Vibrating a guitar to enhance tone.

[NowGibson]

Posted this on another thread but thought others might know about it since I'm working on my R9 I've dug up some stuff.
Talks about vibrating an acoustic/electric guitar to enhance the tone.
Acoustic Guitar Central: Aging a guitar with vibrations

[shtdaprdtr]

or just strap it to my ass....itll vibrate in frequent intervals during the day....may even relic the finish while youre at it....maybe a little more browning rather than yellowing.

[alligatorbling]

ive been interested in this for a while, i just haven't tried it.

[shtdaprdtr]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

ive been interested in this for a while, i just haven't tried it.

here then...try it now, strap it on big boy

[NowGibson]

Shave and a haircut...2 bits.

[NowGibson]

They're no longer in business but some acoustic guitar manufacturers claim to leave new builds by there stereos to "break them in". Although one could say it was shineola and that's why noones doing it.

[NowGibson]

dug out my RS 150watt subwoofer and trying a test for a week with a compilation cd. Will play it while at work and noones home for 8 hrs/day and see at the end of the week what we have. Gave it a try and the guitar sits nicely on the bottom soundhole of the woofer turned upside down, will have it supported by a rope from the rafters and "floating" on the woofer, you can feel the strings and the top of the headstock ect. vibrations change intensity with the different notes played.
Yes, maybe a waste of time but ..I ain't playing it at that time so what the hey!

[L.Campionero]

Dont guitiars vibrate when they are played?

[PoorMan]

Edit.

Nevermind.

[NowGibson]

Got this article about speaker break in:
Breaking in Your Speakers - Premier Guitar

Love this quote"6. Just playing it is a safe and reliable method. Play it hard and play it loud to shorten the time required. Don’t damage your hearing by any means! Fifty to a hundred hours should get you to the point that you no longer recognize tonality changes."

[Droog]

Originally Posted by NowGibson

Posted this on another thread but thought others might know about it since I'm working on my R9 I've dug up some stuff.
Talks about vibrating an acoustic/electric guitar to enhance the tone.
Acoustic Guitar Central: Aging a guitar with vibrations

That`s got to be the stupidest thing I`ve read all day.

[NowGibson]

"That`s got to be the stupidest thing I`ve read all day."
Yet you read it!
And if it adds to the tone you would try it!
Keep reading I'm sure something else will show up to top this.

[BEDLAM_1]

so in theory,if i gaffer tape a big dildo to it every time i play in 30 years it should sound ace!
or wil that just fuk it?

[NowGibson]

Well now that's a thought.

[Jason]

What are you hoping to "add to the tone" that isn't already there?

[Leumas]

So...if I want to play some Zep tunes should I make my guitar listen to Zep before I do that? Will that enhance my Page-tone? What goes in must come out I guess.

[-=[Shifty]=-]

Holy cow. Here I am, making a google image search for "dildo + guitar" to add a funny picture to this thread and what do I find?

Playing Guitar Makes Lightsaber Thing Vibrate - Geekologie

The best part is, he has a Les Paul!

[NowGibson]

Slow day at work I see...
Have a look at this video about the making of a Steinway Concert Grand...
http://www.filmforum.org/films/note.html
Or if you can find the American Scientific Article on soundboards or...

"What are you hoping to "add to the tone" that isn't already there?"
Not really...you can change pup's, bridges, makeovers ect...this is just to try and enhance what's already there in this historic, that's all. If it gives a percentage tone improvement why not? I'm doing this while I'm working and not playing. Now you can say that Clapton's Beano guitar wasn't that old when he recorded those tracks with Mayall in 64(?), but then these aren't made from that wood by those craftsmen, and...wait for it....we ain't Clapton ect.
So, point being you wanna contribute, please do, wanna poke fun...sigh...bring on the strapons...

[Jason]

I'm not poking fun. My questions was serious: What are you trying to add to the tone that isn't there? How can you quantify an "improvement" in tone?

[JM Vasek]

Originally Posted by NowGibson

Shave and a haircut...2 bits.

I'm just glad the "two bits" are blurred out...

[JM Vasek]

I highly doubt that this will help the guitar's tone in any way, and any real changes I'm sure would be negligible.

