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  #1  
Old 09-06-2009, 12:44 PM
Huckleberry Huckleberry is offline
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Default The Responsive Guitar - E. Somogyi

So my copies of The Responsive Guitar and Making the Responsive Guitar arrived this week. I've started not so much reading as consuming The Responsive Guitar - what a fantastic piece of literature.

The level of insight and detail is unmatched in anything I've seen so far, and the writing style is very engaging. For example, woods are covered in detail including grain, stiffness, how and why figure occurs etc. Ervin discusses how temperature affects stiffness of wood, providing results of his own measurements, and suggests that this is why many guitars 'wake up' after being played for 20-30 minutes - it's the player's body heat and the internal friction of the instrument causing the wood of the top and back to become less stiff and more responsive.

I'm still only a short way into the 600-odd pages of the two volumes, but have already learned a staggering amount.

Yes, at a first glance they're a little pricey, but with the sheer amount of information, insight and detail they provide I think they're worth every penny. The Responsive Guitar would be of interest to anyone serious about guitars, not just luthiers or prospective luthiers. I haven't looked at Making the Responsive Guitar yet, but I'm intending to make a small number of guitars for my own use over the next few years. Using this repository of knowledge and experience, I am sure that I'll recoup the cover price many times over in quality of the guitars I build.

In short - highly recommended! I'd be interested to know what other AGFers think of these books (from an earlier thread I think a few have purchased them), particularly whether some of the luthiers on the forum have found them of use.
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Old 09-07-2009, 11:53 AM
Huckleberry Huckleberry is offline
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No comments from other AGFers who have these books? I'd be interested in any other views.
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Baranik Meridian "Aurora" fan-fret - Celebes ebony / Colorado blue spruce
Tom Sands Model L fan-fret - Macassar ebony / European spruce
Hamblin GC - Macassar ebony / Italian spruce
Kronbauer SMB - Macassar ebony / Engelmann spruce
Baranik JX - Indian rosewood / German spruce
Sheppard GA - African blackwood / Bosnian spruce
Collings OM1
CA Cargo Raw | Ele
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  #3  
Old 09-07-2009, 11:56 AM
hankjojo hankjojo is offline
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I doubt i will ever build a guitar, but i would love to read these. Probably will pick them up at some point.
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Old 09-07-2009, 11:58 AM
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usb_chord usb_chord is offline
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Do these two books come as a set or is it possible to just purchase one? I'm not really interested in learning how to make a guitar, but I'd love to have a copy of "The Responsive Guitar".
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Old 09-07-2009, 12:02 PM
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I received mine a couple of weeks ago. I went to his voicing course a couple of years ago and learned so much. Ervin is a great teacher. I'm working my way through the books and continue to learn.
What fun!
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Old 09-07-2009, 12:04 PM
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SteveS SteveS is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by usb_chord View Post
Do these two books come as a set or is it possible to just purchase one? I'm not really interested in learning how to make a guitar, but I'd love to have a copy of "The Responsive Guitar".

Yes you can. Purchaing info is here.
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Old 09-07-2009, 12:11 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Huckelberry,

Thanks for the post and the information. I'm glad Steve S provided a link on where to buy it. I was surprised at the cost, but this is in line with the cost of technical text books at the university level -- pretty expensive. But your comments make me think about purchasing it, anyway.

Thanks, Glenn
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Old 09-07-2009, 01:13 PM
Huckleberry Huckleberry is offline
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I haven't started reading the building book yet but The Responsive Guitar is a great reference for anyone buying serious guitars, either from stock (what to look for) or as a custom build (what to ask, what to look out for).

There's even a 'coffee table' section at the beginning with marvelous colour photos of some great looking guitars. Many questions that come up on AGF are answered with authority, reasoning and often experimental results.

A great resource for anyone interested in the workings and construction of the guitar, not just builders, and the two books are available separately.
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Huckleberry
-----------

Baranik Meridian "Aurora" fan-fret - Celebes ebony / Colorado blue spruce
Tom Sands Model L fan-fret - Macassar ebony / European spruce
Hamblin GC - Macassar ebony / Italian spruce
Kronbauer SMB - Macassar ebony / Engelmann spruce
Baranik JX - Indian rosewood / German spruce
Sheppard GA - African blackwood / Bosnian spruce
Collings OM1
CA Cargo Raw | Ele
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  #9  
Old 09-07-2009, 01:21 PM
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Kitchen Guitars Kitchen Guitars is offline
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I asked Santa for them. Fingers are crossed.
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  #10  
Old 09-07-2009, 01:48 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Mine are on the way.
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  #11  
Old 09-07-2009, 03:08 PM
K III K III is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yamaha Junkie View Post
I asked Santa for them. Fingers are crossed.
+1 on Santa

Santa seems to have to carry a heavy load this year, he better get another reindeer
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