Quote:
Originally Posted by Grenvilleter
Tomorrow, I get to inspect and try out one of these Groove Blueberries.
I can probably compare it against 2 different 1985 HD-28 Limited Edition Martins, Another buddy is a Collings fan and owns a couple. Two more friends own Timberline guitars built by Kevin Hall formerly of CF Martin Co.
I have my Beneteau as well to cross compare.
I will not be doing any sound clips for everyone to listen to because in my opinion, electronic sound clips do NOT convey the true measure or feel of any guitar.
I do wonder if there is any point however as it looks like the verdict is already in through some form of musical ESP that I have not been able to master as of yet.
I'm quite surprised that the many who went to the Montreal Guitar show did not get a chance to see any Blueberries. I would have thought they would have been represented there as Blueberry is located in or near Montreal.
A good understanding of physics is needed to acertain why a grooved top COULD be beneficial. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying it is beneficial, only that the deciding factors from a physics point of view when it comes to structure and resonance has the potential to be somewhat dramatic.
Someone mentioned that why not just make the top thicker and avoid all the grooves. I'll just say it is a matter of strength to mass/weight ratio's. I do not think the guitar's top can be tuned like a brace can be but I do think you can get the same amount of structural strength as a regular top with less mass/thickness/wood. If anyone knows any civil engineer's, it could be rather enlightening if you talk to them as to why bridge builders use a similar technique to get strength for their framework. For those unaware, resonance is a major concern for a bridge builder as well as guitar builders but I won't go into reasons here.
Others have eluded to the sloppiness of the Bluebery guitar without ever seeing them. I guess that skill falls into the same category as the musical ESP that I mentioned beforehand.
I too would be hesitant to continue reading this forum if I thought everyone had these amazing skills that mere mortal humans are lacking in but fortunately, it appears I'm not the only one here who lack these skills.
I'll have to wait to see and play the actual guitar before I pass judgement.
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Grooving the top of a guitar will make it lighter....but so will making it thinner.
Claiming that grooving it improves it's ability to generate tone is just that. A claim.
Luthery is the combination of art and science..neither of which does Blueberry seem to be employing here.
I doubt that the people building these guitars have the background or the experience of voicing tops that established builders have.
Re; the science...
Blueberry notes that they have experimented with grooving the tops to find what works best. It's amazing to me that what seems to work "best" are geometrically symetric designs using straight grooves.
Builders that experiment with how sound is generated by guitar tops have used things like Chladni patterns and resonance frequency plots....and those show that sound is not generated linearly along a guitar top. Just as important, no two tops are identical.
What "works best" for Blueberry seems to be more "what design is easiest to carve in the top that looks pretty and will impress people with no experience" rather than what actually improves the function of the top.
And again, WHY NOT GROOVE THE BACK OF THE TOP!!??
There ARE several luthiers with backgrounds in physics/engineering building today.
Kevin Ryan was an aerospace engineer before taking up building.
I believe Al Claxton had a background in engineering. As did Bill Tippin.
Kathy Wingert and Al Carruth (the two I am most aware of) extensively use Chladni patterns when building their instruments.
I believe our own SteveS has such a background.
Builders are experimenting with ways to improve the strength of the top while also increasing it's function...see folks building double top guitars like Paul Woolson, Tim McKnight, or the bracing design used by Jamie Kinscherff ....decreasing the mass of the bracing by drilling the braces.
No grooves coming out from these folks.
I remain a skeptic about Blueberry.
I may be wrong here, but they strike me as another variant of Denny Zager.
I'm also sorry to say that I remain skeptical as to your being unaffiliated with Blueberry guitars.
A bit of a coincidence, despite what you note is your history of lurking here for months, your first ever posts on this forum being on this thread.
Unfortunately, over the years people with financial or personal interests in a brand/builder have presented themselves as unbiased discussion participants.
Again, I may be wrong...but that's what's going through my mind.