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A R T I C L E S
Debunking Some of the Myths
by Bruce Morrison
I'd like to expose some of my pet peeve guitar myths:
MYTH #1: "My action is too high. So is my saddle. I'm going to cure the action problem by lowering the saddle."
REALITY: The guitars which sound and play the best have a correct neck angle. Because of that, they also have low action and high saddles. If the saddle is lowered when the real problem is an incorrect neck angle, one of the most important factors in producing good sound, the bridging, has been compromised. So, in this situation, lowering the saddle not only ignores the real problem, but creates an additional one, doubling your trouble.
MYTH #2: "Those uncut string tails hanging from my tuner posts look so cool. They make my guitar sound better, too."
REALITY: Not only are they likely to give somebody an unwanted body piercing, but they contribute nothing to the sound of an instrument. For safety's sake, cut them.
MYTH #3: "All of that old built-up dirt on my guitar sure makes it sound better."
REALITY: Actually, that dirt impedes the guitar's ability to vibrate, thus limiting its potential to produce sound. A clean guitar sounds and looks better.
MYTH #4: "I'll sound so much better playing a higher quality, more expensive guitar."
REALITY: An ordinary guitar will sound far better in the hands of a great player than a great guitar will sound in the hands of an ordinary player. As a novice player you'll receive far more value spending your money on learning better playing technique than on a pricey instrument. Once you can get that great sound out of an ordinary guitar, then it's time to move up to the better instrument which will benefit from your improved technique.
MYTH #5: A Martin D-18 owner once told me that they wanted "a completely different sound". Therefore, they were considering getting a Martin D-35.
REALITY: Someone's been reading that Martin propaganda again. While the differences in soundboard and body woods will make subtle tonal changes, a dreadnought is a dreadnought is a dreadnought. The sound envelope of all dreadnought guitars falls within a certain range. If you truly want "a completely different sound", go play a Gibson J-200, a Collings OM, a 12-fret Martin single 0, or a Santa Cruz Model F arch top. To get "a completely different sound", you have to play a completely different guitar.
MYTH #6: Guitars with scalloped bracing always sound better than guitars with standard bracing.
REALITY: Somebody else has been reading that Martin propaganda. It all depends on the character of the individual piece of wood used for the soundboard. If it is very stiff with the grain and across the grain, scalloped bracing may indeed make it sound better than it would have with standard bracing, but then again in this particular case it might not. If a soundboard lacks that high degree of stiffness, standard non-scalloped bracing may be more likely to produce a better sound, but then again in this particular case, maybe not. While these are broad generalizations, one must understand that soundboards which have been cut consecutively from the same log each have different properties. To achieve the best result, the bracing must be matched to those properties.
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