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a_arnold -> The effect of mass on a guitar's sound (Apr. 11 2007 3:02:53)
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They say that the best singers are overweight because they can project their voices better. The sound vibrations can't vibrate the rest of their body because of it's mass, and therefore the vibrations are focused in the vocal chords, giving clarity and strength to their sound.
I was struck by a comment someone made on this forum about the effect of heavy machine tuners on the sound of a guitar, and it got me thinking.
I have a negra and a blanca, both made to the same plans by the same luthier, both using a spruce top. The Brazilian rosewood is heavier (I can feel the difference when holding both), and the negra seems to have much more sustain and maybe a little more volume.
And one of Torres' innovations in his later years was to sand the top thinner near the edges so it could vibrate more independently of the rest of the guitar and accelerate more responsively to string vibration -- so the top is dampened less by interaction with the rest of the guitar -- like Pavarotti's vocal chords vibrating independently of his rather stolid, immobile body.
Heavy rosewood, machine heads (and, presumably, steel neck reinforcement, when used) -- not to mention how tightly the guitarist holds the body of the guitar, all affect the effective mass of the instrument, preventing the body of the guitar from moving and absorbing vibration from the top. The less the body moves, the more the vibrational energy has to be dissipated by the top. Ergo, more projection.
So the question: Does the extremely light construction in blancas diminish their sustain? Is this why flamenco guitars have more "punch" than classicals and less sustain? And why my lighter blanca has less sustain than the negra?
Huber's book on "The Development of the Modern Guitar" says that many luthiers maintain that the back/side wood is immaterial to sound, and that the only reason that flamencos traditionally had cypress back and sides was economic -- gypsies were an underclass. Same with pegs. They're cheaper. But now I'm beginning to question that.
Comments?
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