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Changes in sound of guitars over time
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constructordeguitarras
Posts: 1689
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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Changes in sound of guitars over time
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My customer for the Brazilian negra and I talked about the sound of guitars changing over time, when he first came to try out some guitars, and when he came to pick up his. I had no real explanation for the changes either time, but after he left with his guitar I thought about it some more and I came up with this explanation, which I sent him in an email and which I rather like: Light colored woods, such as spruce, visibly oxidize on freshly cut or sanded surfaces, just like the inside of an apple after it is cut. I’m sure darker woods oxidize too, though perhaps the pigments in some of them act as antioxidants. That soundboard standing on my table in my workshop whose rosette you admired has been standing there for a long time and it has turned much browner than it was. This must happen to the inside of the guitar, where no finish is applied. (It also happens to finished surfaces, but more slowly. Your soundboard will darken.) Perhaps this change in color due to oxidation is accompanied by hardening—as when ancient people heat-treated the points of sticks to make spears or arrows. And the hardening would affect the acoustic properties of the wood.
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Ethan Deutsch www.edluthier.com www.facebook.com/ethandeutschguitars www.youtube.com/marioamayaflamenco I always have flamenco guitars available for sale.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 20 2015 21:45:03
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JuanDaBomb
Posts: 189
Joined: May 18 2011
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RE: Changes in sound of guitars over... (in reply to constructordeguitarras)
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Hi Ethan, Well, here is my theory (and that’s ALL it is, but based on what I’ve learned from studying physics & engineering I tend to believe something like this). When I look at an assembled guitar, I see a structure with a complicated system of static internal forces (when it's not being played that is). Of course, there are significant internal forces within the separate components even before they are assembled, but the processes of gluing, clamping, doming, strutting, and so on create an entirely new set of internal stresses because of the physical work being done to the whole. Not to mention changes in water content of the woods over time. From what I understand, typically these stresses don’t remain constant over time, especially when work is being done on the structure (in this case the actual playing of the guitar). It gets complicated but my thought is that all these vibrations experienced by the guitar serve to relieve some of these internal stresses over time. And the result is a different, lower system of internal stresses that resists the input of external forces in a different way. At this point I would like to now open up my explanation to being picked apart and rectally probed in true Foro fashion
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 20 2015 22:57:06
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