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On an acoustic guitar, the bottom half of the soundboard does
most of the moving. By using a cutaway, you have less cross-
sectional area on the critical side of the soundboard, and probably
less mass as well. The bracing also has to be differant to accomidate
the shape. All things considered, the cut-away has to have some effect
on the instruments' tone and volume. Many of the new cutaway acoustics
are Jumbo-sized which probably makes up for some of the lost cross-sec-
tional area, and mass, resulting in a Jumbo sized body with the
relative sound of a dreadnought. Of course all of these things are
all theoretical differances, and guitar manufacturers/luthiers have
all got their own approach to desinging guitars with cut-aways to
retain the warmth, evenness, and volume of standard-shaped guitars.
The true test is "your" ears which will ultamately decide whether
or not you like an instruments' tone.
When you start getting into acoustic/electrics, and how a guitar
sounds amplified versus unamplified, it is a completely differant
story. Ovations have long had the best sounding electrified acoustics,
but their guitars do not have the volume and tone of a wooden
instrument when played acoustically. They typically have the smallest
bodies, but the biggest sound (when amplified) because of their
pickup/preamp system which is far superior to anything else on the
market.
Mark Jacques
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