[NowGibson]

Jason, when I first got my R7 in 2002 it sounded similar to this R9,discriptive terms would be dull,without that nice ring to an open E or G chord, like the sound of the R8 in another thread I posted with Dimarzio's original 59 unamped tone and an R9 historic. The overtones on the strings acoustic sound wasn't there for me...finally after (yeah I know not double digit years) 6-7 years of playing it's come around as well as old centralabs, pios, vintage aluminum stop, pups change when I first got it. Comparing it to the R9 is pretty distinct to me. Different guitars, finish , pups, pots,even the gauge of strings but my other guitars after sitting for a year or more go lifeless too. If I can get my R9 closer to the R7 in a weeks time as opposed to years then I'm a happy camper. I'll know when it's had an effect when I don't notice the missing overtones from the R7 while playing the R9 not that they'll be on par with a 1959 but on par with a well played in guitar.
I've watched that Steinway video more than once and it shows true craftsmen at work...some stuff looks downright brutal but you're dealing with a large instrument. I found the aging process along with the wood selection interesting too.

[frehley76]

Originally Posted by shtdaprdtr

here then...try it now, strap it on big boy

That is just plain nasty!

[River]

I believe there was a thread here recently about how an artificially aged violin beat a Stradivarius in a blind sound test. But a violin is an acoustic instrument. I wouldn't think of making fun of these investigations, but I don't believe even a dog could hear any difference in an electric guitar. I can't be proven right or wrong though, because who's going to remember what their guitar sounded like before it was shaken (not stirred)?

[NowGibson]

As I said it will be compared to my R7 01 which is broken in, right now the R9 sounds sterile with not much in the overtone department. I don't expect the R7 to change in the next month but I'm tweaking the R9.
"The names Paul...Les Paul. "

[shtdaprdtr]

Originally Posted by NowGibson

Jason, when I first got my R7 in 2002 it sounded similar to this R9,discriptive terms would be dull,without that nice ring to an open E or G chord, like the sound of the R8 in another thread I posted with Dimarzio's original 59 unamped tone and an R9 historic. The overtones on the strings acoustic sound wasn't there for me...finally after (yeah I know not double digit years) 6-7 years of playing it's come around as well as old centralabs, pios, vintage aluminum stop, pups change when I first got it. Comparing it to the R9 is pretty distinct to me. Different guitars, finish , pups, pots,even the gauge of strings but my other guitars after sitting for a year or more go lifeless too. If I can get my R9 closer to the R7 in a weeks time as opposed to years then I'm a happy camper. I'll know when it's had an effect when I don't notice the missing overtones from the R7 while playing the R9 not that they'll be on par with a 1959 but on par with a well played in guitar.
I've watched that Steinway video more than once and it shows true craftsmen at work...some stuff looks downright brutal but you're dealing with a large instrument. I found the aging process along with the wood selection interesting too.

.

[River]

Originally Posted by shtdaprdtr

I work there..you should hear guitars made from the same wood as those pianos.

Do tell!

[Jason]

Originally Posted by River

Do tell!

Yes, please.

[shtdaprdtr]

a mahogany strat with a maple neck, piano laquer and bareknuckle pickups...dont need much more..sounds as creamy as a vintage Les Paul.
To be honest with you..there are many amazing luthiers in that building...forget the pianos for a second. One employee had won some acoustic guitar building contests..amazing stuff and skill in that place. Amazing how such an unstable and raw medium such as wood can come together and play notes in the end...never really appreciated it till you see it from the other side....all the tolerances and margins of error...let alone tuning them....makes all these guitars look like Lego

[JM Vasek]

Originally Posted by River

I believe there was a thread here recently about how an artificially aged violin beat a Stradivarius in a blind sound test. But a violin is an acoustic instrument. I wouldn't think of making fun of these investigations, but I don't believe even a dog could hear any difference in an electric guitar. I can't be proven right or wrong though, because who's going to remember what their guitar sounded like before it was shaken (not stirred)?

From what I remember, that was about wood that had been treated with a type of fungus.

I think there's some potential for truth to the vibrations to tone idea, but pursuing it seems a bit silly to me.