Anatomy |
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Many
thanks to Alan Hamley for many
of the photos used on this page. More detailed information regarding the construction of his hollownecks can be found on the Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum |
Regular acoustic guitars have a "heel block" fixed in the body, from which the solid neck extends along to the headstock or peghead. On
a Hollowneck guitar, the heelblock is effectively pushed all the
way up to the peghead, becoming a single piece known as the "headblock". It's this extension of the resonant chamber which makes Hollowneck guitars able to produce such a beautifully rich and vibrant tone.
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The air pressure waves produced by the soundboard reverberate throughout the hollow interior, resulting in the distictive sweet woody sound. When you strum one of these, it comes alive! ...quivering and purring in your lap like a well-fussed cat.
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Traditionally the bracing of the top follows a variation of the "X-brace" found in many other designs of steel-strung guitar.
Some are "Ladder-braced" like the Hilo hollownecks made by the Oscar Schmidt Company, some floating-bridge hollownecks and the rare ladder-braced Weissenborn pictured above. |
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As these guitars are not fretted, the fretboards generally have "fret-lines" rather than regular metal frets, often inlaid strips of contrasting wood. Dot-position markers sometimes follow a pattern different to regular guitars, minus the 3rd & 15th-fret dots, or with double-dots in positions other than the 12th fret. More "fancy" original
Weissenborns often feature additions to the regular dots, with
a triangular or diamond inlays. ![]() Laser-engraved fretboard with abalone inlaid dots |
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![]() Bridge with straight saddle-piece |
The bridges most often have slot for the saddle-piece cut straight rather than with the customary "compensation angle". Regular
guitars suffer from intonation problems when playing the bass strings
fretted higher up the neck. The nature of Steel Guitar means that this compensation is considered less necessary, as correct intonation is determined by bar position and pressure rather than the fixed position of a fret. |
![]() One of Alan's beautiful finished hollownecks
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