soundports?

[Grachi]

i couldnt imagine it would be good to do that to a guitar that isnt meant to be built for it. meaning, i would think the only way it is good for the guitar structurally and acoustically is if they planned on building the sound port in the first place.

[dchladmar]

well, i have been thinking about puting one in my martin for about a month now. i will admit that having the sound become more alive would be sweet. however like most of you guys i do have a hard time puting a hole in my martin. if all guitar players new more about soundports and have played guitars with them, and if more people where educated about them and they where on most acoustic guitars it wouldnt be a problem. cuz when i go to sell or traid in my martin for another one folks wouldnt be taken back by the hole. however at the moment people dont take to them so i may pass the idea of doing it to my martin.


just think,..there may come a day where a soundport will "add" to the value of a guitar


untill then,,guitars rule and so does Dave Mathews!!!

[mattinbeloit]

just think,..there may come a day where a soundport will "add" to the value of a guitar

nope, not going to happen. I can see it as an option from the factory that might cost a little more, but if you do it to a guitar that did not originaly have it and it come to the point were you try to sell it, you will not get as much for it and will decrease the value of your instrument, especially when it becomes vintage age...

[mangold]

I just read through this thread and it made me furious... maybe im just tired but its got me riled up!
The idea of a fucking soundport is entirely absurd. There is a reason the soundhole is in the top, the top vibrates way more than the back or sides when you are playing, thats how it got the fucking name SOUNDBOARD, and the hole opens up the sound so you get vibrations through the entire soundbox. A soundhole is NOT a speaker, it is not the reason the sound in front of the guitar is stronger and crisper than behind or on the side of it, the top is the reason the sweetspot for a guitar is directly in front of it.
Punching a hole in the side of your guitar is not going to improve your sound at all, and the very idea of the hole allowing you to hear the guitar as if you are standing in front of it while playing is downright preposterous. The only reason you might hear your guitar better after installing soundports would be that you are actually hearing the vibrations coming off the backside of the top and they are reaching your ears without having to go through the side of the guitar, but this is a self defeating "advance" because in the process you are destroying the tone of your guitar, whether you can hear it or not. The point of having a solid soundbox is that it allows the vibrations to develop as you play, and a well made guitar resonates much better than a cheap one because careful attention to detail has been taken to account for the sound. Now, in the case of junker acoustics, these ports might actually serve a purpose. If a guitar is all laminate, then chances are the back and sides aren't contributing to the sound anyway, so drillin some holes in the side of the sucker might allow you to hear the crappy sound better. This may be the case with your fender, but i would go nowhere near my martin with a drill if i were you.
Oh yeh, you must've said 100 times that "this doesn't hurt the guitar" how the fuck can putting a hole in the side of your guitar, which btw is more for structural integrity than anything, not be hurting it? Especially if you miss and put it right through a side brace. Some people (you) don't understand the complexity and precision put into building a fine guitar. I have been studying the luthier process for a long time now in hopes of building my own acoustic someday. If you were to tell the guy at Martin who built your guitar, who measured and sanded every last brace to the 1/32nd of an inch, who radiused the top of your guitar to exactly 30 feet, who made sure that every last inch of kerfing was perfectly placed with no overgluing, who made sure that every side brace was exactly evenly spaced, who made sure that all the bracing in your soundbox was perfectly balanced on the centerline for even bass and trebble response, who placed the bridge and bridge support block perfectly to anchor the vibrations, tell that guy (or girl) you want to drill a hole in the side of your guitar, see what he (or she) says.
All this ranting and raving is not to be-little or harass you for your decision, although it may do that as well. It is only to let all of the readers know that there is no factual reason that a soundport will improve your sound. By all means if you think it helps punch holes in all of your guitars. Hell maybe the more soundports the better! Make your guitar look like a big ass hunk of swiss cheese. Thats your decision man.

Oy... that was stressful... now I'm off to figure out something way more important... like why I get so mad over some little things... i think it has to do with my diet...

[mangold]

Well that just seals it! Son! Fetch me my Dremel and my plumber's helper. We're going to hack up my investment!

definetly on my list of funniest posts of all time.

[mattinbeloit]

Great post, i was too chicken to just come out and say that, lol. You are all welcome to come over and play my 714ce with the fishman "barn door" electronics in the side. You can open up the mixer on the side of my guitar and create a "soundport" and it dosn't sound any different to me... If a guitar maker makes a guitar with a hole in the side in mind, he can build the guitar so that it better utilizes that side hole, but it's really not going to make a difference punching a hole in your guitar. Like I said, my 714ce is a perfect example. The next time you are playing a guitar with a fishman barn door, open it up and see if you can hear a difference, I can't...

