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Entry Level Guitar Players Often Wonder How The Construction of Their Instrument Affects Its Sound and Its Potential For Future Upgrades.
Entry Level Guitar Players Often Wonder How The Construction of Their Instrument Affects Its Sound and Its Potential For Future Upgrades.
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.