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INSTRUMENTS |
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The 13-string Guitar "Chiavi-Miolin" |
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| 13-string Guitar | ||||||||||||||||
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| Probably the most vividly discussed model to leave my workshop since its opening. Even with 13 strings, this instrument's head is not much longer or heavier than on a regular 6-string guitar. This makes for exellent balance. 7 additional tuners are part of this design, still the alignment of each string is achieved without creating strong angles, which would result in tuning and resonance problems.  A custom made capodaster has been developped for this guitar, which enables the player to work easily in various tunings. The fingerboard is used in its entire width only on the first three frets. This made it possible to reduce the neck's width in the higher regions. Up until the 12th fret, only 7 of the guitar's 13 strings run over the fingerboard. Above the 12th fret, it becomes continually narrower. This allows for a dramatic weight reduction, which proved to be crucial to maintain overall balance. The additional bass strings provide an entire octave below the known spectrum, the fingerboard design offers as many as 24 frets. This leads to an overall spectrum of 5(!) octaves. (A regular 6 string guitar offers only three octaves and one quint.) The soundboard is slanted at an angle toward the fretboard. This creates better handling in the region above the 12th fret, where the left hand's thumb can no longer be used to provide counter pressure for the fingers. This angle also increases the transferrence of string vibration.  The guitar is built using an unusual bracing pattern. This new system offers unparalleled efficiency: The sound shaping forces are provided evenly over the entire surface, granting the highest possible strength combined with a very economic use of material, which is important to keep the overall weight at a minimum. Using this bracing, the top can be built very thinly, thus enhancing its frequency connection with the strings. Using lightweight braces, the loss of energy could be kept amazingly small. The result is a louder sounding guitar which never compromises on versatility. Replacing the soundhole to the upper portion of the body creates a vibrating surface almost a third larger than on a conventional guitar.  The strings are tuned to: E/F/G/A/B/C/D/E/A/D/G/B/E. |
