I was reading the Siminoff book and he was discussing using a fairly sophisticated electronic set up to dial in the final tones for the back and top before they are joined. Is it possible to do this using a simple clip-on guitar tuner? If so, is it better to use vibration mode or microphone mode? In the IV kit that I am planning to build, the top is already attached to the rim, the book mentions that there are different tones for the top by itself and the top attached to the rim. This suggests that the extra bulk of the rim affects the tone of the top. Not surprising in something that uses such narrow tolerances. If it works to set the tone using a guitar tuner in vibration mode, wouldn't the extra weight/bulk of the tuner itself, change the tone? I'm a bit of a newbie to this process. I've built a guitar before and just kind of guessed while I was thinning the top. I lucked into a very nice sounding instrument. I think that the mandolin is another animal all together and I need to be a bit more anal about making sure that the thicknesses and tone are as exact as I can make them.
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