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The strings of the guitar are attached to the body with what's called a bridge.
The body receives the vibrations of the strings and transmits them to the
air around the body. The large surface area of the body allows
it to make
more air vibrate than just a string. The top plate is the most important part of
the body for sound as the player dampens the back plate and the sides are short.
The material the body is made of, espically the top plate, makes a big difference
in the overall sound. It
can be made from many different woods
such as Spruce,
Maple, Rosewood, or Koa to achieve different results. It is also important that
the top plate stay flat so braces are used to keep it from bending at the tension
of the strings. If the top plate were warped it would not be able to send vibrations
to the air as effectively.
What's also important in acoustic guitars is the air inside the body. Sound
waves just inside the sound hole oscillate, compressing and decompressing
the
air inside the body. This forms what is called a Helmholtz resonator.
