Archives of Acoustics, 44, 1, pp. 35–49, 2019
10.24425/aoa.2019.126350

Modelling and Measurement of Folk Guitar: Truss Rod and Strings in Numerical Analysis of Tone

Paweł Michał BIELSKI
http://bielski.edu.pl
Gdansk University of Technology
Poland

Marcin KUJAWA
Gdansk University of Technology
Poland

Izabela Katarzyna LUBOWIECKA
Gdansk University of Technology
Poland

The study makes an attempt to model a complete vibrating guitar including its non-linear features, specifically the tension-compression of truss rod and tension of strings. The purpose of such a model is to examine the influence of design parameters on tone. Most experimental studies are flawed by uncertainties introduced by materials and assembly of an instrument. Since numerical modelling of instruments allows for deterministic control over design parameters, a detailed numerical model of folk guitar was analysed and an experimental study was performed in order to simulate the excitation and measurement of guitar vibration. The virtual guitar was set up like a real guitar in a series of geometrically non-linear analyses. Balancing of strings and truss rod tension resulted in a realistic initial state of deformation, which affected the subsequent spectral analyses carried out after dynamic simulations. Design parameters of the guitar were freely manipulated without introducing unwanted uncertainties typical for experimental studies. The study highlights the importance of acoustic medium in numerical models.
Keywords: sound quality; musical instruments; acoustic folk guitar; string tension; truss rod; non-linear modelling
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Copyright © The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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DOI: 10.24425/aoa.2019.126350