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RyanGreene
Mr.Rudebusch
ResearchPaper
December22,2015

Sound:TheConstructionandAudibleAnalysisofGuitar

Entrylevelguitarplayersoftenwonderhowtheconstructionoftheirinstrumentaffects
itssoundanditspotentialforfutureupgrades.
Theycouldlookathowamodoranaestheticis
implementedandimitateitwithoutknowingwhatwillcomeofit.Thisresearchaimstoassist
entrylevelguitarplayersonwhatdetailsgointovarioustones,andhowtoacquirethemfrom
choosingbetweendifferenttonewoodsandhardware.
Therearevirtuallyinfinitecombinationsofwoodsandmodsthatgivethecreatorawide
amountoftones,looks,andsoundforanelectricguitar.Woodchoice,bodyshape,cutsand
carves,fretboardwood,thenut,andfretwiresareamongthedetailsthataffectsoundofthe
guitar.Whatnewplayersgenerallyoverlookistheimportanceofthesedetailsandhow
importantitistopayattentiontothemtogetthetonetheplayerdesires.Thedesiredtonecanbe
stalledifanymistakesaremadeinconstructionandmodification.
Tocreatestringedinstrumentsandimplementfeaturesthataffecttheguitarssound,the
luthierwillusetoolsattheirlutherie.NewZealandluthierNoelSweetmandetailed,inanarticle
for
TheStrad,
toolsusedattheseshopsincludebutaren'tlimitedtoadrillpress,sandpaper
machine,paintsandglosses,andvariouswoodtools/saws.(73).Therearemanywaysthesetools
areused.Forexample,theluthiercoulduseahandsawtocutoutthewoodthatisneeded,and

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thenuseabandsawtocutabodyshapeout.Luthiersalsousewoodcarvingtoolstocreate
alternatedesignsandallowslighttonechangesdependingontheguitar.
Tonechangeisgreatlydecidedbythewoodusedtocreatethebody.Threeofthemost
popularwoodsarethewarmandmellowmahogany,whichisgoodforrockandroll,thelight
basswood,whichisagreatforheavymetal,andtheheavyhardwood,maple,whichgivesa
sharpertonegreatforjazzandblues(
www.tonewood.com
).Apartfromtonewood,detailsthat
affectsoundincludehollowbodyconstructionandthickbodycuts.Tonewoodstripsarelaid
aroundtheinsideofthefrontandbackpanelsofthebodyforhollowbodyguitars.Cutsinclude
standardcutsoutofthebodyoritspanelsfordesign,orevengiantcarvesoutoftheback.That
typeofcarveisknownasatummycut,andisimplementedwhentheplayerfeelsmore
comfortablewiththeguitarbodytuckedintothebody.Thiskindofbodymodcanincreasethe
playabilityoftheinstrument.Forexample,ifamusicianpreferstoplaywiththeguitartucked
intohisgut,andtheguitardoesnthaveatummycut,hemaynotbeabletoplayaswellashe
normallydoes.Anotherbeneficialcutistheforearmcut.Thiscutallowstheplayertopickfaster
becausetheirarmrestsonanangledsurface.Otherbeneficialcutsincludethekneecut,ahandle
cutabovethepickups,andcutoutsaboveandundertheneckthatmakeitmoreaccessible.
Thewidestvarietyofinputsthataffectthesoundoftheguitarareintheneck.Included
aretheneckjoint,scalelength,fretboardwood,fretwires,nut,trussrod,andtuners.Theneck
hasthreewaysitcanbeconnectedtothebody:themostpopularbolton,thelesserknownsetor
gluedin,andthesturdyneckthrudesign.Theseneckshavesuchadifferentperformancelevel
thatitisoftendebatedwhichisthebestforplaying.TheVibroAcousticalLaboratoryatthe
UniversityofParissetouttodetermineanecksperformancelevelamongthesethreedifferent

