An Odd Question


What if any is the sonic impact of having multiple (3) acoustic guitars on stands in your listening room? Is stereo imaging or other audible parameters impacted? 
mysterioso1
Noble100...No apology needed ! I'm with you! So much craziness now...hopefully our love of music/audio provides some relief.

You are correct mysterioso 1 and I apologize for straying from your possible guitar rattling issue on my last post.

It’s just that lately my thoughts tend to focus more on the current political and economic angst and the general rattling within our republic than on other issues. I also realize that I have a much more effective solution for this actual society wide rattling issue than I do for your possible guitar rattling issue.

Best wishes to all for a sane and safe voting experience,
Tim
The Swiss were not so much neutral as nihilist. Pretending ambivalence between good and evil is okay. Lotta that going around these days.
Cleeds,

     Good point, the Swiss were actually being neutral.  My long held belief, that the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi, is not strictly speaking neutral.

Thanks,
   Tim
noble100
Switzerland wasn't actually completely neutral during WWII, Nazi pillaged money proved too tempting for the Swiss banks
Swiss banks accepted Nazi cash because the banks were indeed neutral. But there are many people like you, who think anything that agrees with them is "neutral" or unbiased.
     Even Switzerland wasn't actually completely neutral during WWII, Nazi pillaged money proved too tempting for the Swiss banks.

Tim
I personally think 'neutral' doesn't exist....except, of course, in your car or motorcycle.  Damn good thing, too.. ;)  *tease*
Good mysterioso1, keep those guitars right where they are. I have a grand piano in the room. The degree to which the guitars will resonate if at all depends entirely on the volume. Same for the piano. I have stuck my head in the thing and I can't hear a darn thing over the noise of the Hi Fi. If the instruments are making any noise it is so far down you will never be able to hear it. 

Assumptions are the mother of all f--k ups. 
High volume may cause an audible effect but I have one on a stand in my listening room and have never heard any effect.I would consider hard surfaces may have a greater  reflective effect.
Well listen with them in the room and then out and then you will know if a difference or not. 
@mysterioso1-     "Maybe I just accept the idea that the stereo gets good vibes from the guitars and vice versa!"        That’s my friend’s point of view.    I'm still going to mention those Fretwraps.      Great idea, that one!
oldjazzer...The D-18 must be unreal...pre-war D-18's are the finest acoustic guitars I've played.  Wad the effect of the 8 guitars obvious, buzzing or sympathetic resonance, or was it more subtle? My culprits, if they are messing with me at all,  are a 97 D -42, a 69 O 16NY, and a Collings OM2H.
Hi Mysterioso - well it made a difference in my listening room with my electrostatics.
I had 8 guitars in there along with a Polytone amp with a 15" speaker.
Had to take them all out to clean up the room acoustics.

I've since let a couple of solid bodied guitars back in to no ill effect.
You won't be surprised to hear that the main culprit was the 15" speaker and a 1939 Martin D18.
https://gruvgear.com/products/fretwraps

$30 for 3 available pretty much everywhere.
I use one small near nut and second large near heel.
Easy on/off and very effective. 
Fretwraps ...new to me...sounds like an easy solution to this issue. Thanks. I'll explore.
  • Thats true...capo would just raise the pitch, not really address the issue.  Good point...Now I'm fiddling with where in the room the guitars should be...limited options based on space and room shape... Maybe I just accept the idea that the stereo gets good vibes from the guitars and vice versa!
I use Fretwraps by GruvGear on mine because I noticed both would start sympathetic vibrating at times.  Stopped that problem quickly but caused a secondary issue.  My purist friend now says I'm cheating.  Can't make everyone happy....lol
This thread made me think of a close friend, with a collection of guitars, banjos and dobros, many of which are displayed on the walls in the room adjacent to his system (10’ wide opening, between rooms).     He generally has his favorite Martin acoustic, on the couch next to his listening chair (he likes to accompany).     As I; he enjoys realistic SPLs, so- I mentioned this thread to him.     He’s since noticed them all singing along, especially the hollow-bodied models.     Of course; that just makes sense, given how acoustic resonances work.     None of this is bothering him, but- I suppose it could become one of those insidious mind-worms.     If it ever does: I’ll mention a felt strip, woven between the strings (per clearthinker), which would provide much damping (if thick enough).             btw: Using a capo would only raise the resonant frequency/pitch, if used in the normal manner (tightly, on a fret).    Applied loosely = noise.
I'm willing to keep a capo on the strings - there's often one there anyway. Plugging the soundholes - not so much. Too much of a pain for my lazy self. This is truly what is referred to as a first world problem !
BTW, every object in your listening room is subject to sympathetic resonance.
Yes but the body of a guitar is made specifically to resonate and amplify.

