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Electric Guitar Project
Final Writing Assignment |
| Throughout the guitar lab, you probably noticed that my instructions to
you never outlined or documented exact procedure. Mostly, I stated objectives, and general
methods. There are several reasons why I did this. One is that this is only the
sixth
time I have done the lab, and still do not always know the most ideal ways for students to
carry out the objectives (I learned a lot from the few couple of years, and continue to
learn more now). Another reason is that it would take too much time to detail everything,
and there is limited time. But the most important reason is that you are old enough, and
experienced enough, to take objectives and find your own solutions. The most creative ways
of winding pickups, designing bodies, and correcting errors came from you. Some of the
most rewarding laboratory work I have ever done has been a result of taking on the
research, design and implementation of a project by myself. The errors were my own, but
the results, and successes were as well. I want you to feel this way about your guitar.
In order to consolidate your thoughts and efforts along the way, I expect you to write
a descriptive paper entitled, "How to Build an Electric Guitar, and How it
Works." The goal of this paper is to relate to an inexperienced reader what you have
learned and done over the last several weeks. I have enclosed a detailed outline of
objectives on the back of the page, but the order in which you present them, and the very
nature of your presentation are up to you. You should imagine yourself as the learner, and
imagine what you would want and need to be told to have success in a similar endeavor.
This final report should be a web page and should include many
neat, hand drawn or computer generated diagrams and pictures embedded along the way. It should include
a table of contents, specifying page numbers for different parts of the lab
(this should hyperlink to each part of the report), and a glossary of terms at the end (including vocabulary such as audio taper
potentiometer, digital multimeter, micarta nut blank...etc.) The final reports will
count as your entire grade for the lab (at least 40% of your quarter grade) and will be
due Wednesday, June 2 for seniors, and Friday, June 11 for juniors. |
| A Summary of Objectives for the Electric Guitar Lab I. Describe detailed procedure for how to:
1. Design a body, including specifications
2. Make a pickup, and how to test it
3. Construct a tailpiece, including specifications
4. Attach tuners to the neck of the guitar
5. Strip wire and attach it to both the potentiometers and the ¼" jack
6. Fasten the volume and tone knob controls
7. Test the potentiometer and graph Resistance vs. Angle
8. Glue on neck, tailpiece, birch plywood board, pickup and nut blanks
9. Sand wood pieces effectively
10. Wire the electronics - including all testing (using digital multimeter)
11. Slot the nut blanks (strategies for cutting, and eliminating buzzing)
12. Attach the strings and tune them
13. Test the entire system - (troubleshooting guide)
14. Tune the guitar with chromatic tuner or piano (discuss overtones)
15. Mark off the IV and V positions, and cut a slide.
16. Create beat frequencies (include a graph or sketch of a beat envelope).
17. Play a simple 1-IV-V song (include one in your report)
II. Explain in detail how all the components work, including:
1. How a pickup works, (magnetic induction). How to determine the
number of coils
in your pickup using resistance/meter.
2. How the electronics are designed and why they work (Ohm’s law,
resistance, charging capacitors..etc.)
3. Why we use audio taper potentiometers (decibels, linear volume).
4. The relationship between volume knob angle and resistance, and coils and volume.
Include derivations for both. NOTE: Derivations are not simply
lists of equations. You need to explain the steps of your derivation
so they can be understood by a reader.
5. How a tone control works - explaining in
detail how a resistor/capacitor combination serves to filter out high
frequency sounds, and why such an effect might be desirable. Also explain
the use of a resistor in the wiring to make the tone control work more
effectively.
6. How the tuners work (simple machines, gear and radius ratios)
7. How a ¼" jack works (include a good diagram to show connection)
8. How forces and torques are distributed around the guitar
9. Exact methods for calculating tension in the strings, and shearing on the glue.
Include how the birch plywood board can improve tonality. Relate the
string tensions back to the mechanical advantage of the tuners (how much
force do you actually need to apply to tighten the strings?)
10. How vibrating strings produce sound I: tuning, tension, thickness, length,
loudness...
11. How sound is amplified and heard (how a speaker works, propagation, the human ear)
12. How strings produce sounds II: definitions for open chord, beat frequencies, harmonics,
overtones, wavelength, standing wave, nodes,
interference.....
13. How to follow I-IV-V song sheets
14. Overall summary of how guitar works - the big picture - this should be
clearly written and thorough (remember, write what you would want to
read).
III. Include a detailed list of all tools used, how each works, and when it was needed.
Also include helpful hints for using the tools safely and effectively and a
trouble-shooting guide to help avoid making common mistakes. |
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