選擇吉他面板的方法-美國製琴大師John Gilber的看法

木心

John Gilbert是BYERS的老師，也是將製造吉他方法，使用最多科學想法與原理之製造者之一。大師依 他過去的製琴經驗，告訴我們選擇好吉他時，過去一般人以訛傳訛所犯的迷信與迷失。 By John Gilbert Very often I hear or read in print information about face wood, which I know from experience to be incorrect. This misinformation usually pertains to the claim that quarter-sawn wood that shows wood rays is highly superior to wood that doesn’t show such rays. This just isn’t so. In fact, most of my guitars don’t show wood rays (or "silk" as it’s sometimes called), and I have never found a bit of difference in the sound qualities of wood with or without silk. Oh, it might look better, but I put more emphasis on sound and solid construction than I do on appearance. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not trying to build an ugly guitar, but the fact is an audience hears a guitar when they can’t tell for sure who made it. So what I stress in the wood I select is that it have no grain runout in the sound producing area (i.e. in the area below the sound hole). If there is a slight runout, I try to place that part of the wood toward the neck where it doesn’t matter much and where the change in color caused by light reflection is less noticeable because the fingerboard and rosette separate the face halves. Another fallacy I often hear is the claim that if the grain isn’t the same width all the way across the board it won’t make a good guitar. My own experience tells me otherwise. I have made guitars out of wood that other makers have rejected because of this feature. The guitars have played fine, in fact, in many hundreds of concerts throughout the world. Consequently, do yourself a favor and consider these three features when selecting wood for the faces: How much will it weigh when it is brought down to final thickness? How much strength will it have? How thick will it be? In short, don’t worry about wood rays and uneven grain. Many guitarists are told to look for this silk and fine grain in any instrument they buy, and this is pure nonsense. What is far more important is the sound quality of the guitar. John Gilbert is a well known builder of classical guitars. John now devotes his time to the production of his line of tuners while his son William continues the Gilbert tradition of high quality concert guitars. Gilbert guitars have been used by David Russel, David Leisner, George Sakellariou, David Tanenbaum, Frederic Hand, Earl Klugh, Raphaella Smits, and many others. 原文來自台灣游步斌 先生發表於吉他之友討論區 誰有興趣翻譯成中文呢?

maer

好的制琴师一般都有能力将琴做得比较漂亮，虽然两者之间并不成正比。 我认为：漂亮的吉他未必是好吉他，但好吉他的外观一定不会太差。

ciaccona

大概说，木纹的样子和木材的实际质量及吉他声音关系不大的意思吧？ 尤其白松面版的那些漂亮的横纹，以及木纹之间的宽度不均匀 他认为与木材的质量关系不大。

ciaccona

一个叫Groupp的琴我觉得挺难看的。 但声音很棒！ 还有Smallman，我个人觉得不是一巴很好看的吉他。 一个人的做工技术和审美观不一定成为正比关系。

maer

用数学语言来说，我认为两者有相关性，但不是高度相关。

ciaccona

当然没有审美做不了好琴~ 我是说视觉方面的。。 ：]

peter

通常来说，我们是没有办法从一把已经做好的吉他上判断一块木材的优劣的，除非真的有非常明显的瑕疵。在挑选木材的时候，制作家会根据经验测试木材的强度、硬度、弹性等，听听它自然的声响，最后决定是否用这块木料。 每位制作家的声音审美取向不尽相同，因此，他们挑选木材的出发点也不会完全一样。 Gilbert是不错的吉他，但是包括大卫罗素都认为它不容易弹，这也是他不用Gilbert的最重要原因之一。 我弹过若干把Gilbert，总体感觉也是不容易发音，音色偏干。总之，这都是个人的主观看法。