Published ((date)) by Sebastian Merchel, Dresden Institute of Technology
This pair of highly technical papers are the result of careful objective measurements done withing the anechoic chamber at Dresden, one of the finest research facilities in Europe. In summary, the data demonstrates that the stiffness and density of a guitar top leads to predictable variations in the natural resonant frequencies of the top, and that this can lead to complex variations in the sound of the finished instrument. Variations in Q do not effect the natural frequencies, but instead effects decay and harmonic content of each plucked note. These data broadly support the hypothesis that each guitar design will have an optimal suite of characteristics in density and stiffness that will likely vary dependent upon that design, but that high Q is an “intrinsic good” that can optimize the sound of a guitar regardless of design. This conclusion is supported by smaller pilot projects that we have done on other designs, currently unpublished.
