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The next criteria is the ability for the student to hear the subtle nuance of timbre, color, and vibrato in their development stage, and a bad neck design means all fingering is more difficult and less clear. As one ascends the ladder of learning to the performance level, the need for quite a different instrument develops. The instrument needs to be “hotter” and increasingly more brilliant in the high register. This allows the audience to hear all the instrument’s nuance while maintaining projection, dynamic range, tone, and color, and still maintaining control of the musical dynamics learned on an instrument that was more accessible to the player’s ear.
While I continue to offer instruments built on the Torres, Hauser, and Ramirez patterns for the historical significance and unique sound these makers’ instruments produced, Woodsound Studio also offers three patterns built upon our insights. All of our models are built with the same brace patterns and Old World assembly processes. The distinctions are found in the choice of materials, trim, and the amount of time spent on the voicings and the type of neck construction. The Master models and Model 1a have in common a neck that is very complicated to build, beautiful to look at, but most importantly designed to increase power and sustain. First let me say all models have an asymetrical neck design, that is to say the bass side is thicker than the treble side. The thumb and index finger when playing a full barre chord are not parallel due to the shape of the human hand and need a slightly thicker and non-parallel surface to achieve correct leverage. Also, the small barre across two or three strings needs an treble side neck edge design that is more sloped in order to achieve a proper seal, hence an asymetrical design. The neck moves microscopically as a string is plucked, and the more one can damp the neck movement, the more output the top gains in movement. The next consideration in neck design then, is how to prevent the amount of string vibration lost in the movement of neck. (A simple test to prove this concept is to clamp a weight to your guitat neck and listen to the difference in tone and power.) The Master and Model 1a necks are reinforced with twin ebony laminates, set on a taper to stiffen the neck and prevent this loss. The Model 1 and Standard Model instruments have carbon fiber inserts that act as stiffeners and will be added to the Conservatory models on request for an additional fee.
Balance, balance, balance, I hate to play an instrument where I have to adjust my technique for balance rather than play the music. Out of balance instruments are caused by many factors, materials, brace design and voicing, and pull of string on the bridge. Too low a saddle can produce a sweet tone, but is often lacking in power. Too tall a saddle, and one gets a brittle sound, all this is controlled by the angle of neck set to body and the action height. Now, here is a critical component—on a fingerboard of uniform thickness the action must be increased to allow for the softer bass strings to swing from equalibrium and not hit the fret. This increased saddle height on the bass side increases the volume of those strings, throwing the instrument out of balance. In order to eliminate this problem, I plane the fingerboard on the bass side from nut to end in a downward taper to set the action with the fingerboard rather than the saddle. The even height saddle, along with an angled saddle slot, in combination with intelligent brace voicings produce an instrument with better balance and correct intonation.
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Over
the years I have had the opportunity to play the instruments
of many of the great contemporary makers as well as of the historical
makers. The greatest deficits I find in student instruments are
a lack of balance and the player’s inability to hear the definition
and nuance of the individual strings, i.e., muddiness, often coupled
with a heavy club-like neck. An unbalanced instrument directly affects
how a student builds a uniform stroke, and dead or hot spots demand
a control beyond the ability of the average player to overcome.
My
goals in building a high-grade instrument were first oriented to
the professional-level player and then to the upward moving student,
who requires many of the characteristics found in a professional
instrument—easily accessible to the ear—but requires
a different voicing or brace pattern. From this beginning, the first
problem of balance was attacked. Building on the framework of the
great makers, i.e., Ramirez, Hauser, Fleta, and Simplicio, I started
building and correcting archings, brace patterns and voicings while
continuing to assemble in the finest non-tensioning building techniques.
In
addition, the Master, 1a, 1 and Standard models all have handmade
rosettes, tie blocks and/or other marquetry purflings or inlay strips.
The
Master Models
The
Model 1a Classic is the top of my Indian rosewood line of concert
guitars and is available in either a German Silver Spruce or Western
Red Ceder top. I produce this model in a number of different brace
patterns to accommodate many players’ styles and needs. I
break this down into two broad categories of instruments. Those
built to be played on stage have a harder, more brittle tone, dynamic
range, and loudness that is determined by projection. The second
category is suited to smaller rooms and the personal player’s
needs, i.e., warmer tone and greater color, clarity, dynamic range,
and loudness that is determined by presence. 
The
Model 1
