Resonance map of guitar face

[sunjamr]

Ever wonder what the face on your guitar is doing on a microscopic level while you play? It doesn’t just sit there dead flat, nor does the whole face just vibrate up and down. Certain parts of it vibrate up and down, while other parts are fairly still. It’s possible to map the places that are vibrating more vigorously using clever photography, and what you get is a kind of topographic map. It’s basically a map of where the guitar’s sound is coming from. The topography gets more complex the higher the note. Keeping in mind the low E string is 82 Hz and the high E string is about 329 Hz, here’s what one acoustic guitar looks like at different frequencies:

Sunjamr Steve

[Bob S]

Steve,
Those are pretty cool images. Interesting the way the nodes multiply as the frequency increases.
Bob

[TENNTOM]

Steve,
Taylor guitars recently announced a new bracing method for acoustic guitars. They call it V bracing and are very enthusiastic about it versus the, up to now, standard X bracing. It would be interesting to see the comparison vibration maps.
Tom

[Tim Lee]

It would look really cool if it was colorized. Look good up on the wall.
Tim

[sunjamr]

Yeh, it’s apparent to me how putting a brace in the wrong place could end up deadening certain frequencies. Hopefully Taylor’s new bracing system has considered all this.

Sunjamr Steve

[Duffy P]

Also, the sound hole might make a difference to the overall patterns. Would be interesting to see how this changes with a MacPherson, a Bateson, or with f holes.

[Author]

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