Rich-the-K Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 Greetings All, just came across this wonderful site and wanted to try the scalloping tutorial. I already own a cheap strat with scalloped board and I love it. I'm thinking of scalloping another of my Strats. Has anyone ever thought of scalloping an acoustic guitar? I saw a pic of one and it looked awesome. I'm thinking it'll give me the same control over the string that an electric scalloped board does. I'm seriously thinking of doing this so any advice or precautions would be greatly appreciated. It'll be on a cheap acoustic of course. Quote
StreamLine Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 well doing it over the frets that are on the body will be quite uncomfy..... yeh i love how scalloped fingerboards feel, word of warning though - scalloped fingerboards kill your fingers if you play full barre chords, esp if you're using a high/medium gauge strings..... it will do wonders for sort of al di meola / john mcglocklin (spelling?) stuff, but for chords it will be a bit of a pain..... but will be cool Roman Quote
Saber Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 John McLaughlin's first scalloped guitar was an acoustic guitar that he used in Shakti. I see no reason not to do it if it's used for lead. Barre chords should not be a problem if you use proper playing technique on a properly set up guitar. If it hurts, you're squeezing your neck too hard. In fact, the best way to practise not squeezing the neck is by playing barre chords without using your thumb. Just hold the guitar's body against yours and apply finger pressure without using your thumb (just for practising of course). Quote
krazyderek Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 accoustics are under a bit more pressure from the strings, cause the gauges are usualy a bit higher, and scalloping does remove a bit of the neck's strength so i wouldn't really want to do it to any of my accoustics. You may be able to get away with it if you play really light accoustic gauges, but i'd still be worried about the neck strength. Quote
StreamLine Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 no i disagree, the acoustic's neck strength lies in the neck wood, and the truss rod (assuming its got steel strings), so doing scalloping fingerboard should have next to no effect on structural integrity of the neck. Quote
jbkim Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 no i disagree, the acoustic's neck strength lies in the neck wood, and the truss rod (assuming its got steel strings), so doing scalloping fingerboard should have next to no effect on structural integrity of the neck. I think krazyderek is paraphrasing the info from this page about scalloping acoustics. Scalloping will weaken your guitar's neck, so you should get an experienced luthier to examine the neck (and truss rod) before you start. Quote
StreamLine Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 i see..... but i still dont think that scallops have that much of an impact, unless you wonna actually go right down to neck wood you know? Quote
jbkim Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 i see..... but i still dont think that scallops have that much of an impact, unless you wonna actually go right down to neck wood you know? I don't think it would either. From personal experience, one of the guitars I scalloped I kept strung with 12's. In addition to scalloping the fretboard, I shaved the back of the neck flat like some of the old 80's Kramers. It was an electric (Ibanez Roadster II, IIRC) but it held up fine. Quote
krazyderek Posted January 13, 2004 Report Posted January 13, 2004 i see..... but i still dont think that scallops have that much of an impact, unless you wonna actually go right down to neck wood you know? i know what you mean by "neck wood" but you have to realise that once you get the fingerboard glued on it then is part of the neck and affects the tone and strength. On many accoustics you have a mahogany neck back and a ebony fingerboard, now i'm sorry, but there' no way you can tell me that that ebony fingerboard (one of the hardest woods) doesn't play a role in the strength of the neck considering mahogany is much weaker of a wood. either way, it was just my opinion, try it out and let us know how it goes one way or the other and no i wasn't paraphrasing, first time i've ever seen that page Quote
Snork Posted January 14, 2004 Report Posted January 14, 2004 john mclaughlin is my hero........... definately scallop it man if you are a classical shredder that is. I felt when i scallopped my neck i lost some tone. some of the actual woody tone but thats just how i feel. if your playing camp fire esque stuff. you shouldnt but if you are playing like rippping classical or jazz. the scallops allow the guitar to become more of you because its easier to bend and put your accent in. Quote
Rich-the-K Posted January 15, 2004 Author Report Posted January 15, 2004 Thanks Guys for all the input. I'm definitely going to do a full scallop on the acoustic. I'll take pics of my progress and notes to post them for all. My Contour Sander should be here any day now. I'm dying to get started. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.