Jan 26, 2019 07:18 PM
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...115013.htm
EXCERPT: . . . The steel-string acoustic guitar is one of the world's most popular musical instruments. Some of the woods used for guitar backs are revered by guitar players for their acoustic qualities, and are claimed to be tonally superior to other woods. Unfortunately many of these woods are expensive, rare, and from unsustainable sources.
Guitar manufacturers are aware of this issue and have taken a range of initiatives to address it, such as using different and more readily available woods as substitutes. The challenge is to find woods that are sustainable and cheap without compromising on the sound quality and playability of the instrument.
A study led by Lancaster University tested six steel-string acoustic guitars which were specially built by guitar maker Roger Bucknall (Fylde Guitars). They all had the same design and material specifications except for the back and side plates which were made of woods varying widely in availability and price:
[...] Professor Christopher Plack of Lancaster University said: "We found that acoustically, the differences between the guitars were minimal. Guitarists gave very similar ratings to the sound quality and playability of the different guitars under blinded conditions. Furthermore, their ability to distinguish the guitars by their sound in a blinded discrimination test was poor. Overall our results suggest that the back wood has a negligible effect on the sound quality and playability of an acoustic guitar, and that cheaper and sustainable woods can be used as substitutes of expensive and endangered woods without loss of sound quality."
MORE (details): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...115013.htm
EXCERPT: . . . The steel-string acoustic guitar is one of the world's most popular musical instruments. Some of the woods used for guitar backs are revered by guitar players for their acoustic qualities, and are claimed to be tonally superior to other woods. Unfortunately many of these woods are expensive, rare, and from unsustainable sources.
Guitar manufacturers are aware of this issue and have taken a range of initiatives to address it, such as using different and more readily available woods as substitutes. The challenge is to find woods that are sustainable and cheap without compromising on the sound quality and playability of the instrument.
A study led by Lancaster University tested six steel-string acoustic guitars which were specially built by guitar maker Roger Bucknall (Fylde Guitars). They all had the same design and material specifications except for the back and side plates which were made of woods varying widely in availability and price:
[...] Professor Christopher Plack of Lancaster University said: "We found that acoustically, the differences between the guitars were minimal. Guitarists gave very similar ratings to the sound quality and playability of the different guitars under blinded conditions. Furthermore, their ability to distinguish the guitars by their sound in a blinded discrimination test was poor. Overall our results suggest that the back wood has a negligible effect on the sound quality and playability of an acoustic guitar, and that cheaper and sustainable woods can be used as substitutes of expensive and endangered woods without loss of sound quality."
MORE (details): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...115013.htm