this area, as far back as the 70s with Ovation Adamas guitars. More recently you can look to side ports as well as unique placements, ala McPhereson.
But in a nutshell, its largely looks. A Mooncaster's back (as its part of the sides) will not resonate, and the top so thick its will resonate little, if at all.
pirate
Senior Member
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- 335
It's funny, there is no additional cost involved, just aesthetics, but keep going back and forth. But since I can't even decide on a clear wood finish, I'm not surprised. I have narrowed it down to a roasted swamp ash with a clear satin finish, or quilted maple with clear satin. I also thought about alpine white, but showing the beautiful wood seems to always win out over a color, unless the overall price is WAY cheaper! :icon_biggrin:
Can anyone recommend a site to go and create mock ups?
Can anyone recommend a site to go and create mock ups?
