Abstract:

Hardwood materials such as alder, ash, or maple might not be the best building materials for electric guitar bodies. This project investigates the use of carbon-fiber/epoxy composite materials as a suitable substitute for hardwoods. A hollow, carbon-fiber/epoxy electric guitar was designed and constructed, and an experiment was performed to determine its natural frequencies and mode shapes. This data was then compared to modal data taken from a Fender Stratocaster, a commercially available, solid hardwood guitar. It was observed that the carbon-fiber guitar exhibited much higher natural frequencies and had significantly more stiffness than the hardwood guitar. Sound properties were comparable, if not an improvement, over the hardwood guitar as well. The full report can be found at the following link:

Senior_Project_Report.pdf