New for April 2006:  Double Floating Back!!!

 

This new and original concept features the addition of a second soundboard made of Cedar, installed inside the soundbox and hovering freely 8 mm over the normal back of the guitar. This second soundboard thus becomes a double floating back  (although it is anchored to the sides of the guitar) and vibrates sympathetically with the normal Spruce soundboard of the guitar.  The advantages of this design are as follows:

-Increased projection
-The warmth of cedar is added to the clarity of Spruce
-Increased sustain

 

This second soundboard is made very thin and ligthly braced, in order to be very light yet strong enough to prevent cracking. The whole thing must be sensible enough so that vibrations from the normal top will set it in motion and create its own set of vibrations. The added weight to the guitar is minimal (about 100g) and it is impossible to discern the modifications added inside the box when the guitar is viewed from the outside, compared to a standard guitar.

 

 

Side view

Although I have been working on this concept since the fall of 2005 (I built a prototype for experiments) and that work is still in progress, I built the first commercial model of the double floating back guitar in January of this year. Here are some pictures taken during assembly of that guitar:

Inside view, before the double
 floating back is installed.
 

The double back is anchored to the sides
 of the guitar inside the soundbox.
 

The finished back. There is no contact
 between the two backs now in place.
 

 

The proud owner of this guitar, Gary O'Connell of Halifax, is presently in the recording stage of his first commercial CD. You can click below and hear a sound sample of one of his pieces, played on his new double floating back guitar (called "The Haligonian"):

Sound sample (in .mp3 format)

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments on the double floating back design, or anything about my guitars in general (You can email me at : patrick.mailloux@videotron.ca).  I will do my best to answer clearly and promptly to any of your inquiries.

Let's hear from you soon!

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