Carbon fiber is not exactly an inexpensive alternative. As things
stand now, it still requires a pretty high level of skilled labor.
Maybe in China it could be cost effective to try it, but there are
other problems still, as Mark suggests ("the look of the thing") in
having it accepted- that is, in being able to sell it, once it's made.
I don't see it happening yet.
There is an important variable in the equation that makes a lot of
difference when the conversation includes both guitar and lute
making , which is the size of the market. If you are going to make
1,000 instruments, it may make sense to buy some expensive tools to
do a lot of the work. If you are making 50, it may not make sense
to buy those same tools. That is a kind of equalizing effect on the
cost of instruments, which, as far as I can tell, has been the case
for as long as stringed instruments have been made.
Kevin
On Sep 30, 2009, at 7:59 PM, Mark Probert wrote:
Morgan wrote:
mc> I wonder if you could relatively inexpensively construct a lute
(the bowl,
mc> at minimum) from carbon fiber (like some acoustic guitars) or
molded plastic
mc> (like an Ovation guitar), and what it would sound like?
mc>
I was wondering this exact thing myself, with more than a passing
interest (my brother-in-law is a materials scientist in the carbon-
fibre
/ fiberglass game, with manufacturing contacts all around SE Asia).
There are a number of open questions, such as mold costs, but the
biggest would be the soundboard. That would need to be wood. And
then
there is the look of the thing. My other thought on doing a
instrument
like that would be to add a pickup and end-pin jack out of the box
(think: new market).
Now for the business case :) I figure the price point would need to be
in the USD$600 - 800 range to make this a viable option, including
case.
.. mark
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