Technical papers on guitars are posted here as copyright restrictions permit.Tuning Discrete Models Using Measured FRF Data- This paper will be presented at the 25th International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC 25) in Orlando, Feb 2007.
Build Variation in a Group of Acoustic Guitars- This paper will be presented at the 25th International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC 25) in Orlando, Feb 2007.
Structural Modification of Stringed Instruments- Corrected proof of a paper to appear in Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing
Using Guitars to Teach Sound and Vibrations - A series that appeared in Experimental TechniquesArticle 1 - Mechanics of Vibro-Acoustice
Article 2 - Vibro-Acoustics Model
Article 3 - Guitar As A Data Acquisition System
Article 4 - Psychoacoustice and Sound Quality
Instrument Body Description Using Polar Coordinates- A paper I did on using a closed form expression to define the shape of guitar bodies. Curve fitting the side shape requires some funky math if it is done in rectangular coordinates because the slope goes to infinity at some point no matter how you orient the body. If a point on the body is assumed to be the center of a polar coordinate system. The body shape can be curve fit as a radius that varies with angle from the centerline of the instrument, q. The curve fit can then usually be done with a rational polynomial in q - 4/5 order usually does the trick. The paper appeared in the now-defunct Journal of the Catgut Acoustical Society.