[EnFuego]

I just read through this thread and it made me furious... maybe im just tired but its got me riled up!
The idea of a fucking soundport is entirely absurd. There is a reason the soundhole is in the top, the top vibrates way more than the back or sides when you are playing, thats how it got the fucking name SOUNDBOARD, and the hole opens up the sound so you get vibrations through the entire soundbox. A soundhole is NOT a speaker, it is not the reason the sound in front of the guitar is stronger and crisper than behind or on the side of it, the top is the reason the sweetspot for a guitar is directly in front of it.
Punching a hole in the side of your guitar is not going to improve your sound at all, and the very idea of the hole allowing you to hear the guitar as if you are standing in front of it while playing is downright preposterous. The only reason you might hear your guitar better after installing soundports would be that you are actually hearing the vibrations coming off the backside of the top and they are reaching your ears without having to go through the side of the guitar, but this is a self defeating "advance" because in the process you are destroying the tone of your guitar, whether you can hear it or not. The point of having a solid soundbox is that it allows the vibrations to develop as you play, and a well made guitar resonates much better than a cheap one because careful attention to detail has been taken to account for the sound. Now, in the case of junker acoustics, these ports might actually serve a purpose. If a guitar is all laminate, then chances are the back and sides aren't contributing to the sound anyway, so drillin some holes in the side of the sucker might allow you to hear the crappy sound better. This may be the case with your fender, but i would go nowhere near my martin with a drill if i were you.
Oh yeh, you must've said 100 times that "this doesn't hurt the guitar" how the fuck can putting a hole in the side of your guitar, which btw is more for structural integrity than anything, not be hurting it? Especially if you miss and put it right through a side brace. Some people (you) don't understand the complexity and precision put into building a fine guitar. I have been studying the luthier process for a long time now in hopes of building my own acoustic someday. If you were to tell the guy at Martin who built your guitar, who measured and sanded every last brace to the 1/32nd of an inch, who radiused the top of your guitar to exactly 30 feet, who made sure that every last inch of kerfing was perfectly placed with no overgluing, who made sure that every side brace was exactly evenly spaced, who made sure that all the bracing in your soundbox was perfectly balanced on the centerline for even bass and trebble response, who placed the bridge and bridge support block perfectly to anchor the vibrations, tell that guy (or girl) you want to drill a hole in the side of your guitar, see what he (or she) says.
All this ranting and raving is not to be-little or harass you for your decision, although it may do that as well. It is only to let all of the readers know that there is no factual reason that a soundport will improve your sound. By all means if you think it helps punch holes in all of your guitars. Hell maybe the more soundports the better! Make your guitar look like a big ass hunk of swiss cheese. Thats your decision man.

Oy... that was stressful... now I'm off to figure out something way more important... like why I get so mad over some little things... i think it has to do with my diet...

umm....Thats not exactly all true.

This is becoming slightly more popular with some folks over at the acoustic guitar forum. Most people, though, aren't just doing it themselves either. They are having it done when they get their instruments built. So the same builders who build guitars to 1/32 blah blah blah are now also giving buyers the option to do this. I'm sure they wouldn't do it, if it made any structural difference in the guitar. There was a builder who did a test (can't find it now and I can't get on ACG right now), to find the best spot for a soundhole by building a guitar with a lot of holes and plugging them with corks and doing testing on which soundports produced the best overall sound.

From what others say about it, it doesn't affect the sound coming out of the front of the guitar at all (and that is coming from many different reports), it just makes it so that you can hear it easier from where you hear.

That said, I wouldn't do it do any of my guitars, because I think its ugly, and I'm superficial. And if I was to ever do it for whatever reason, I would have it professionally done. But, most of your comments are pretty much just wrong on this one.

[mattinbeloit]

I've been reading that stuff on the acousticguitarforum. The luthiers that are doing it design their guitars to do that and have offered that option for a while. I'm sure it does sound great on their guitar. The point is, you can't just do this to any guitar and expect results. If anything, results will vary. Like I said, it dosn't do a hill of bean for my taylor. I wouldn't just decide to cut a freaking hole in a nice guitar, it will devalue your instrument and possibly damage it in the long run.

[brian_ok]

I've been reading that stuff on the acousticguitarforum. The luthiers that are doing it design their guitars to do that and have offered that option for a while. I'm sure it does sound great on their guitar. The point is, you can't just do this to any guitar and expect results. If anything, results will vary. Like I said, it dosn't do a hill of bean for my taylor. I wouldn't just decide to cut a freaking hole in a nice guitar, it will devalue your instrument and possibly damage it in the long run.

wow, great new points, it's good to read some fresh ideas in this thread


I'm kidding, but seriously, we get it, it's bad for the guitar.

