f-holes

okay so i found a vintage guitar on ebay i might buy. its an Archtop acoustic, and it has F holes instead of the circle hole. what difference will this make in sound & volume?

Wouldn't it depend on the size of the F-Holes, if they're big/sameish size as a Circle Hole they volume shouldn't really be any different.

heres a pic

I think the volume would be decreased wouldn't it? I think with one big circular hole under the strings the volume is loud and just generally more echoed. Instruments like violins (pretty cruddy example because of the different way they're played, I know) I think only take F-holes well because they're small and the sound is more reflected anyway. On an electric that would be fine because obvoiusly they can be made louder anyway, but since acoustics are dependant on their own body I doubt it will sound too well. The circular hole under the string has the sound travel pretty much directly into it, with smaller and more distant f-holes not as much would be caught I'd think.

I might be wrong. I've not had the best guitar experiance here, so someone else might come with a totally different answer to me. But I just don't think it will work thinking of it.

Probably won't sound as deep I'd imagine. It might sound louder having wood just under the strings for the sound to bounce off of. Most classical stringed instrument have f-holes and those suckers can be loud.

Heather we keep posting at the same time! lol.

Haha I know! :P It's getting ridiculous now!

Thats pretty sweet looking. What brand?

i believe it is a Harmony, it might be Arcadia, its kinda confusing

If Its Really cheap,buy it!

if its still cheap by the time its up i probably will. or at least make it an early christmas present =p

I love the 'tiger stripe' look to it. I bought my SG just because it was cheap and I had the money. If you got the money and its what you want then do it.

My buddy has an acoustic with f-holes, it's definitely one of my favorite guitars. I would say that it produces a little less volume than the Circle hole guitars, and it sounds more raw, but this is just his guitar. I don't have enough experience with f-hole guitars to answer your question.

i really dont need another guitar, i dont really have the money either, im still paying off my schecter. but im really into vintage old stuff. i would look so cool playing this =p

but im still gonna try to get it

F-holes have a more mellow round sound, like playing on your bridge pickup. They are pretty sweet but are usually combined with an acoustic/electric setup.

how hard would it be to install a pickup?

I said the exact same thing about 4 guitars ago! The same reason I bought the SG again. It was a '61 LP reissue and looked vintage! I saw a picture of me playing it onstage and I didn't look to cool playing it. Something about the yellowish white finish didn't look good on me. Could have been what I was wearing. I have 0 stage presence anyway. My pic to the left is about the extent of my stage presence. Trying to work on that!

first- never buy a guitar with out playing it especially an acoustic. Even if it is the same model. wood varies so much that you really have to consider each single guitar in it own realm.

second- hollow-body Archtops are a hell of a lot louder then flattops. reason why no guitar in jazz/classical Assembles then archtops(thank to Orville and the gut with the "D" for a last name his is a new york Italian guy very famous look up archtops i'm in a rush sorry)

third- Oval holes technically push out more bass (there is a agruement for cello to have one) then f-holes so jazz guitarist wanted a more even sound, but the body shape has more to do with it. think the reason why there is dreadnoughts and Classical[or martin's tpye D-?? or 00-??(i think)] .

fourth- two whys to get pickup floating(attach to pick gaard) or routing them in. Go floating.


pss sound come form the top wood vibrating the holes are just there to move air to get a cleaner vibrate there not where the sound comes from

Always remember, when buying a guitar like this, you may have to touch it. Keep that in mind.

well ive got all my guitars without playing them first, and im very satisfied with all of them. im not picky. besides, its almost 70 years old, i dont expect it to feel or sound perfect

but thanks a ton for the info

So, if you aren't buying it for feel or sound, why then? Are you buying it for the history of it?

Probably. I bought one guitar off ebay and it happens to be my favorite. I used to think I'd never buy a guitar without playing it, but I just couldn't find what I wanted around in the local and not local guitar shops.

Yeah. Sometimes, ya just get lucky.

Personally, I could buy online from Alembic & Sage Guitars without playing the specific guitar since they have do quite a good job of making sure their instruments are QUALITY.