Guitars that take pictures? (Close but not quite...)
Coming commission guitar(s) for someone's birthday. I cannot find the original listing on the Comins website, possibly because only a small number of Comins 'Aperture' models were built.
Bill Comins utilized an iris/diaphragm/aperture mechanism to allow the sound hole opening area to be adjustable.
Interestingly, he chased down patent ownership to pay a licensing or royalty (or whatever) for the use of the. I was surprised it was still due.
Here is a photo of a Comins Aperture guitar. I don't know how long the link will be valid, but with a little digging, something usually appears...I think I also saw an online magazine article that discussed it a bit more, perhaps resulting from an interview with the luthier.
Bill Comins has been making archtops for quite a while, and is legendary in this regard. While he is famous for his traditional archtops, he is also making som
www.modernmojoguitars.com
There is a dead link later in this article under 'for more info', but this does explain most of it with (at this time) 15 photos, including the iris adjusted to...uh, various f-holes stops...?
As with many DIY iris projects, a shutter is not easily fit.
Ok, I'm really stretching the camera illusion a bit too far.
I have a couple of iris mechanisms that open up to nearly 76 mm/3" (inches, not seconds...no shutter included), that I bought from Surplus Shed in Pennsylvania. Comins is near Philadelphia, PA. I was born (or hatched, I don't remember,) <50 km from there.
Some kind of connection implied...