[mattinbeloit]

I've been reading that stuff on the acousticguitarforum. The luthiers that are doing it design their guitars to do that and have offered that option for a while. I'm sure it does sound great on their guitar. The point is, you can't just do this to any guitar and expect results. If anything, results will vary. Like I said, it dosn't do a hill of bean for my taylor. I wouldn't just decide to cut a freaking hole in a nice guitar, it will devalue your instrument and possibly damage it in the long run.

wow, great new points, it's good to read some fresh ideas in this thread


I'm kidding, but seriously, we get it, it's bad for the guitar.

And why did you feel the need to say that?

[mangold]

I just read through this thread and it made me furious... maybe im just tired but its got me riled up!
The idea of a fucking soundport is entirely absurd. There is a reason the soundhole is in the top, the top vibrates way more than the back or sides when you are playing, thats how it got the fucking name SOUNDBOARD, and the hole opens up the sound so you get vibrations through the entire soundbox. A soundhole is NOT a speaker, it is not the reason the sound in front of the guitar is stronger and crisper than behind or on the side of it, the top is the reason the sweetspot for a guitar is directly in front of it.
Punching a hole in the side of your guitar is not going to improve your sound at all, and the very idea of the hole allowing you to hear the guitar as if you are standing in front of it while playing is downright preposterous. The only reason you might hear your guitar better after installing soundports would be that you are actually hearing the vibrations coming off the backside of the top and they are reaching your ears without having to go through the side of the guitar, but this is a self defeating "advance" because in the process you are destroying the tone of your guitar, whether you can hear it or not. The point of having a solid soundbox is that it allows the vibrations to develop as you play, and a well made guitar resonates much better than a cheap one because careful attention to detail has been taken to account for the sound. Now, in the case of junker acoustics, these ports might actually serve a purpose. If a guitar is all laminate, then chances are the back and sides aren't contributing to the sound anyway, so drillin some holes in the side of the sucker might allow you to hear the crappy sound better. This may be the case with your fender, but i would go nowhere near my martin with a drill if i were you.
Oh yeh, you must've said 100 times that "this doesn't hurt the guitar" how the fuck can putting a hole in the side of your guitar, which btw is more for structural integrity than anything, not be hurting it? Especially if you miss and put it right through a side brace. Some people (you) don't understand the complexity and precision put into building a fine guitar. I have been studying the luthier process for a long time now in hopes of building my own acoustic someday. If you were to tell the guy at Martin who built your guitar, who measured and sanded every last brace to the 1/32nd of an inch, who radiused the top of your guitar to exactly 30 feet, who made sure that every last inch of kerfing was perfectly placed with no overgluing, who made sure that every side brace was exactly evenly spaced, who made sure that all the bracing in your soundbox was perfectly balanced on the centerline for even bass and trebble response, who placed the bridge and bridge support block perfectly to anchor the vibrations, tell that guy (or girl) you want to drill a hole in the side of your guitar, see what he (or she) says.
All this ranting and raving is not to be-little or harass you for your decision, although it may do that as well. It is only to let all of the readers know that there is no factual reason that a soundport will improve your sound. By all means if you think it helps punch holes in all of your guitars. Hell maybe the more soundports the better! Make your guitar look like a big ass hunk of swiss cheese. Thats your decision man.

Oy... that was stressful... now I'm off to figure out something way more important... like why I get so mad over some little things... i think it has to do with my diet...

umm....Thats not exactly all true.

This is becoming slightly more popular with some folks over at the acoustic guitar forum. Most people, though, aren't just doing it themselves either. They are having it done when they get their instruments built. So the same builders who build guitars to 1/32 blah blah blah are now also giving buyers the option to do this. I'm sure they wouldn't do it, if it made any structural difference in the guitar. There was a builder who did a test (can't find it now and I can't get on ACG right now), to find the best spot for a soundhole by building a guitar with a lot of holes and plugging them with corks and doing testing on which soundports produced the best overall sound.

From what others say about it, it doesn't affect the sound coming out of the front of the guitar at all (and that is coming from many different reports), it just makes it so that you can hear it easier from where you hear.

That said, I wouldn't do it do any of my guitars, because I think its ugly, and I'm superficial. And if I was to ever do it for whatever reason, I would have it professionally done. But, most of your comments are pretty much just wrong on this one.

