Is it an innie or an outie ?

[wsmerwin@hotmai]

Does anyone know the origin of (aside from mimicking the shape of an acoustic guitar) or the reason for inward (toward the neck) turning bouts on a guitar (as opposed to out ward away from the neck) ? Here is a classic example of outward turning bouts for guitar.

Link Removed

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I am probably wrong, but here is how I have always thought of it.

An Evolution:

The Classical Guitar

Single cut added for better upper fret access on high strings

Electric solid-body version for less feedback when amplified (to compete with loud brass sections of big bands):

Fender's version, the Broadcaster (now Telecaster), introduced in 1949:

5 years later, the dual-cut Stratocaster:

As to why they mostly curve in, rather than out? I'm guessing tradition. That is what people expect guitars to look like, so that is how they are mostly made.

 

[mikeyswood]

Acoustics. The relationship of the bouts affects the sound. I am still searching for the ratio physics. The solidbody doesn't matter about shape but in acoustics shape matters.

Also - size matters.

 

[ponticat]

...the reason for inward (toward the neck) turning bouts on a guitar (as opposed to out ward away from the neck)...

'Cuz it looks better.

 

[Musiclogic]

Size doesn't matter, resonance of the top wood, and the chamber acoustics matters. As for the bouts, going back as far as one can musically(1600 BC), the idea of the acoustic stringed instrument is about form and function. Bodies from the Lute to today's modern guitars have been designed around physical playability, where as the Viol family bodies were designed specifically to produce as much sound as possible in an un amplified open theater(they didn't have amps and sound systems in the 1100's). The reason an unamplified orchestra still sounds good is due to the resonant chamber design of the body, designed to specifically amplify through resonance, the sonic range of said instrument. This is the design characteristic lost in the making of the guitar, it was about the peasent having an instrument that they could play somewhat comfortablly, while not incurring the cost of a crafted instrument(violin,viola,cello,Bass Viol). This is why the acoustic looks as it does. Once we became Automated in the 1800's design began to play more of a part, but nobody ever really reworked the instrument to make it more resonant, just better looking. It's kind of sad.

 

[ctmullins]

'Cuz it looks better.

Well, more precisely, because it looks familiar.

As HaMMerHeD illustrated for all of us, the solidbody instruments evolved from the acoustic instruments that they were designed to replace. So it's understandable that they retained the same visual cues. And since that time, we've all grown accustomed to them looking that way, and we've been conditioned to perceive it as "better".

And as Mikeyswood pointed out, the shape of a solidbody has almost no importance, other than ergonomics.

Side note: The Gibson Explorer is surprisingly comfortable to play.

 

[Musiclogic]

You haven't played a Hamer Blitz Bass....LOL that is one unruly explorer style...LMAO

 

[wsmerwin@hotmai]

Thank you all for your very astute comments on the shape of the guitar. I now realize I should have narrowed my question to solid body electric guitars and basses so let's begin again. Does it matter which way the bout turns ? Does its direction as well as its length affect the balance (button placement) of the instrument ? Is there some science involved or is tradition the major influence on solid body shape / design and bout direction ?

 

[Musiclogic]

cutaways effect balance, which way they turn no, as in relation to the fulcrum points of attachment, yes(strap buttons). Ergonomics would be the closest science to making something fit the body of the player comfortablly, you can take the most comfortable bass you play, and use that a a guidance point. The 12th fret is usually the benchmark for balancing a bass, with the other point being at the end of the body, but this can be altered as the body design changes.