[Experiment 2] Changing the material of the top
The Structure of the Acoustic Guitar
Performing a sound experiment
Performing a sound experiment
The top plays an extremely important role in body resonance. If we change the material of the top what will happen? We tried using a variety of materials.
Experiment steps
1. Create three lidless wooden boxes.
2. Create lids from cardboard, stainless steel, and rubber.
3. Use a circular cutter to cut holes in each lid, then attach each lid to a wooden box.
4. Attach the strings and compare the sound.
Results of the experiment
Cardboard
Rubber
Stainless steel
* As this was an experiment, the recorded pitches differed from the correct notes.
We kept the pitch of each string in order as much as possible, then played them in order. The cardboard lid produced a sound that was more guitar-like than the other materials. The rubber lid had hardly any reverberation. The thin stainless steel lid produced an interesting sound that was almost comical. This experiment showed that the sound changes completely based on the material of the top.
