THE CUTAWAY OR WHOLE BODIED

[MIKE 450]

A cutaway,favored by many preformance guitarists, provides easier access to the upper frets.However the removal of a section of the body reduces volume and alters the tone.Most people can't hear these subtle differences,but only you ear counts.

When I read the above paragraph in a guitar mag, I thought emm is that why lots of my fav guitarist play whole bodied intruments. My Avalon 201CE sounds great but would the 201 non cutaway sound better.

I must say I'd miss playing EMinor on the 14th fret which I do on one of my songs,lol. But other than that I rarely venture up past the 12th fret infact I don't go there at all. Then I thought ask the people who make them they'll know, or ask the people who are lucky enough to own lots of acoustic they'll know.

The odd thing is my 12 string is a cutaway aswell,fancy that,playing lead down there or anywhere on a 12 string.Yes I know you have that option of playing fiddlely little things cords etc --which is great. But I wonder! which do you perfer cut or non cut.

[singlereed]

Hi Mike, I am sure if you A/B tested two examples of the same guitar with and without cutaway, there would be a subtle difference, but I doubt it would be much. Indeed, the slightly smaller body of air in a cutaway guitar might actually give a sound you prefer. I really wouldn't worry about it - you have a great guitar. I have a S32 without a cutaway, yet I also have a much larger Lowden with a cutaway as well as a large jumbo Takamine 12 string also with a cutaway. I like the aesthetics of a cutaway and I like how all of these guitars play even though I rarely venture up the dusty end!

[Ross A]

I've got to say I have never been able to tell the difference between the sound of a guitar with cutaway and one without. My personal preference would be for without, I think the guitar look better with symmetrical sides, plus adding a cutaway makes the guitar more expensive.

[SimonC]

plus adding a cutaway makes the guitar more expensive.

You're not form Ballymena are you? lol

I posted about this earlier in the week - my personal opinion is that you tend to get a punchier sound from a cutaway that can break through a mix a bit better..

[MIKE 450]

Indeed Simon you did post about this, which made me think.As I've said I have two cutaway guitar's 6&12 string,I've no intension of changing my Avalon 201ce this is my wonder guitar a fantastic all rounder.This is the guitar I play 99% of the time,I give my eldest son all my electric's and amps.

Playing the 201ce so much over the years It's now become an extension of me - it's so comfortable to play and so simple to plugg in and get on with it. I also remember back in 2003" I think" my son and I played a lovely 201 non cutaway thru a AER amp in a music shop in Belfast it sounded great.

When I posted this I was thinking perhaps someone might own both guitars cutaway and noncutaway and be able to tell me the tonal differences.Which reminds me I must email Mr Emannuel and ask him "when he's not spanking the living daylights out of he's matton mouse" what he thinks.

[SimonC]

I must email Mr Emannuel and ask him "when he's not spanking the living daylights out of he's matton mouse" what he thinks.

Let me know how that call goes Mike!

[Lentin]

I think each guitar has its own soul and sound.
When I bought my Avalon (L32) I tested a couple of L32 in the shop. I chose one of them. The one I really liked. I felt the sound slightly different.

That's why I think than even the same model will not sound exactly the same, but not necessarily due to the cutaway.

Anyhow, I'd like to have a cutaway Avalon to make easier playing down the neck. Mainly for soloing (something I like to do while I'm listening some songs in the PC).

Regards

[MIKE 450]

That's interesting Lentin,as an x lead guitarist in a few rock bands playing with 10 gauge strings- I find soloing quite hard to play on acoustic even with 11 gauge strings. Nowadays I'm working hard on fingerstyle with a thumb pick and three finger's so I'm using 12 guage.

That's another question I'd love to ask anyone out there who fancies themselves as a good picker. I 'm just starting to get the hang of the boom chick method-a style I always shyed away from. Now after learning Frieght Train and a few other tunes which took weeks and weeks of practice"to get the thumb working on it's own"I love it.

However, when I began to practice,I used thumb pick and three fingers a freind told me THE CLAW as he call it is just thumb and two finger's "HARVEY SMITH STYLE"-------I'm getting quite good at using three fingers does it realy matter--must you put your pinky finger on the body and only use two finger's for speed etc--or is my friend just jealous because I'm turning into Tommy Emannuel.

