Reddit mentions of The Physics of Musical Instruments

Thanks for taking time out of your day to join us here, I think we all really appreciate it.

Someone else beat me to the punch here (/u/theabolitionist) but I wanted to ask for your insight on one of the most controversial topics around here: tonewood.

Let me tell you where I am coming from. I have a degree in physics, and I have played guitar more than half my life. This issue grabbed my interest recently and I have spent a lot of time researching it. It appears that all arguments of wave mechanics and oscillating systems make the case against tonewood. Neville Fletcher even makes the plain statement that the wood of an electric guitar is inconsequential to tone in his book. Numerous people online have conducted tests with oscilloscopes that show no discernible difference from wood to wood. There appears to be a lot stacked against tonewood.

So my question for you is this: Does the wood an electric guitar is made of affect its tone, and if so, how?

Thanks again!

" Bill Sethare's Tuning Timbre Spectrum Scale" - the book is good, but I would be mad (the book is expensive), if I bought it for the timbres of the instruments and instead got the content that it has. This book is not about timbres or hardcore acoustics.


https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jmccarty/formant.htm


Maybe some of these are worth checking:

https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Musical-Instruments-Neville-Fletcher/dp/1441931201

https://www.amazon.com/Musical-Instrument-Design-Practical-Information/dp/1884365086/ref=pd_bxgy_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1884365086&pd_rd_r=KRCN5A7NERX1Y430TSDG&pd_rd_w=FktUU&pd_rd_wg=BB6Ul&psc=1&refRID=KRCN5A7NERX1Y430TSDG&dpID=51s%252B1Ek3EDL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail

https://www.jstor.org/stable/746139?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

This is a good book; I think you can find it for free somewhere.

Also, you might enjoy something about the physics of synthesizers, but I don't know any book on that subject...

You know, almost all the physicists I know play some kind of instrument and are passionate about music... I think the subjects go very well together. It's nice to see a musician go the other way around, since most artists believe our world is completely devoid of fantasy and creativity. :)