About James Koontz Expertise Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Amplifiers, Most anything Music related... Also most anything related to security, Fire and access control, as well as CCTV system.
Experience 20 years as a sound engineer, part time luthier, and general all around technical dude for many local bands. One of which was fairly large in the 80's and 90's with multiple recordings, and was the opening act for David Allen Coe, as well as got a nashville recording opportunity. The band disbanded before making it mainstream.
Organizations Loyal Order of the Moose, Boy Scouts,BMI
Publications Highlights for Children, Mystery Magazine,several online Publications, multiple cd's from various artists.
Education/Credentials I have 20 years experience, some electrical college experience. Studied Law, philosophy, and theology.
Awards and Honors well, too many to listm and none worth much more than a paperweight to hold down the ones that are on paper.
Expert: James Koontz Date: 7/8/2007 Subject: guitar woods
Question i'm doing a project on guitars and was wondering what happens to a wood when it's figured. does it do anything to the sound of the guitar? is it best to get figured wood or unfigured wood?
Answer well, interesting question... Really there is little known information about how or why certain wood is "figured".. It is caused by deviations in the wood grain, during the growth of the tree... But again, noone knows what causes it to happen. The Simon Fraser University in Canada has actually been doing some research into this, but as of yet, have not released any definitive answers.. As for guitars and tonal quality, well, all wood has it's own special tonal quality, and by that I mean, not all spruce is created equal.. I know of a luthier that uses mesquite for guitar building as well, Figured wood in general isn't going to be better or worse than non figured wood.. each will be different though.. So, it's a matter of more personal choice.. If you like the clean look of non-figured spruce, for instance, than that should be your choice for the top, the sides and back will not affect the tone as much as some believe, though it does have some bearing, Tone is more affected by the depth and size of the chamber, and the scalloping of the bracing.. each of these will affect the tone and voice of the guitar... I myself like the real wild and crazy figuring.. but it is more difficult to work with figured woods than non figured, The grain is easier to work with, though I have heard, that figured open up more easily, and get better tone quicker than non-figured.. This is more rumor than fact, as no scientific data support this. The tighter the grain, the harder to open up though.. So, who knows.. The quest for tone is akin to the quest for the holy grail, there are those who swear they can hear the difference when they replace the pickgaurd screws with stainless steel, and those who say their nuts.. Hope that answers your question, btw, the link to Simon Fraser University is http://www.sfu.ca/biology/faculty/mattsson/wood/