[frankhond]

I would suggest not to get stuck with the pinky. If you look at all the material from TE online, his pinky is there only sometimes.

I have had a lot of luck with the "prepared stroke" principle, which also lets you do string damping with the fingers, AND the naked thumb, which in the end lets you throw away the thumbpick (if you wish) and keep the boomchick.

There is a lot of literature on the subject but basically, as you pluck one string, the next finger has already landed on the next string to be plucked. So you are more or less always in touch with the strings. You can choose to prepare more fingers at once, effectively damping strings from ringing. In Martin Simpson terms "cleaning up after yourself".

To really pick this up and combine with muting/damping I suggest to learn "Layover" by Michael Hedges, basically a simple tune with alternating thumb but to make it sound right you have to be very precise with preparing and damping. Works both with and without thumbpick.

[Ross A]

That's interesting Lentin,as an x lead guitarist in a few rock bands playing with 10 gauge strings- I find soloing quite hard to play on acoustic even with 11 gauge strings. Nowadays I'm working hard on fingerstyle with a thumb pick and three finger's so I'm using 12 guage.

That's another question I'd love to ask anyone out there who fancies themselves as a good picker. I 'm just starting to get the hang of the boom chick method-a style I always shyed away from. Now after learning Frieght Train and a few other tunes which took weeks and weeks of practice"to get the thumb working on it's own"I love it.

However, when I began to practice,I used thumb pick and three fingers a freind told me THE CLAW as he call it is just thumb and two finger's "HARVEY SMITH STYLE"-------I'm getting quite good at using three fingers does it realy matter--must you put your pinky finger on the body and only use two finger's for speed etc--or is my friend just jealous because I'm turning into Tommy Emannuel.

I use thumb and 3 fingers like you Mike, but when I went on a Stefan Grossman workshop he basically told me I MUST put my pinky on the body of the guitar if I want to get the same sound as the old Country Blues players. I took his advice on board, tried it for a while, but then went back to the way I felt comfortable with. I watched some John Martyn footage earlier, and he used this thumb and index finger, occasionally his middle finger, and had his ring and pinky resting on the body. My Dad does something similar. For me there is a slight change in sound with the pinky on the body, but it's not that big that you should lose comfort over. Just go with whatever makes you happy.

[singlereed]

Unlike in classical playing, there is not really any rule about which fingers to use in folk and blues and whether or not to anchor the little finger on the body. It is worth exploring these various approaches and being open to different ideas and see which can be of use to you. I have tried playing Gary Davis style with just thumb and index, but it doesn't really work for me although I can do it. I have tended to favour thumb, index and middle with ring finger getting involved as needed - yet my current study with Duck Baker is showing me that I need all three of those fingers fully engaged to play his arrangements! Of course, there are people playing using a plectrum and fingers and yet others with fingerpicks. All of these can be used to great effect. Most important of all is to explore and find an efficient and effective style; I have seen many players whose playing is really limited by an awkward RH technique. I am sure I learned a lot by studying classical guitar as well. I quite like looking at John Renbourn's playing on Youtube - he seems to have an effortless RH technique, just tickling those strings with his big fat fingers!

[MIKE 450]

As my father who was a great motor mechanic used to tell me,throw the manuel out the window and get on with it.---- Everyone is different, and it's funny when you look back and see Paul McCartney strolling up the beach singing Mull of Kintyre. Old Mac made a fortune out of a simple song with nothing more than a few cords.

"But looking back I'm sure the young McCartney didne't realise how much he would need that money" Great song I must say- which I will use as a link for my next topic. THE SONG!

Would we have heard of John Martyn if he had not wrote May You Never or Sweet Little Mistery. The list goes on forever of great guitarist who's claim to fame was pening a bloody good song.John Denver "Rocky Mountain High" James Taylor"Fire and Rain"Michael Dickinson "Two Yellow Cranes"LOL --I couldne't resist it!

[Loki]

Wow, Mike 450.

Poor oul Manuel must've had an even tougher time working in your Dad's garage than he he did working in Fawlty Towers for Basil Fawlty.

Wouldn't get away with it nowadays

ps ..... and there was me thinking the song was called "Mulligan's Tyre"...