Wolf Tones

[TGwaH]

I'm getting ready to route my chambers in my guitar and do up my version of the f-hole. I've been told to be careful as I can get unaccetable acoustics and/or wolf tones.

Any suggestions on avoiding them?

[frank falbo]

Any suggestions on avoiding them?

←

The people who've been telling you this, or the wolf tones?

I'd prefer the former over the latter.

When you say chambers I assume you'll have a solid piece down the center, or at least between the bridge and the back, right? If so, it's a waste of time worrying about that. You can design for the enhancement of certain frequencies and tones, but with the bridge solidly tied to the back, or at least with 1/2"-3/4" underneath it, you shouldn't have any negative side effects like that.

[TGwaH]

The people who've been telling you this, or the wolf tones?

I'd prefer the former over the latter.

Point for you

with the bridge solidly tied to the back, or at least with 1/2"-3/4" underneath it, you shouldn't have any negative side effects like that.

So, with a neckthrough design with 1/4"?... er, 1/2"? ... it's about a 5 mm cap on either side of the guitar... I should be okay?

[frank falbo]

Yeah but clarify for me, the neck through goes all the way through right? You didn't carve away under the bridge, you have a log down the middle, yes?

What I'm talking about is if your bridge is "floating" like on a jazzbox. Where you have no extra wood (besides bracing) under the bridge. It's just as thin as the top, less than 3/16" or so. Then the whole top can vibrate as a unit. What you have is two balloons on either side of center.

[TGwaH]

Yeah but clarify for me, the neck through goes all the way through right? You didn't carve away under the bridge, you have a log down the middle, yes?

←

Right, one giant log. No floating bridge, the only thing to be hollowed out will be the mahogany wings that will be attached tomorrow.

Edited October 12, 2005 by TGwaH

[sepultura999]

What are wolf tones?

Wolf howles = long lasting = sustain lol.

but seriously, what are wolf tones?

-Jamie

[frank falbo]

It's kind of like a resonant peak that jumps out of the body whenever sympathetic notes are played. Think of it as the opposite of dead spots. At least that's the way I've heard it. If you go into a bathroom and start singing notes low to high, you'll find several that resonate annoyingly. When you find some big ones they'll resonate your whole head.

Actually (off topic) I've always thought bathrooms should be designed with acoustics in mind, and they're clearly not. But any cloth or foam baffles would mold up. So you'd have to do it with the shape of the room, and various dividers or phony rafters or something.

[unclej]

i'm putting the finishing touches on my latest project..a tele-like chambered guitar with a walnut back, four inch strip of solid walnut down the middle, chambered on both sides, french curve hole instead of f-hole in a zebra wood top. it's got a 1980 gibson t-bucker in the neck position and an overwound dimarzio in the neck and no wolf tones...no feedback..no unwanted harmonics..

so like everyone says, you shouldn't have any problem with your design.

good luck.

[erikbojerik]

Try this trick...plug your axe into a compressor set for high sustain, then into a tuner. Hang it from the strap or headstock, mute the strings with a cloth, then give your axe a nice sharp rap on the back of the body. Whatever note you end up with is the resonant frequency of your guitar, and could result in a wolf tone if you play that note.

Chances are that you won't wind up directly on the pitch of any note, but you'll be off a few cents sharp or flat. If you're close to that note, you might get some beating or "fluttering".

But this is generally an issue only for acoustics and hollowbodies. However, I do know a guy with a Ken Smith bass that seems to have a wolf note around either Db or Eb.

Hollowbodies can actually be tuned slightly to end up on pitch (mainly by changing the size of soundholes), IIRC it is to avoid this fluttering/beating effect.

[Billy Bones]

Sorry to continue the off topic, but I had to add my two cents about bathroom acoustics.

There's this public bathroom on the coquihalla (mountainous hiway in BC Canada) that has for 10 years had the best acoustics of any room I've ever been in. I even brought a tape recorder along with me one time to record myself whistling in that bathroom. So our band just got back from tour, and I'd been telling everybody about the acoustics in this bathroom. We got there, and they'd put up little privacy walls between the urinals completely destroying the acoustics in the room. I was shattered! And our band is called "Raised By Wolves." We make Wolf Tones sometimes. Mostly, we make a lotta noise.

Billy