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    Quote from Alienator

    Man, that's such a unique design I've never seen anything similar. Curious about that soundhole...how does it affect the overall tone character, loudness, etc.?

    The sound port literally blasts sound at the player. It is a fantastic sounding guitar. I am absolutely over the moon with the sound. The main thing I was testing with this design is whether cutting the lower bout off to make way for your leg would kill the tone. The theory was that the extra soundboard from not having a traditional sound hole in the middle of the top would compensate. It certainly seems that way so far. I made the top and bracing super light which has really enhanced the tone but I may have gone too far which could affect the long term stability. The next version will have a slightly heavier X brace but thinner top only at the edges to compensate.

    Quote from Kulle_Wumpenteich

    Wheresthedug

    Awesome! Absolutely awesome. :thumbup:

    What kind of lacquer?

    Thank you so much :)


    I used Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil over a West Systems 205/105 epoxy sealer coat. This is the finish that Ken Parker uses on his $30k archtops. Sand the wood to P2000 then apply epoxy but wipe off immediately. This leaves a super thin but tough sealer coat. Then i put on 16 coats of Tru-Oil before buffing. The beauty is that, unlike a lacquer finish there is no sanding at all after the epoxy is added.

    What a great job !!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::love:

    I'm impatient to see Alan's guitars in my guitar centers ! ;):)^^

    I really like the concept. I was interested in Mickael kelly's acoustics guitars with this soundhole (that Gibson i've done (again, if i'm not wrong) after). I would really like to hear this kind of guitar....But you go farther with this headless ! BRAVO, it's awesome !

    Quote from Steve5478

    What a great job !!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::love:

    I'm impatient to see Alan's guitars in my guitar centers ! ;):)^^

    I really like the concept. I was interested in Mickael kelly's acoustics guitars with this soundhole (that Gibson i've done (again, if i'm not wrong) after). I would really like to hear this kind of guitar....But you go farther with this headless ! BRAVO, it's awesome !

    Thank you Steve.


    I am going to add a second sound port on the next one. It will be on the cutaway side to top intersection. Almost like an open reverse version on the arm bevel. It should help facilitate even easier access to upper frets.


    I also have an idea for a mor traditional headless design with the tuners at the body end but using an archtop style bridge.

    Quote from Wheresthedug

    Thank you Steve.


    I am going to add a second sound port on the next one. It will be on the cutaway side to top intersection. Almost like an open reverse version on the arm bevel. It should help facilitate even easier access to upper frets.


    I also have an idea for a mor traditional headless design with the tuners at the body end but using an archtop style bridge.

    I don't catch exactly where you want to do the second port ?!

    Mickeal kelly and Gibson have a traditionnal front hole (deported and not round for MK) :



    Gibson ;


    As i understand it, you want to have a second port downside in the cutaway.

    I'm sure you have more knowledges than me but aren't you afraid of loosing basses coming straight to you ?!


    At the end, with what you show us, I know you won't do this second port randomly on this great and beautiful guitar ;)

    I'm rarely speechless but.....OMG!


    Where did this guitar design ( let alone build!!) genius come from? Dude, that is amazing....


    I only have 1 question - do we, as obviously very close friends, get a discount on your first run of guitars, as they will clearly take the world by storm!


    I was previously impressed, but now....I bow sir!!

    Contrary to popular belief the guitar doesn't have a bass and treble side so the position of the port isn't that big an issue. The more important factor for me is avoiding the loss of vibrating area on the top which the traditional sound hole causes. The front facing sound hole does improve projection but that isn't an issue for recording (in fact it's probably a good thing as the last thing you want to do is mic the sound hole anyway) and for live use the under saddle pickup is doing most of the work anyway.

    You are correct though about the increased size of the sound port(s) affecting bass. I am always surprised that the companies which add a side port don't reduce the size of their front sound holes accordingly. The guitar body is a simple Helmholtz resonator so the resonant frequency increased as the hole size increases. Smaller ports give more bass and larger ports less bass (all other things being equal).

    Mates rates ^^

    I actually have no desire to release the design as a production style model but rather as small boutique custom builds.

    Here is a little video of the Romanillos style classical being played by the amazing Nicky Murray and one of my classmate's guitars being played by the equally wonderful Calum McIlroy.


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    Here is a short video of the headless acoustic being played by Calum later in the concert.

    The music starts about 2:50 in after he describes the guitar and explains the tune.


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    They were just taken from someone's phone so the audio and picture quality is poor but it should give some idea of how they sound. I am hoping to get the official audio recording and video at some point to share on my website when I get it up and running.

    Quote from Wheresthedug

    Contrary to popular belief the guitar doesn't have a bass and treble side so the position of the port isn't that big an issue. The more important factor for me is avoiding the loss of vibrating area on the top which the traditional sound hole causes. The front facing sound hole does improve projection but that isn't an issue for recording (in fact it's probably a good thing as the last thing you want to do is mic the sound hole anyway) and for live use the under saddle pickup is doing most of the work anyway.

    You are correct though about the increased size of the sound port(s) affecting bass. I am always surprised that the companies which add a side port don't reduce the size of their front sound holes accordingly. The guitar body is a simple Helmholtz resonator so the resonant frequency increased as the hole size increases. Smaller ports give more bass and larger ports less bass (all other things being equal).

    Very interesting !

    Quote from Wheresthedug

    Guitar number 3 of my 5 builds at college this year. The fourth is on my work bench at home getting set up but the final one will need to wait until after my holidays to get finished as there is still a lot of work to do to it.

    This one is called "Voil" after the loch we live beside. It is an headless, multi scale acoustic with an ergonomic body shape to reduce back neck and shoulder strain when playing seated. It is very much a prototype at the moment and there are several things I want to change already but the basic proof of concept has worked out much better than I could have expected.

    Wow! That must be a great school you're attending and you must be the star student. That's next level stuff. Thanks for the info on the finish technique - it's more forgiving to sand wood than lacquer.

    I'd like to order one with the optional mini bar in the sound hole please. :)

    Two latest additions. Bought the Moon White two weeks ago. It is one of those rare guitars that you just know is magical after one minute with it in the store. (And i only went there to buy strings ^^, turned out to be an expensive day).


    It is effectively replacing my 2009 fender american strat as my new cover gig main axe. That was also one of those rare magical ones, but after 14 years and well over 500 gigs on it, i am a bit bored with it.


    One thing i regretted with the 2009 am strat, was not getting a spare with the exact same specs. Because i am one of those “if i break a string, i want to change to essentially the same guitar”. So i am not making that mistake again. Hence, after a week, i bought the Stone Blue as well. Going to swing both saturday.


    Not surprisingly, most of my sounds translated well but one thing that struck me, is how much better the Kemper reacts to backing off on the volume on the Silver Skys, in comparison with the aforementioned 2009 strat.

    Quote from hafi19

    My newest guitar. I never had a Les Paul style guitar. And this Tokai looks, feels and plays great.

    Very nice one hafi19 , I had a similar one from Tokai back in the 80s. Sold it because the neck was not the best unfortunately.


    But it is so cool that it says "Love Rock" model on the headstock. That's my statement as well :thumbup:8)

    Quote from Kulle_Wumpenteich

    Looks nice!
    What year of construction?

    Unfortunately, I don't know, but it's not that important to me. What is important for me is the workmanship, feel and playability, and that is very good.

    Kemper Head - Kemper Remote - Palmer Box with Kemper Kone - TC Electronic BAM200 - Laney LFR 112