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connectionoptionstosolvethisdebate.Justunderhalfofthetwentythreeexpertguitarplayers
thattookparticipatedinthisstudyagreedthatthesetindesignwasthebestchoiceforplayability
andintonation,followedbytheneckthruandboltondesigns(2719).Thoughtheyallwork
relativelywell,playersgenerallyprefersetinnecks.Someneckattachmentsmaybeharderto
attachthanothersthough,andthatcandependonscalelength.
Thescalelengthisthedistanceofthestringsfromthebridgetothenut,whichmanages
thestringssounddepthintheguitar.Fretsize,amountoffrets,andlengthfromnuttothefinal
fret.determinethislength.Therearealsonecksthatusemultiplescalesatthetopandbottomof
thefretboard.Forexample,thetoplengthoftheneckcanbeatwentyeightinchscaletoperform
lowertonemetalriffsandbottomlengthcancanbetwentyfiveandahalfinches.Thisallows
multipleplaystylesanddepthsonthesameguitar.Usually,modelswithmorethansixstrings
willhavedifferentscalelengths.Theseguitarswouldthenhavefannedfretboard.Itscalledthis
because,muchlikeapaperfoldingfan,thefretwiresonthebottombranchoutanddeviatefrom
theusualendpoints.Incorporatedontheneckisalsofretboardwood.Thefretboardwoodsaffect
thetonejustlikeabodymadeoutofthesametonewooddoes.Forexample,amaplebodyand
fretboardwillbothgivegivesharpertones.Itworkswelltochoosefretboardwoodssuchas
ebonyandrosewoodforrockandmetal,whilemapleworkswellwithmostothergenres.
Fretwires,whicharelaidintothefretboard,alterthestringsfrettedsound.Thereare
severaltypesofwiresthatareusedonallguitarsalike.Theserangefromchrome,copper,
bronze,silver,gold,orcustomcoloredones.Whilealmostallguitarsusechromeornickel,it
comestopersonalpreferenceofwhatcrafterlikesasstringsoundswontvarybetweenchoices.
Notessometimeswontbeprocessedifthefretboardandwiresaredamaged..

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Paralleltothefrets,isthenut.Thoughitsoneofthetiniestpartsontheguitar,thenutis
veryimportant.Dependingonthematerialit'smadeoutof(bone,ivory,plastic),itaffectsthe
sustainandthetoneofopenchordsandstrings.Thematerialit'smadeoutofwillalsodetermine
thestrengthbehindit.Forexample,abonecraftednutwillbestrongerthanaplasticone.
Underthenutisahiddentoolmostbeginnersdontknowabout,thetrussrod.Thetruss
rodisametalrodthatkeepstheneckstraight.Itleadsallthewaydowntheneckandisadjusted
throughtheheadstock.Duetothetensionofthestrings,theneckislikelytonotwarpwhennot
adjustedcorrectly.Thetrussrodisadjustedwithastandardhexagonkeythroughitsentryway.
Tokeeptheneckfromwarping,theplayerwilluntightenorremovethestringsandadjustthe
trussrodtoremovetension.Ifwarped,theneckwillberendereduseless.
Furtheruptheheadstockarethetuners,whichplayoneofthemostimportantpartsinthe
guitar.Itsimportanttohavewellbuilttunersbecausecheaptunerscanbreakorcanregularly
untunetheinstrument.Tokeepthestringsintoned,thebestoptionistouselockingtuners.The
keyplacetoinspectontunersistheholewhereitenters.Tunerscanhaverustededgeswherethe
stringentersandwhentightened,canbreakthestrings.It'simportanttohavewellroundededges
oneachsideofthetunerhead.Thetunerscanlineupindifferentways,too.Theselayoutscan
causemoreorlessstringtension,andthebestchoiceisthreebythreebecauseitmaintainsthe
perfectequilibriuminthestrings.
Whilebalanceinstringsisimportant,thereareanarrayofthingsthatalsoaffectitand
thesoundsstringsgivesout.Stringtypeandgaugearethebiggestfactors.Thickergaugeswill
lowerthetoneduetosimplybecauseitslargersize.Otherstringsizesandbrandsofferaunique
varietyofstringtoneswhichcanalterthewaytheplayersounds.Guitaristsoftendebateon

