Vibrational Mode Shapes of a Gibson ES-335 Electric Guitar
Dr. Dan Russell - Dan Russell, Ph.D., Applied Physics, Kettering University
Student Research Assistants: Willis Broden


The research described on this web site has been made possible by a generous donation from Gibson Musical Instruments

The images and animations on this page are Copyrighted © 1998-2006 Daniel A. Russell, Ph.D, Science and Mathematics Department, Kettering University, Flint, MI, USA

The Guitar: Gibson ES-335

The Gibson ES-335 hollow body electric guitar used for this experiment was donated by Gibson Guitars Inc. to the Acoustics Laboratory at Kettering University.

The strings were left attached during the experiment, and the guitar was tuned to its playing frequencies: E2 (82 Hz), A2 (110 Hz), D3 (147 Hz), G3 (196 Hz), B3 (247 Hz), and E4 (330 Hz).

The Results: Modes of Vibration

The images below show the first several modes of vibration for the Gibson ES-335 electric guitar. In all cases the amplitude of vibration is greatly exaggerated for effect in showing the movies. The guitar does not really vibrate with such large amplitudes.

First Bending Mode
Second Bending Mode
Torsional Mode
Another Bending Mode

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