Discover Why Steel String Acoustic Guitars Are Made of Wood

It is a common sense that wood material has negative properties like deformation, etc., wood steel string acoustic guitar is still favorable.

Why?

Surely there are reasons. And we try to find out here.

But it is better to start at advantages and disadvantages of wood material.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wood in Steel String Acoustic Guitar?

Compare with other material such as iron, plastic, etc., wood is light, good resonating, relatively low cost, etc. The properties make the wood material a good choice for building steel string acoustic guitar.

However, there are also problematic properties.

The first is that it is hygroscopic. The wood absorbs water from the air and expands or contracts corresponds to the humidity in the air. This brings risks of deformation when the acoustic guitar exposes in the wet or dry environment.

Another one is more insidious. The wood creeps under load if set with failure stress. This means the shape of a full Solid Acoustic Guitar be changed permanently over time. The creeping occurs not only on wood, but also on polymers which used in some popular wood glues. When creeping happens, the alignment between the neck and body can change and the reset of the neck is required.

Why Wood Acoustic Guitar Is Still Favorable?

Since there are problematics in wood material, why wood acoustic guitar is still favorable?

One reason is the history. We all know that the first modern 6 string acoustic guitar is classical type which is made of wood. Till now, it is more than 10 decades. Therefore, acoustic Guitar Makers and guitar factories have already got used to it.

Another is the sound. Although not all of wood material fit for the construction of acoustic guitar, those are named as “tonewood” have been proved creating excellent sound. Some uses metal material to create a guitar, but most of them must be equipped with electric system to help the sound performance. It is not an acoustic guitar. It is another story. And even for electric guitars which are loaded with electric system also required tonewood for resonance.

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How to Fortify the Durability of Acoustic Guitar?

To fortify the durability of an acoustic  guitar, the first step is to select qualified wood material.

The qualified wood material mainly means the proper tone wood has been well dehydrated before using. The less moisture inside, the stronger the wood. That is why before we build any project, we always check the dehydration firstly. And also, why the guitar needs to be heated during painting.

It is said that the proper bracing system can also help the durability through the enhancement of strength. We can believe that although the bracing system is mainly for improvement of resonance. We can go with that, because a right bracing is no harm.

Set the tension of strings properly. High tension of the steel strings causes much of deformation of neck. Sometimes, it causes the loosen of bridge, too. Normally, since the guitar is in storage, especially when it is just produced, the strings shouldn’t be tightened so much no matter what tension of the string is.

Is Solid Top Acoustic Guitar More Durable?

Solid top acoustic guitar is a kind of result from the evolution of acoustic guitar.

The purpose of solid top guitar is to pursue complex sound and lower cost. The building approach of the acoustic guitar isn’t deviated from traditional one.

There are two types in general. One is use solid wood guitar tops and laminated back and side. This is where the name “solid top guitar” comes from. Another type is to use laminated top and solid wood back and side. Well, this type of solid top acoustic guitar is more durable than the one uses solid wood top. But, the sound may not be the same good.

However, that doesn’t mean the solid top acoustic guitar is more durable.

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