The Mechanics and Construction of the Acoustic Guitar

Eddie Green presents an in-depth analysis of the mechanics and construction of the acoustic guitar by bringing together his knowledge gained as a structures engineer within the aerospace industry and his skills of making and repairing instruments.

The term ‘mechanics’ means explaining how the string tension and vibration forces are carried through the structure, including a rudimentary strength analysis, and for ‘construction’ it means understanding the design and roles of the individual components, where an ‘acoustic path’ concept is used. Playability aspects, including what can go wrong, are also covered and under the topic of ‘string intonation’, believed to be for the first time, a mathematical solution for the saddle position is developed. ‘Machine head’ calculations also show why some strings are much harder to tune than others.

Whilst there are many books on guitar construction, few, if any, discuss the topic in this way or in such detail. With over 250 hand-drawn diagrams, numerous formulae and tables, and several practical experiments, Eddie’s book brings a unique and completely new dimension to the understanding of the acoustic guitar.

The metric system is used throughout the book. 

This is a new, ground-breaking piece of work.