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Materials in Musical Instruments: Romance of Art and Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Uwe J. Hansen
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Extract

A few years ago, I surprised my wife by asking for a guitar for Christmas. Our budget was limited in those days, so I started at the low-cost end and remember being disappointed with the tone quality of the guitar we purchased. Even with my poorly trained ear, I could tell the difference between a $50 guitar and a $100 instrument. The jump from $100 to $200 was also easily detectable. I could even make out the difference in tone quality between a $200 and a $500 guitar. One hand-crafted instrument with a $1000 price tag had a lovely tone. However, the limitations of my ear made it difficult to detect significant improvement in tone quality beyond that stage. At any rate, I realized that an instrument manufacturer would clearly not waste precious select woods on a “cigar-box” instrument. Since then, while trying to unlock the secrets of fine tone quality, the importance of materials in crafting fine musical instruments has become apparent during my investigations of various musical instruments in the laboratory.

Type
Materials in Musical Instruments
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , March 1995 , pp. 25 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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