Yamamoto Guitar - Guitar Design

Bracing Consideration
Structurally the main x-brace is made strong enough to withstand string tension at north and weak enough to transfer string vibration to lower bout at south of the bridge. Strong brace prevents top to collapse as well as to turn string tension into top lifting force as it vibrates and improves bass response. The mid to treble sound is thought to be created from the bridge rolling motion and characterized by adjusting flexibility of the lower bout. The x-brace is wide open to increase the mid-treble response and the flexibility of the area is characterized by primarily thickness of the top. Tone bars are placed to suppress unnecessary high resonance but not to prevent top bulging problem.

Many luthiers use variants of time-proven designs for the construction of their guitars. My early efforts were no exception... those instruments were similar to the popular OM, Dreadnought and Jumbo-style guitars offered by many builders and manufacturers. After years of work on guitar design, my guitars still have similarities... after all, any guitar is just a wooden box with six strings. However, I've incorporated important differences in the design, construction and materials. Play one of my guitars. I'm sure you'll agree that you can hear, feel and see the difference!
	Mortis and Tenon Neck Joint This is my standard neck joint. Mortis and tenon with William Cumpiano's hardware based bolt-on neck joint. Very stable and easy to maintain.
	Talus Neck Joint Guitars with 12fret neck joint are considered to have fuller sound because of longer body size but have limited access to high frets. Talus angled neck joint brings high accessibility to the high fret position to the long body guitar design. Picture shown is a custom nylon string Talus.(Nylon Talus ) Scott Charles
	Bracing Consideration Structurally the main x-brace is made strong enough to withstand string tension at north and weak enough to transfer string vibration to lower bout at south of the bridge. Strong brace prevents top to collapse as well as to turn string tension into top lifting force as it vibrates and improves bass response. The mid to treble sound is thought to be created from the bridge rolling motion and characterized by adjusting flexibility of the lower bout. The x-brace is wide open to increase the mid-treble response and the flexibility of the area is characterized by primarily thickness of the top. Tone bars are placed to suppress unnecessary high resonance but not to prevent top bulging problem.
	radiuses nut/headstock heel It's been established that the angle of the headstock, relative to the neck, plays a role in the tension of the strings over the nut (or zero-fret, with Yamamoto guitars). For the Yamamoto design, I had two concerns: a) to establish a perfect headstock angle, and b) to reinforce this area, to help protect the guitar against accidental falls. My solution is to incorporate a generous "heel" at the headstock joint. In addition to reinforcement, this heel provides a positive "memory stop" for the left hand when returning to the first position during fast fret work.
	Rather than a simple constant or compound radius for the neck profile, Yamamoto guitars feature a unique offset neck radius profile: the centerline of the neck is shifted slightly toward the bass strings. Play one of my guitars for a few minutes, and you'll wonder why all your guitars aren't made this way.
	double-Action truss rod and carbon graphite rod reinforcement Standard Yamamoto guitars are equipped with a double-action (push-pull) truss rod and two carbon graphite reinforcement rods which makes precise relief adjustment possible. Optionally, I use three carbon graphite rod system which does not have adjustment capability but it is really stable and helps to lighten the neck.
	zero fret or non-zero fret Zero fret is standard but I also use traditional nut scheme by request. Some people find benefits of zero fret when using different string gauges.
	Bevel
	Rosette