I don't actually have any experience with soundports, ive never played a guitar with one, but i have done extensive reading on how acoustic guitars are constructed and why they are that way, and there is no structural or sound based reason I can find anywhere online that a soundport would improve your instrument. Everything ive found supporting it just says "the soundport enhances your guitars sound" or "the soundport allows you to hear the true voice of your guitar" nothing Ive found says why.

[brian_ok]

I've been reading that stuff on the acousticguitarforum. The luthiers that are doing it design their guitars to do that and have offered that option for a while. I'm sure it does sound great on their guitar. The point is, you can't just do this to any guitar and expect results. If anything, results will vary. Like I said, it dosn't do a hill of bean for my taylor. I wouldn't just decide to cut a freaking hole in a nice guitar, it will devalue your instrument and possibly damage it in the long run.

wow, great new points, it's good to read some fresh ideas in this thread


I'm kidding, but seriously, we get it, it's bad for the guitar.

And why did you feel the need to say that?

in every post you've made in this thread (and pretty much everywhere), you've somehow incorporated "my taylor", "my 714ce", or "my D18GE"...it just starts to get annoying. A lot of people on these boards have very nice guitars, myself included, but we don't feel the need to drop references to them constantly. and it's not like you covered new ground with that post or anything. not that I was trying to insult you or anything.

[mattinbeloit]

I've been reading that stuff on the acousticguitarforum. The luthiers that are doing it design their guitars to do that and have offered that option for a while. I'm sure it does sound great on their guitar. The point is, you can't just do this to any guitar and expect results. If anything, results will vary. Like I said, it dosn't do a hill of bean for my taylor. I wouldn't just decide to cut a freaking hole in a nice guitar, it will devalue your instrument and possibly damage it in the long run.

wow, great new points, it's good to read some fresh ideas in this thread


I'm kidding, but seriously, we get it, it's bad for the guitar.

And why did you feel the need to say that?

in every post you've made in this thread (and pretty much everywhere), you've somehow incorporated "my taylor", "my 714ce", or "my D18GE"...it just starts to get annoying. A lot of people on these boards have very nice guitars, myself included, but we don't feel the need to drop references to them constantly. and it's not like you covered new ground with that post or anything. not that I was trying to insult you or anything.

Wow, your an ass if you think I was saying that to show off, but great observation on my guitars.

If I had a crummy guitar sitting around I might consider it, but im not doing that to my D-18GE...

That refrence was for the purpose of comparison. I might do it to a guitar of lesser value, but not a nicer guitar.

Great post, i was too chicken to just come out and say that, lol. You are all welcome to come over and play my 714ce with the fishman "barn door" electronics in the side. You can open up the mixer on the side of my guitar and create a "soundport" and it dosn't sound any different to me... If a guitar maker makes a guitar with a hole in the side in mind, he can build the guitar so that it better utilizes that side hole, but it's really not going to make a difference punching a hole in your guitar. Like I said, my 714ce is a perfect example. The next time you are playing a guitar with a fishman barn door, open it up and see if you can hear a difference, I can't...

That one was because of the big fucking hole in the guitar, I was being sarcastic when I said come play it, I wasnt showing off....

I'm sorry my constant references to my guitars have offended you. I guess it would not have been as bad if I would of said "I'm not doing that to my jasmine" or "come look at the barndoor in my Dean". All shit aside buddy, when I make references to my guitars, it's because thats the guitar I own and when I talk about one of them, I call it by what it is, and in this case I wanted to be as specific as I could, not for the purpose of "I'm going to reference it's name so that I can show off". That was the farthest thing from my mind when I said those things, don't make a mountain out of a molehill. I'm sorry you interpreted my uncontious choice of words as a means to show off, I'll be a little more careful in my future word choice so as not make anyone else feel inferior or something. I'm very luck and spoiled, I'm sorry I didn't think of that fact...

[brian_ok]

Eh, if you weren't trying to show off, then my bad. I just got that impression from a few posts, and I think you used to have a huge taylor/martin sig. but sorry for that I just misinterpreted your posts.

[mattinbeloit]

Eh, if you weren't trying to show off, then my bad. I just got that impression from a few posts, and I think you used to have a huge taylor/martin sig. but sorry for that I just misinterpreted your posts.

Ya, a lot of people sent me PM's about the sig and said the same thing. Again, it wasn't a matter of showing off, but I took it down because a lot of people took it that way. I'm used to being on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum and the Acoustic Guitar Forum were my guitars are nothing compared to 90% of the people there so I just don't think of people taking it the wrong way... I want you to realize I'm not trying to show off, I just don't think about people taking it that way when I mention something here. Keep that in mind in the future and we should be able to play together nicley