Bracing and Voicing a Classical Guitar Soundboard
Published 2023-03-26
This is the Soundboard of my guitar #10, 'Benu'.
A beautiful and light aged Red Western Cedar that will pair with the back and sides of 'Green Ebony'. The bracing is my take on the traditional 7-Fan Bracing System, based in Hauser, with inspirations from Friederich for the Cedar.
I make more than one guitar at a time. Still working on 'Avenir' and 'Nova' and will share some news very soon!
I make Chladni Patterns using sine waves to drive the resonant modes of the braced soundboard. This way I can visually examine the stiffness distribution over the whole Soundboard, and then act accordingly. The relative position of the resonant modes also gives me insight into how the guitar will eventually sound. This particular soundboard was especially resonant, making some beautiful patterns very easily.
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#soundboard #guitar #guitarmaker #luthier #craft #woodworking
All Comments (21)
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If anyone is interested to know more about how I measure and voice the soundboard, drop a comment with your questions!
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I just built a acoustic baritinr out of free scrap and I stumble upon this craftsman. I am so humbled by the precision ans techniques. Im so blessed that i get to watch this...
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This is a truly handmade guitar. Amazing handyman.
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It looks like you got exellent results in the chladni test 👍👍
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Thank you for the great video! Such beautiful and detailed work...
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After you figured out the thickness of the top with yr calculations, what was the frequency of the top before the bracing was glued on . The frequency of the non-braced top must surely be part of the calculation . Also what was the frequency you were trying to achieve with the braced top . It wasn’t glued to the sides yet which is another frequency all together. The frequency you noted was your final , right? 170 Hz which is good for acoustics .
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I just discovered you channel and I LOVE the great videos you posted! Excellent quality and super nice to see your building methods and the precision you can achieve with hand tools. One question: where did you purchase the fiberglass bars for the go-bar deck? I would like to build a go-bar deck as well to build my first guitar! :)
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What would be interesting as a video follow up is what decisions you make based on these frequency patterns. I mean some of it are "luthier secrets", but roughly, I want to know how you alter the braces based on those "dust" patterns. And how you choose the balance between durability and resonance. And how you decide upon the thickness of the top (without the braces). I also saw some people tap on the guitar top and listen for sustain and the fundamental tone. Maybe you can shed some light on that. Thanks.
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I'm really curious what happens if you brace the guitar in the shape of the Cymatics that you did at the end of the video?
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Excellent work. What are you looking for with the tea leaf patterns? Symmetry? Specific patterns at certain frequencies? Thanks.
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nice job with hands tools, thanks for the video
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Excelente trabajo
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Hello Christian, thank you for all your videos they are amazing. Can I ask at the start of this video you place the sound board on a set of scales my question is why, was you weighing it for a reason or was you just resting it on top for safety?
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hello. in the first mode, which you showed us at 12:04 min., what was the frequency? Thanks🙏
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I'm a physicist, I understand the harmonic vibration modules you encounter, but for what purpose and what are you looking for? Do you define specific frequencies and force the top to have these frequencies as fundamental?
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If you change your bracing, will that produce a different pattern of nodes?
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Saludos Desde Venezuela , quisiera saber las medidas de la tapa.y más barras armónicas gracias , buen trabajo.
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Hello, Thanks a lot for sharing your amazing work. I have a question; being an acoustics and vibration engineer and an aficionado of guitars (particularly flamenco) I wonder one thing. Have you ever made a study comparing objective resonance frequency measurements with how they subjectively sound when the guitar is played? We sometime want guitars with less sustain which are usually for accompaniment to a singer, or sometimes a balanced one if you also play solo. Sometimes, like some traditional flamenco guitars we want bright treables but without too much sustain still and so on. I am trying to understand, what sort of bracing/thickness etc and consequently the first 3 resonances of the guitar leads to which sort of certain sound. Have you ever made a conclusion as to "keeping the air reaonance, soundboard reasonance and back resonance at "..." frequencyies give a subjective result like high sustain/low/sustain/high treable sounding etc.? Thanks in advance.
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I’ll take your offer. What was that vibrating instrument that you used? Also, did you have to touch the top with it, or does it blow air into the board to get it to vibrate? Lastly, aside from being able to see the vibration mode pattern lines on the top of the board, do you adjust the braces afterwards if you see the patterns not as you like? Are you looking for perfect symmetry in the patterns?
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Hello dear, nice work and am deeply glad that i found your chanel, i have one one question about the exact wood you used for the bracing! it seems that it is the same wood from the rest of the soundboard! it makes me wondering about it and why haven’t you used q-saw bracing wood? goodluck and am looking forward for more videos.
