Acoustic Soundport Project w/pics (Page 1 of 2)

Of course not

I've already started.
-First step was to determine the shape and placement.
  I decided to go oval 2 inch by 1.5 inch
-Next I taped off the area and marked my center line.

-Then I placed my template and checked the alignment.

-Next I cut off the tape inside the template and also scored the wood with an exacto knife to prevent chipping. I also put in a pilot hole to assist with placing reinforcement to the back side.

-Once that was done I attached a piece of fiberglass tape to the back side to prevent splitting and maintain structural integrity. It'll take 2-3 coats and I'll tape off the inside lines for a cleaner appearance before the finish coat which will be tinted to match the woods color. This is a photo of the first coat so it looks a little messy

Now I'm just waiting on the clear to dry... Tonight or tomorrow morning I'll route out the soundport itself and start my finish sanding. I'll post more pics as it progresses

This morning everything was dry so I've used my plunge router to cut out the rough hole. I left 1/8 of an inch on the edges. The remainder will be removed via the dremel with a sanding wheel and then finished by hand with paper. Here's a pic of the rough cut...

Now I'm using the dremel to sand to the score line that I made earlier. I was impressed with the camera on this shot. My son took it, that dremel is variable speed and was set at about 15,000rpm! You can almost count the grains of sand on the paper when it's full size. Thought it was pretty good for a Canon Power Shot A530..

Let's hope it pays off

Okay it's been sanded down to the score line and all the tape and templates removed. I was a little worried that I may have some flaking in the finish around the edge but all is good Now I can start with my finger sanding to round the edges and smooth everything out.

I'm resisting the urge to string her up until I'm finished but I just held her in playing position and did some tap testing to the top and man it really changes the sound from the players perspective I think I'm going to like this a lot

Looks good appearance wise....hope it turns out like you hoped...if I can get fatstrings to let me borrow his guitar I may just give it a try

Well she's been strung up and I've been playing her for an hour.... WOW I Love this! I notice some slight changes in the tone. It has a touch more bass and the individual notes are more discernible. I also notice an increase in sustain. Before the guitar had a tendency to become over-driven when strummed really aggressively since it's fairly lightly built. That problem is gone. It's like adding the extra port really allowed it to breath or vibrate properly. The volume has also increased. All changes have been positive The largest difference is the way I hear it when playing. It's like listening from in front of one without a port. Really lets you hear every little nuance that you play! It changes the whole experience! I can see the addition of sound ports coming soon to all my other acoustics -Pix

How did you decide the size of the tone-port.

I really enjoyed your step-by-step photos. The sound port looks great! I can understand how the player would hear things better, but does the person in front of the guitar hear it differently? When you do your next one, could you make a before and after recording? If so, let us know your thoughts on that, please? Also I'd like to see the Yairi emblem when completed,as would others I'm sure.

Guitarpix , were you referring to AGF .

Wow, awesome project!!
You're an inspiration!

=]
Dm

I was doodling around a minute ago and sketched this out real quick for the Yairi sound port.

It's a rough drawing but I think I like it... Just wondering what others thought. Any opinions or other ideas? Thanks! -Pix

Pix that was a really nice and instructive project it really turned out great look forward to the yairi vid good luck with it