Most people stop at the tap. They hear a ring, or they don’t, and they make a judgment. But for me, tapping is just the beginning — a quick first impression, not the verdict.

Once I get the wood back into the shop, the real evaluation starts.

I take each plate and process it properly: flatten it, clean up the surfaces, and bring it to a consistent starting thickness. Only then do I begin measuring. At that point, the tap tone becomes one data point among many, not the whole story.

From there, I use Chladni patterns to see how the plate actually wants to move. These patterns reveal the vibrational modes directly — where the nodes and antinodes really are — instead of guessing by feel. Along with that, I take physical measurements that let me calculate things like modulus of elasticity, density, and stiffness-to-weight ratios.

All of that information eventually gets fed into a spreadsheet I’ve built over the years. It takes the raw numbers and helps me determine the final target thickness for that specific set of wood, on that specific guitar size. No two sets are identical, and no two guitars get the same numbers. The spreadsheet doesn’t make decisions for me, but it gives me a consistent, repeatable framework to work from.

Tap tone is still part of the process — it tells me something about how the wood behaves along the grain, and it gives me a quick sense of liveliness. But the deeper measurements tell me why it rings the way it does, and how to shape it so the finished instrument responds the way I want.

Tap tone is the handshake. The real conversation happens later.