Official Luthiers Forum!

So I am getting close to officially declaring birth of my first guitar but there's still some setup issues to revisit with Al before unveiling...

One of the issues is that (to me) there's a noticeable disparity in the bass/treble volume to the point where I sometimes wonder if I missed a note because I just didn't hear it... I feel the 3 treble strings lack power way out of proportion to the bass strings which are clear, powerful and sustaining. I'd like to change that and I'm thinking of reducing the bridge weight which was right around 30 g.

Rather than relying on my aging ears, I was thinking it might be better to use some audio software to see if there are any changes occurring as I remove some of the mass.

Any recommendations for free software? I know audacity is free... will that provide me with visuals to see what's happening as I do this?
Pc or android based app would be fine.

Thanks!
Rob

Audacity is good, visual analyser is another option.
In both you need to look at the frequency plot.
Here is a tuto on how to use visual analyser: http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3696

You could go to http://www.speech.kth.se/software and look for 'Wavesurfer' which is a free audio program for Windows machines. I tend to use some really old and quirky stuff...

I didn't notice any real lack of treble when you played it last week. It may be that it's just really projecting that part of the sound.

Hi rob .. good luck sorting it..uot of interest what u building

Any of the usually software packages will work. I use a few of them because some are better than others for doing specific things. For the job you have in mind VA is free and easy to use and will do a good job.

However: It sounds like you want to look at the magnitude of various peaks to determine whether or not you are able to "grow" the treble response. That's a whole lot more difficult than comparing frequencies of modes, because you need everything to be repeatable; mic set-up (or accelerometer positioning), tapping or other excitation technology, guitar suspension, room acoustics etc. etc. Fortunately you have Al to help you out and maybe you can use his "semi-anechoic chamber". If I were going this way, I'd be using my ears.

If your guitar is bass-heavy (looking at the sound balance from the other end) that can occur if you have the T(1,1)1 and T(1,1)2 modes too low in frequency. It's like turning a tone control towards the bass. Raising their frequency is harder than dropping them. Reducing the bridge mass is a good way to start. Have a few people play it and listen to it from both sides (player/audience) to get a view of what's going on. It might be that a sound port may help (will lift the T(1,1)1 and by "repulsion" also the T(1,1)2) and you may hear more of what you want).

Whichever way you go, Al will give you good advice.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au