Why is an Acoustic Guitar so much LOUDER than an Electric Guitar?

[TechStuf]

No, No.....no.....you are waaaayy off!


It's the electrons being forced into lower/higher energy state cycles, thereby exciting/de-exciting the active vacuum, coercing a highly localized portion of the universe into a sort of quasi-time reversed, vibratory sympathetic resonance.

It's free energy all the way!  This discovery carries with it some heady implications for the future of mankind as we know it.

This very well could be the change we can believe in....

Can you feel it?  The electricity in the air?


Wooo.

[MileHigh]

The Observer:

It looks to me like what you are saying is basically right except for the punch line:

The Wave emitted from the Chamber is larger than the original wave.
     The very definition of amplification.

It's not truly amplification.  The Helmholtz resonator of the guitar body is acting as a filter here in that its response to the plucked string is not at it's peak response frequency, i.e.; it's own natural resonant frequency, but it still is responding and oscillating at the resonant frequency of the string.

The response from the Helmholtz filter produces a column of vibrating air mass that vibrates at the same frequency as the string, since the string is the excitation.  At this point onwards I am out of my realm of expertise but I will assume that the string vibrating in vibrating air can transfer more of its energy into the air per second as compared to the string vibrating in still air.  This is where the impedance match takes place.

Again, all the impedance match means is that you have found a better way to suck power out of the vibrating string.  Hence you get a louder sound from the acoustic guitar.

It's not amplification, it's just more efficient extraction of some of the available power from the vibrating string and turning it into audible sound power.  The same amount of energy per string pluck is always there, it's just a question of how you exploit that energy.

MileHigh

[Helmholtzian Dissonance]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but why can't I hook my accoustic guitar up to my electric guitar amp and collect the energy coming out the plug?  If I turn it up to the max, will I get more energy out of it?


HD

[The Observer]

Mile High,

It looks to me like what you are saying is basically right except for the punch line:

   Quote from the Observer
          " The Wave emitted from the Chamber is larger than the original wave.
            The very definition of amplification."

It's no joke...

[mscoffman]

Resonance allows one string's sound wave to reinforce the next and
then allows more efficient transfer of the total reinforced wave to the
whole environmental air. It's louder, but you pay a price; Try stopping
the Built up Resonant wave dead. - You can no longer do it - your
instrument's sound can no longer turn on dime, Resonant build up has
both pluses and minuses. It may be better to add electronic amplification
where the base instrument is not affected by resonant energy build up.

It is "amplification" - but it is not *net* energy amplification.
You could get energy from your guitar pickup...but like microphone
energy it is very very low. Low level human hearing takes place near the
brownian atmospheric noise level.

:S:MarkSCoffman