Soundboard thicnkess calculator
If you have ever wondered if there is a method to detemine the soundboard thickness, well the answer is yes.
Actually, there are several methods but one of the easiest is to use a thickness that gives the soundboard always the same mass.
This approach, along with bracing design, is useful if you aim at making your instruments in a reproducible way, assuing constant quality.
In this page, you can calculate the thickness based on wood density and desired soundboard mass mtarget.
The calculation is based on the following formula that allows you to determine the thickness of the soundboard that gives always the same mass, even if using woods with different densities.
In the formula, mtarget is the soundboard mass, ρ (rho) is the wood density and A is the soundboard area.
To use the calculator, you must know the density of the wood that you want to use. You can calculate it with the Wood density calculator.
If you don’t know which mtarget to use, here are some examples:
- 90 g for a classical guitar
- 130 g for an acoustic guitar
To understand how to determine the ideal mtarget for your instruments, deepen your knowledge on this method, understanding how to design bracing and much more, visit the page dedicated to the Acoustics Workshop.