Quint top

There are two ways of guitarbuilding.
With the first method the whole guitar actually creates the sound. Generally those guitars are light constructed guitars.
The second method were only the top does all the work are build very firmly, which makes them more heavy.
I chosed for the second option. The body as firmly as possible with a light, yet firmly and solid top.

Because I knew that playability strongly depends on the weight of the top (the less mass you have to bring in motion, the less force you'll need to make this movement), I started experimenting with new materials, so the top would become lighter than a traditional top. Another advantage of a light top is that less energy from the strings will get lost in heat and more transformed into sound.

I believe that's the reason why Matthias Dammann and Gernot Wagner invented the double top. Just because most of the strenght of the top comes from the outer layers. You actually don't need that innerlayer for the strenght. You simply increase the load factor.
Another advantages of that so called 'sandwich top' is that by doing this lamination you slightly increase the cross-stiffness.
Also in aviation this principle was longly applied.

But time doesn't stop. Nowadays in aviation they use a lot of composite materials. Fiber-reinforced plastics contain the perfect combination of stiffness, strenght and lightness.
Most important composite materials in aviation are carbon, aramide and dyneema.
Because the sound-characterizations of aramide do lean the closest to wood, I decided to use that material in the development of my soundboard. That's how I invented the 'quint top'.

What's a Quint top?

Because I strongly believe in the quality of the current composite materials used in aviation, I decided to use them for the development of my top. In weight 40 % of the top exists of composite material and glue, the other 60 % is wood.
The top is build up out of five layers.
The three interior layers are the composite materials.

A sandwich material (Airex or Aramid Honeycomb) embraced by Aramid Fabric (Aero). The aim of this part is to recieve a maximum homogeneous formality. More stiffness in the axial direction of the top.

The two outer layers are wood. The aim of those layers are partly, to stiffen the top in longitudinal direction, but mainly to colour the sound.
All five layers are glued together with PU or epoxy (depending on which materials have to be glued together) under high pressure. The final result gives a solid top with a very high impact strength (higher than the double top created with Nomex or balsa).

Because the stiffness mainly comes from the composite materials I called it at the beginning a preloaded top. Some musicians gave me more easy name for them to remember ' quint top' ( because of the five layers).
Recently I developed a 'carbon' quint top which does give also very good results.

For the bracing I prefered a lattice bracing system completely build up out of wood. Because of the high global stiffness of the top I could strongly reduce the width of the braces without the risk they would become too much visible on the top under the pull of the strings.

The sides and the back are also laminated. A sandwich material (Airex) embraced by several layers of wood. By using the composite material on the inside I could build them very strongly, yet lighter then those build with completely laminated wood.
I won't say I found the perfect solution for making a better classical guitar by using composite materials, but I'm very sure that those materials gives us a lot of benefits, and it would be a sin not to use them if we could.

From my experience in aviation I strongly believe in the reliability of composite materials where they're exposed to enormous external forces, temperature oscillations and vibrations.
Like every new project in classical guitarbuilding (whether it was a double top with nomex, or lattice bracing with balsa and carbon), it still needs refinement, but until now I'm very happy about the results I have already reached.
At least for me, I manage to build a guitar with an extremely good playability.


	Quint top There are two ways of guitarbuilding. With the first method the whole guitar actually creates the sound. Generally those guitars are light constructed guitars. The second method were only the top does all the work are build very firmly, which makes them more heavy. I chosed for the second option. The body as firmly as possible with a light, yet firmly and solid top. Because I knew that playability strongly depends on the weight of the top (the less mass you have to bring in motion, the less force you'll need to make this movement), I started experimenting with new materials, so the top would become lighter than a traditional top. Another advantage of a light top is that less energy from the strings will get lost in heat and more transformed into sound. I believe that's the reason why Matthias Dammann and Gernot Wagner invented the double top. Just because most of the strenght of the top comes from the outer layers. You actually don't need that innerlayer for the strenght. You simply increase the load factor. Another advantages of that so called 'sandwich top' is that by doing this lamination you slightly increase the cross-stiffness. Also in aviation this principle was longly applied. But time doesn't stop. Nowadays in aviation they use a lot of composite materials. Fiber-reinforced plastics contain the perfect combination of stiffness, strenght and lightness. Most important composite materials in aviation are carbon, aramide and dyneema. Because the sound-characterizations of aramide do lean the closest to wood, I decided to use that material in the development of my soundboard. That's how I invented the 'quint top'. What's a Quint top? Because I strongly believe in the quality of the current composite materials used in aviation, I decided to use them for the development of my top. In weight 40 % of the top exists of composite material and glue, the other 60 % is wood. The top is build up out of five layers. The three interior layers are the composite materials. A sandwich material (Airex or Aramid Honeycomb) embraced by Aramid Fabric (Aero). The aim of this part is to recieve a maximum homogeneous formality. More stiffness in the axial direction of the top. The two outer layers are wood. The aim of those layers are partly, to stiffen the top in longitudinal direction, but mainly to colour the sound. All five layers are glued together with PU or epoxy (depending on which materials have to be glued together) under high pressure. The final result gives a solid top with a very high impact strength (higher than the double top created with Nomex or balsa). Because the stiffness mainly comes from the composite materials I called it at the beginning a preloaded top. Some musicians gave me more easy name for them to remember ' quint top' ( because of the five layers). Recently I developed a 'carbon' quint top which does give also very good results. For the bracing I prefered a lattice bracing system completely build up out of wood. Because of the high global stiffness of the top I could strongly reduce the width of the braces without the risk they would become too much visible on the top under the pull of the strings. The sides and the back are also laminated. A sandwich material (Airex) embraced by several layers of wood. By using the composite material on the inside I could build them very strongly, yet lighter then those build with completely laminated wood. I won't say I found the perfect solution for making a better classical guitar by using composite materials, but I'm very sure that those materials gives us a lot of benefits, and it would be a sin not to use them if we could. From my experience in aviation I strongly believe in the reliability of composite materials where they're exposed to enormous external forces, temperature oscillations and vibrations. Like every new project in classical guitarbuilding (whether it was a double top with nomex, or lattice bracing with balsa and carbon), it still needs refinement, but until now I'm very happy about the results I have already reached. At least for me, I manage to build a guitar with an extremely good playability.