Vibration and decay characteristics of electrical basses

Abstract

One of the assets of electric musical instruments such as guitars and basses is that they posess very long sustain. Since no acoustic radiation is required from the body of the instrument, very rigid and massive elements may be used in its construction. This will generally ensure that the sustain is long and constant from note to note. Structural resonances, however, occur in all structures with finite stiffnesses and masses and these resonances will influence the sustain of the instrument. Since the resonances occur at discrete frequencies, certain notes may have a more rapid decay than others and this may cause “dead spots” at certain notes. The relation among the structural resonances, the decay rates, and the input inertances at the ends of the speaking lengths of the strings of an electric bass will be discussed. The modal shapes will be shown and their shapes relative to the speaking length of the string will also be considered.