Owasso Guitar Co. Acoustic Guitar Science- Physics and Psychology

The Science Of An Acoustic Guitar

To this day, I am not convinced that anyone really knows what it is that makes a great guitar so great. But, here are a few things that are definitly a factor... This is all original content. Science guys and gals, if you see anything that is factually incorrect, please email us ASAP.

Physics of acoustic guitars, guitars, physics, mass, energy, mechanical, engineering

Mass & The Transfer Of Energy

The transfer of energy plays a huge role in the dynamics and projection of an acoustic guitar. The goal is to diffuse as much energy from the string across the soundboard as possible, while maintaining enough rigidity to resist the constant load of string tension.

When plucked, the string is charged with kinetic energy. As it hits the soundboard through the bridge, its energy is rapidly dispersed across the soundboard. What's at play are many of the principles of mechanical and acoustic impedance.

A better way to think about it is a car accident (see ballistics below too). If a VW Rabbit hits a Suburban, what car suffers the most damage? The Rabbit. The reason the poor Rabbit loses everytime is because the Suburban has more mass. When the Rabbit and the Surburban collide, more of the energy of the impact is transferred to the Rabbit from the Suburban, than from the Suburban to the Rabbit.

Now, think about how this relates to the energy of a string coming off the pick or finger and into the bridge. In guitars old and new, you see this principle almost always in the bridge, which is usually made from a wood much more dense than the rest of the instrument.

Acoustic guitar design, physics of guitar, science, hand made guitar

The Effects Of Biology

A lot has been written about the effect wood has on tone. Mostly, it's contradictory. Fancy computers and scientific tests will often say different species of woods have very little effect on tone, only to be rebuffed by saying: "Not to my ears..." There's a reason for that.

Your senses are highly evolved and your ears are no exception. Since you were born, the part of your brain connected to your ears has been stimulated, mostly from speech. Making the human ear highly tuned to differentiate subtle nuances in tone, particularly in the middle frequencies, where often the tonal changes related to woods occur.

Acoustic guitar science, physics, acoustic guitar, geometry, kevlar, science

Aviation & Ballistics

Acoustic guitars share many materials with early airplanes and many of the principles of physics found in ballistics.

During the second World War, we actually used so much Red Spruce for airplanes, that to this day, we have very few timbers of Red Spruce suitable for soundboards.

The goal of a good soundboard is to tranfer as much energy from the string across the entire board. That's also how bulletproof glass works and believe me, there's a lot more information on the internet about ballistics than guitar-making

By applying the principles of aviation and ballistics to guitars, it not only helped us make better guitars, it also gave us tremendous insight into the application of advanced materials into our guitars.