mysterioso1 OP
Just plug up the sound hole in them with a sock or tape,  and damp all the strings with a clamp.

Cheers George
Why not damp the strings when not being played?
Just thread a felt strip between them.

The bodies will still resonate though.  So get a Stratocaster.
Or buy one of guitarsam's.  He doesn't like Fenders.  He knows everything about guitars 'n all.

     Now you're making good sense, mysterioso 1!

     My earlier comments about making sure not to play the guitars while listening to music to avoid any sonic impact were, of course, facetious.  I thought it was obvious but, apparently, not to roxy54.
     My intended point being that perhaps it's better for our mental health and musical enjoyment that we avoid splitting too many hairs and becoming too OCD in this hobby.  
     When my system's firing on all cylinders, the music is good and everything sounds viscerally just right, Heck!, I think and feel like I might be resonating a bit.
     I just feel very satisfied, sit back, listen and enjoy the whole good vibrations experience. 

Yahtzee,
   Tim
     
Thanks for the feedback ! My sense is that whatever limited impact the guitars might have on the audio, the value of having them playable at arms  length wins the battle.
+1 onhwy61. I have a guitar in my room and do not notice it in the listing spot. But I am sure if I go over to it with some music on it will resonate a little. I know because I have heard a piano do it before. A piano I think is a bigger culprit.
When I turn on my stereo,my guitar starts playing along. (Cue up spooky music!!!)
I would imagine they would act like Helmholtz resonators.  I have heard and believe a story of Klipschorn cabinets being used as effective bass traps.

Possible effect I believe would be to pull out those frequencies, but generally, I believe and stand to be corrected, the small mouth openings would minimize this effect.
moving things around in listening room is a great tweak, sometimes surprising changes...
Yes there are sympathetic resonance issues, but unless you can actually hear them it's not an issue.  BTW, every object in your listening room is subject to sympathetic resonance. 


Sonic impact of having multiple (3) acoustic guitars on stands in your listening room?
To kill off most sympathetic resonances
Put a soft clamp across all the strings, and block off the sound hole in the bodies.

Cheers George
I've never heard any notable change when I've had one of my acoustic guitars sitting on a stand as I played my stereo. True, sometimes the guitar boomed or buzzed a bit in sympathy but when it comes to tone or imaging emanating from the stereo, nothing. 

     Simple, just make sure nobody is playing any of them while listening and there will be no sonic impact.

That was easy,
      Tim
Sympathetic Resonance is the issue. I have tuned guitars in the studio and then played forceful passages in the same room. What you hear after abruptly stopping is the stings and body of the guitars, violins and snare drums ringing due to the acoustic waves that are being produced and flowing/reflecting throughout the room. Similar to a slap echo you may produce by aggressively clapping your hands as you walk around and excite frequencies in the immediate space.
Yes they will, They sure look nice though. I have a piano in one of my rooms.. I stuff two moving blankets in the tuning door.. When the kids want to play the thing, I remove the blankets.. EVERYTHING make noise, or dampens noise, Neutral is kind of rare, ay?

Regards
I would have to think that the strings would resonate and affect the tonal balance and sound in the room, as well as causing sound reflections.  Then again, I had an upright piano in my old listening room and didn't feel it affected the tonal balance, though it was a source of reflections that had to be dealt with.  I imagine part of the equation would be where they are located.
I don't know, but I think there must be resonance. Don't you have another place to put them? I've seen guitars on stands or walls in other system pictures and I always wonder why.