Classical Guitar Design

This book describes the entire process of designing guitars, including the theory and guidelines for implementing it in practice. It discusses areas from acoustics and resonators to new tools and how they assist traditional construction techniques.

The book begins by discussing the fundamentals of the sounds of a guitar, strings, and oscillating systems. It then moves on to resonators and acoustics within the guitar, explaining the analysis systems and evaluation methods, and comparing classic and modern techniques. Each area of the guitar is covered, from the soundboard and the back, to the process of closing the instrument. The book concludes with an analysis of historic and modern guitars.

This book is of interest to luthiers wanting to advance their practice, guitar players wishing to learn more about their instruments, and academics in engineering and physics curious about the principles of acoustics when applied to musical instruments.

Explains the entire process of designing and building guitars Applies ideas from physics and design engineering in order to build the most effective instruments Offers a cultural and an intellectual journey, above and beyond guitar-making practices

Autorentext

Mario Garrone was born in 1932. As an entrepreneur, he managed a metallurgic and mechanic company, producing goods for houses. This helped him gain an extensive knowledge of the physics of materials and metallurgy. For years, he spent a lot of time as a radio-amateur, learning from that experience the basics of electricity and electronics. Simultaneously, he learned how to build violins and guitars by himself or from other luthiers - historical or contemporary. Today, his instruments are highly prized, and are played by professional musicians as well as students at musical academies. He is the author of the book 'La Costruzione della Chitarra Classica' (Bèrben 1994) in Italian. He is married and has two children.

Giuseppe Cuzzucoli has degrees in Electronic Engineering and Information Science, from Politecnico di Torino and Università di Torino, respectively, and he has developed electronic systems for the automotive industry. He has also devoted himself to the guitar - his instrument of his choice - and has explored its history, music, literature, and acoustics. He now works full time on the physics of the guitar. He is the author of the book 'Fisica della Chitarra Classica' (Create Space Independent Publishing - 2018) in Italian and of a number of papers on the physical model of the classical guitar. He is married, with one daughter.

Inhalt

The Sound.- The String.- Oscillating Systems.- The Resonator Components.- The Resonator as a Global System.- Upper Resonances.- Analysis Systems.- Quality and Evaluation Methods.- The Modern Guitar.- Building and Using the Mould.- The Soundboard on the Mould.- The Soundboard on the Frame.- The Back.- Closing the Instrument. Final Tuning.- Analysis of Historic and Modern Guitars