Deciduous trees on the other hand shed their leaves every fall and are more affected by changes in temperature and rainfall. An evergreen tree is a tree that maintains its leaves year-round. Hard and Soft WoodsĪll trees can be classified as either evergreen or deciduous. To understand why some timbers are better suited than others it helps to have a basic understanding of timber growth patterns. There are many thousands of species of timber, but many are unsuitable for building guitars.
density, moisture, strength, and flexibility. This is due to the characteristics of the timber e.g. Resonance can be a powerful force, capable of breaking glass to destroying bridges.ĭifferent species of timber possess different acoustic properties. Alternatively, if the soundboard cannot sustain the tension created by resonance, over time it will become unstable. While the electrical components of an electric guitar tend this diminish this influence, the same can’t be said for acoustic guitars which must balance the need for resonance against the ability to handle tension.įor instance, if the soundboard is too heavy and inflexible, the bass tones generated by the strings will not transfer effectively to the soundboard resulting in a thinner-sounding guitar. Other components including the back and sides, bridge, and neck of the guitar all play a role in shaping the sound we hear further, but the soundboard is the most important component, behaving much like a speaker diaphragm, projecting soundwaves from the body of the guitar. The resonant capabilities of the soundboard, which are controlled by factors such as density, moisture, strength, and flexibility accentuate some overtones more strongly than others, coloring and affecting the quality of the sound we hear (tone), influencing the amplitude of the soundwaves produced (volume) and affecting the speed of the sound wave (response). The strings alone just can’t push enough air around to be sufficiently loud, but when transferred to the soundboard of the guitar we then have a much larger surface area vibrating and disrupting air particles creating a much louder sound. When objects such as the soundboard and air inside the guitar body vibrate at the same frequency as the source of the vibrations – the strings, resonance occurs which amplifies the sound we hear. The strings pass over the bridge saddle which is connected to the soundboard by the bridge.
When a guitar is played, the strings are strummed or plucked and begin to vibrate.
0 kommentar(er)
