FAQ

What is a guitar soundboard?

The soundboard of guitar is the plate which features the sound hole and upon which the bridge and fingerboard are placed.

What does the soundboard do?

The sound board transfers the vibration energy of the strings into the guitars inner cavity to provide tonal reverberation.

What are the problems with a wooden soundboard?

Wood is a relatively weak material when put under forces of stress and strain. In order for a wooden soundboard to be able to withstand the tension of the strings, internal bracing is required to prevent warping.

Why use carbon fiber?

Carbon fiber-epoxy composites are extremely high modulus materials. A single bi-directional weave plate can sustain a significantly larger amount of stress than any natural wood. The material's strength allows for the removal of the internal bracing, allowing more acoustic reverberation.

What's so special about a sandwich plate?

We used a sandwich panel made of two sheets of of bidirectional carbon fiber-epoxy composite with a sheet of wooden honeycomb between the two. The space between the plates provides additional reverberation which further extends the resonance. In fact, you can take a plate of the sandwiched material, and strike it, and rings like a drum!

So how does it really sound?

Well, the bridge snapped recently because we made a mistake in applying the adhesive...but while it did work, pretty great! The thing booms like its hooked up to an amp!

What Composite did you use from ACP?

A 2' by 2' panel of this stuff right here. http://www.acpsales.com/Carbon-Fiber-Plain-Weave-Honeycomb-Panels.html