Myth or Fact -- Bigger Guitar Is Louder

[mr. beaumont]

There's loudness in decibels, and perceived loudness, I suppose.

Play a Jumbo and a 16" archtop like an old Gibson L5. Which is louder?

Now play 'em with a band. Which did you hear?

[JeffreyAK]

I think of the guitar top as a drum head, forced to vibrate in different modes with different frequencies by the strings. And if you think of drums, and compare say a bass drum to a snare, there are a bunch of variables but mostly, the bass drum (larger guitar) projects more low frequencies than the snare (smaller guitar). Louder, well maybe or maybe not, but what matters is how it cuts through the rest of the music, and snares - like high-pitched mandolins - do pretty well even though they are small.

But yes, all by itself, all other things being equal, a larger guitar is going to be louder, particularly on the low-frequency end, and that's certainly my experience.

[FrankHudson]

Considering projection as only a subjectively mistaken substitute for some true objective volume is likely misleading. Projection is just a term for the cause of what the listener hears, and the listener is the whole reason for playing.

Different players, playing in different registers, with different techniques in different contexts will have different projected volume. The same two different guitars played differently might have different perceived volume/projection depending on the player.

Some guitars, like unto the banjo, have a sharper attack that jumps out. Percussive chords (ala Freddie Green or the Gypsy Jazz) or sharply struck single notes will jump out of such a design and be a audible to the audience. If one is striking a nice chord with open strings and hoping for it to hang in the air for awhile while other instruments play, that kind of projection would seem inadequate. Some guitars have a low register thump, useful in those lower string runs in-between chords, but they might not sing out so much in the upper register lines up the neck.

I think it would possible to design an acoustic guitar that would blow out a candle attached to the mic stand, but that still would not "cut" with projection needed in a band context for a particular player.

Volume and projection is pretty much a secondary concern for me these days as my microphone cares little for how loud the guitar is in the room when recording, but I have 30 year old memories of playing on stages with little or no PA support with a heavy-handed piano player. Luckily the piano was usually at the back of the stage, and I'd sit out front and wham on the strings of a flattop guitar playing single notes, double stops, and partial chords up the neck. The guitar I was playing small bodied (roughly 00), but stiffly braced, and I could make myself heard with that. I wanted to afford an archtop back then, couldn't. Maybe one of those legendary canon Martin dreads would have helped if I had the cash then too, but I'm not completely sure.

[LSemmens]

The bigger the amplifier, the louder it is.....So, plug it in.....

[Rosewood99]

Your question to too broad.

Is it always louder-no
Is is usually louder-yes

[Shoreline Music]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

In my experience, differences in projection and differences in EQ/cut can make a smaller guitar that's tehcnically quieter in decibels feel louder than a similarly-built larger guitar. I hear this every day I walk into the shop. I can bang on a jumbo that sounds fine, or lightly strum an OM that lights up the entire shop in sympathetic resonance. Which one is louder? The one that lights up the shop sure feels louder to me.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by redir

If you take that argument to extremes then do you thing a guitar the size of a queen bed would be louder then a Dreadnaught?

Probably a lot louder. But what strings? Could I generate enough arm power to resonate that much air?

I expect you could hear the bass notes a mile away.

[Jambi]

Doesn't soundbox size equate more to bass than volume?

[AndrewG]

I think perception of loudness plays a part; for example a bright sounding guitar may appear louder than one with an emphasis on the lower mids and bass, due to the way we hear different frequencies. Trebles are directional, bass tones much more dispersed.

[Chase @ Heartbreaker Guitars]

Originally Posted by perttime

In the recent small guitars thread that I started, people were talking about the "projection" of small guitars. I must confess that it is not quite clear to me how to differentiate between "projection" and "loudness".

I have not played all that many guitars but feel that my current big guitar gets loud unless I play very gently. A small guitar recently surprised me, but it had a sound port.

This is sort of a difficult thing to describe (similar to how it's hard to explain what a "warm" sounding guitar means with out actually demonstrating) but the best way I can explain it is some guitars are loud when you play them or are next to them, because they resonate deeply. This is usually do to depth of the sound box, but if you step away from them to far, you can no longer hear the individual notes articulate clearly. However, some guitars use design to not necessarily resonate as deeply, but use design features to push out or "project" their sound. Guitars that project well can usually be heard clearly with good articulation through ought a room. Again, it's a hard thing to put into words, but you sort of know it when you hear it. That's the best way I can explain it.

[Irish Pennant]

As an observation only, I don't know if bigger is louder in a meaningful way, maybe deeper. I vision an acoustic mariachi band and the guy playing the acoustic bass "Guitarrón". It's size allows it to project the bass tones that a smaller bodied instrument can't do. It's loudness is correct for playing in an acoustic mariachi band, it's loudness is not proportional to it's size difference with the six string guitar that's being played.

[Alan Carruth]

I've only skimmed the thread, so if I repeat something somebody has already said, I apologize.

To begin with, you have to define what you mean by 'louder'. I tend to think of 'loudness', 'volume' and 'projection' as being at least somewhat subjective impressions, and use 'power' to refer to the absolute level of sound output, as measured with a dB meter, for example. It is very difficult to predict how 'loud' something will sound at a given power level in general; you have to go into all sorts of qualifications about the spectrum of the sound, the way t changes over time, and so on.

Assuming you have two guitars of different sizes with the same strings and setup that are equally well made and optimized, the smaller one should put out more power. Basically, the amount of sound a guitar puts out is a function of the ratio of soundboard area to mass; the higher the A/m ratio the more output. Larger soundboards need to be reinforced to be stiff enough to hold up to string tension over the long term, so the A/m ratio tends to be higher for a smaller guitar.

Larger boxes tend to put out more sound in the low frequency range than smaller ones. Low sounds tend to radiate equally in all directions, so that the player hears them as well as anybody. As you go up in frequency guitars tend to become more directional, producing sound off the top and out of the hole that is more directed toward the audience. I have been to listening tests where the folks in the back of the room said a particular instrument was a 'cannon' while folks in front and off to the side thought it was nothing special and the player could barely hear it. Larger boxes tend to sound louder to the player and folks nearby, while smaller ones that produce more of their sound at higher frequencies are often felt to 'project' better to the audience.

Our hearing is much less sensitive to low pitches sounds than high ones: it takes a lot less power for a 'pure' tone to be heard at 1000 Hz than at 100 Hz. Small guitars have an advantage that way as well.

I often wonder if there might be a psychological dimension to this. Big powerful critters tend to make low pitches sounds, so we may associate low tones with power.

Much more could be said, but in the end it all boils down to a debate without agreed definitions; everybody is 'right' in their own terms, and nothing can ever be settled. Perfect for the internet....

[BoneDigger]

My Martid dreads are definately louder than my Guild Jumbos.

[Mr. Jelly]

Wow! Anybody have any hard data? For a question of loudness data should make it a cut and dried answer. As far as cutting through a band or a mix or having more bass or mid-range those are different questions. And as far as opinions everybody has one :-)

[merlin666]

How do you define "big" surface area of the top or total volume ... depth of the sides may be important too!