Heart Shaped Soundhole?

[Shamrock]

I have a customer that wants a Purple burst Dreadnought and wants to know if I can make the soundhole heart shaped. Has anyone tried this? How did it affect the sound?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Devon Headen]

As long as the surface area of the soundhole remains the same, the shape shouldn't have an effect on tone. I've seen heart shapes done before. If the client wants it, I'd say go for it.

[Shamrock]

Thanks for the input. I will let her know that I can do it.

Also, I have been experimenting for the last few weeks with using Whitetail deer antler for nuts and saddles. So far they seem to work exceptionally well, great sound transfer and not too soft. They polish up beautifully, kind of looks like Ivory. I think I can pressure dye them purple, too. This girl is serious about her purple guitar. If I could get purple strings, she'd probably want them too.

[bluespresence]

Daisy Rock guitars had a heart shaped sound hole on one of their older models (I don't see it on their new 2005 lineup) and someone here on the board made one for their daughter with a heart sound hole. I saw the Daisy at a local shop a few weeks back. It was a 3/4 size, pink, and had heart or flower or some "girl stuff" graphics on it. I almost bought it for myself but it was too small

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

I can't remember where, but I do swear that I saw an ad somewhere for colored strings! Let me guess, the neck and fretboard will be Purple Heart?

BTW, I don't blame the girl for going custom, I wasn't too pleased with the sound of those Daisy Rock acoustics!

Edited April 13, 2005 by Kyle Cavanaugh

[tirapop]

Yes, you can make a heart shaped soundhole.

[mushy the shroom]

I'm pretty sure DR makes Red coated strings, may be close enough. Check 'em out at www.drstrings.com.

[Scott Rosenberger]

The only suggestion I would make is to cut 1/2 the heart shape BEFORE resawing the top so that each half is symmetrical