Evolution of the vibrational behavior of a guitar soundboard along successive construction phases by means of the modal analysis technique

The crucial piece of a craft guitar is the soundboard since it determines the quality of the sound given by the instrument. From the initial phase (the gross plate with no hole) until the last construction phase (the plate with the full structure) several stages are followed to modify the dynamic behavior of the structure and hence the acoustic response of the final guitar. The aim of this work is to analyze the effect of each modification on the vibrational response of the plate. With this in mind, an experimental modal analysis of all the construction phases has been performed in the low frequency range under free conditions. The response of the plate in each stage is defined by vibration patterns, resonance frequencies, quality factors, and admittance curves.