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

[Paul-R]

2. No... the node of the string does not vibrate.
    Everyone thinks this... but it just simply is not true.

But if you put your ear flat on a solid bodied guitar whilst it is being
played, the sound will come through clearly to some considerable extent.

[mscoffman]

But if you put your ear flat on a solid bodied guitar whilst it is being
played, the sound will come through clearly to some considerable extent.

I think too that the solid body of a guitar would participate with
the strings in resonance. The primary resonant frequency is very much
higher because the speed of sound in different materials is higher than
the speed of sound in the air gas.

:S:MarkSCoffman

[mondrasek]

I think too that the solid body of a guitar would participate with
the strings in resonance.

Most definitely.  In fact, I often tune my electrics string to string by the feel of the vibrations in the neck and not by listening to the tone (if the guitar has the intonation set well).  You can feel the notes coming in and out of phase just as well as you can hear them.  I have more difficulty hearing the phasing unless my amp is up and distorted, but that can cause other frequencies to interfere due to feedback.

One simple sound board test to try:  Strum your unplugged electric normally, and then while pressing the tuning head against a wall.  The wall will act like a sound board and it will be much louder.  You can do this with most any hard surface.  I do this while setting the intonation (each individual bridge saddle distance from the nut) since I do this by comparing the whole string notes to the true harmonic at the 19th fret, which can be a bit faint to hear without that trick.

M.

[The Observer]

Been awhile... Hello,

       Alright... there is a common physics experiment.

           You need

                1. A Small Speaker that emanates an audible tone.
                2. A Tube connected to a Water Reservoir via a hose.
                3. A Water Reservoir that moves vertically.

   Ok... Here's what you do.

           A. Get the speaker going.
           B. Adjust water level in Tube by raising and lowering the Reservoir.
           C. Observe a loud sound when resonance occurs in the tube.

The sound is louder everywhere...
                                                     
                                                       A sane person would say that sound was amplified.
                                                       A person with vested interests in oil will say not.

                   End of Story.
                     Good Day,

                  The Observer


               

[The Observer]

Here's a link to a similar experiment....

                                      http://phoenix.phys.clemson.edu/labs/224/resonance/resonance.mpg

The Observer