The Ryan Bevel Acoustic Flutes
 

  

  I am as happy as can be to introduce another acoustic innovation to my instruments. I am calling this new feature "Acoustic Flutes" or "Ryan Bevel Flutes". The last few years I have made some significant acoustic advances (EO soundboard bracing for example). But I consider these flutes the most important acoustic breakthrough I have developed since I invented and introduced the Ryan Bevel.
     
The introduction of the Ryan Bevel in 2002 has redefined and influenced acoustic guitars everywhere in the world. Now these Acoustic Flutes redefine the Ryan Bevel.  

     

  Through the years I have had many requests for sound ports in the side and upper bout of my guitars (the typical location for ports). These unique Bevel Flutes are the result of thinking along fresh avenues about the acoustic considerations involved.
     
I resisted making the typical ports for several acoustic, aesthetic and structural reasons. With these Bevel Flutes, I have addressed all these original design considerations I had with the standard ports.  

     

  The prime consideration in designing the Bevel Flutes was their location. These flutes are in the area of the box that generates the lion’s share of the sound. This area of the lower bout just behind the bridge is far more acoustically active than the upper bout.
     
Their unique placement directs the sound along the axis of the flutes toward the player’s ears, optimizing the acoustic effect.  They are parallel with an area of the soundboard I call the Acoustic Crescent--that area that is the sweeping arc behind the bridge that extends out from the bridge to each edge of the soundboard.  

     

  Aesthetically, I wanted them to look elegant and natural. The typical ports that I had seen always looked arbitrary and like a last-minute add-on. So I wanted my flutes to be integrated into the very DNA of the guitar’s design and lines.
     
Since they are integrated into the structure of the bevel, they therefore do not add any weight to the instrument—in fact they reduce the weight. They do not require any additional reinforcement like the typical upper bout cutouts with their attendant weakening of the sides.  

     

  As for the difference in sound, I am thrilled with the added presence and articulation that the player hears. There is a sweeter, more present tone and clarity. There is an openness and shimmer to the sound that I consider wonderful. The increase in response is even somewhat noticed out front (an unexpected but happy turn!).
     
And, doggone it, they just look so cool. Especially as your arm naturally rests over the bevel just below them. Since the Ryan Bevel continues past the waist (a critical aesthetic feature in the original design) I had the necessary area to create these Flutes.  

     

  As a courtesy to our great clients, these Ryan Bevel Acoustic Flutes will be available exclusively on Ryan Guitars (for the next seventeen years that is!).

Please check the website pricing pages (Cathedral or  Nightingale) for pricing information and feel welcome to call me if you have any questions about the Ryan Bevel or the Bevel Flutes.

For more information about the innovation and inspiration for the Bevel, please see my interview where I discuss the brilliant luthier Grit Laskin and his Armrest.
     
 

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