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whetherornotaplayerwouldneedtouselowerstringstogetlowertones.AttheAcoustics
LaboratoryatHelsinkiUniversityofTechnology,MattiKarjalainendeterminesthatplayingthe
samenotesonlowerpositionswillsubstitutelowerstrings(7).Forexample,ifanOpenAstring
isplayed,thefifthfretonthelowEstringwillplaythesamenotebutwithalowertone.This
ideashowsthattheplayerisabletoplaylowertonednotesthatarethesamewithoutlowtoned
stringgaugesatall.Sosometimeslowergaugesarentnecessary.Standardgenres,suchasrock
nroll,jazz,andbluesusethinnerstrings,whilethickergaugesareusedforheavymetaland
djent.Thesoundofthestringscanalterdrasticallywhenelectronicsandhardwarematerialis
implemented.
Moststandardelectronicsplayallamplifiedtones,butit'sbettertochooseapickupbuilt
forthegenreofplayed.Forexample,EMG61/81s,aswellasmosthumbuckers,areusedfor
highgainmusicandplayitbetterthanstandardpickups.Itsacceptedtousemultiplesinglecoil
pickupsforopenandwiderstyles,asitamplifiestherawstringtonefrommultiplepositions.
HelmuthLemme,awriterfor
buildyourguitar.com
,discussesthatcertainpickuptypesuse
screwsasmagnetsintheirmodels,andtheplayercanadjusttheirheighttogethigherorlower
amplificationsontheirguitar(1).Thisdependsontheactionofthebridge.Itsimportantforthe
saddlesinthebridge(thelittlemechanismsthatkeepthestringinplaceafteremergingoutthe
frontofthebodyonastandardhipshotbridge)tobewellroundedsonotonlydotheystaywell
intune.Inatuneomaticbridgedesign(foundinmorehighendguitarssuchasEpiphoneand
Gibson)thestringnevergoesthroughthebodyandinsteadgoesfromadevicewhichholdsthe
stringpininplacewhileitcangofurtheroverthebridgeandcanbeginitsscaleuptothenut.

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Nodoubtthatitmayseemlikealotinformationtoabsorbandkeeptrackof,butits
rathereasywhenbecomingexperiencedwithguitars.Andnottoworry,itwillonlycomenatural
whenventuringfurtherintothesubject.Whenbranchingoutandtryingvarioustypesofguitars,
notonlywillyouknowwhattolookforinyourpreferredstyleofplaying,butwillbeableto
experimentwithmodelsthatyouneverthoughtyouwouldhave.Sothebigquestionis:whatdo
youwantyourguitartosoundlike?Withtheinformationpresentedhere,youknowwhatnatural
propertiesaninstrumentwillhavejustbylookingatitsspecs.Notonlythat,butwiththe
knowledgeofhowtoupgradeandmod,youcanbeabletoupgradeaguitarwithelectronicsand
hardwareyoudfindnecessary.Nowgetoutthereandgetyoursound!

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WorksCited
Karjalainen,Matti,VesaVlimki,andZoltanJamosey."TowardsHighQualitySound
SynthesisoftheGuitarandStringInstruments."Citeseerx.ist.psu.edu.HelsinkiUniversity
ofTechnology,10Sept.1993.Web.1Dec.2015.
Lemme,Helmuth."TheSecretsofElectricGuitarPickups."JPBourgeois.
BuildYourGuitar.com,25Feb.2009.Web.1Dec.2015.
Pate,Arthur,JeanLoicLeCarrou,BenoitNavarret,DanieleDubois,BenoitFabre.A
vibroacousticalandperceptiveStudyofthenecktobodyJunctionofasolidbody
electricGuitar.SocieteFrancaisedAcoustique.Acoustics2012,Apr2012,.Dec12015
Sweetman,Noel."APeekIntoLuthierieWorkshopsAroundTheWorld."TheStrad.TheStrad,
1Nov.2014.Web.19Nov.2015.