What Is The Bottom Of A Guitar Called? The guitar has several parts from the headstock to the body. Every part has its specific functions, from generating sound to making it comfortable to play the guitar, whether sitting down or standing up.
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The bottommost part of a guitar is called the lower bout. It is the largest part of the guitar situated nearest to the end of the strings at the bridge. The lower bout itself is the end part of the body. The body is divided into the waist, upper bout, and the lower bout, forming an hourglass figure.
The Measurement Of The Bout
The term “bout” is derived from the obsolete English dialect: bought, meaning a turning, as well as from “Bowen”, a Middle English word meaning to turn or bend. In modern English, bout refers to the measurement across the top of a guitar from the upper and lower parts of its body, particularly at the place where it has a maximum outward curve.
Think of the hourglass-shaped body in this way, if you will: The upper bout is the shoulders, the middle part is the waist, and the lower bout is the hips. The upper bout connects the neck and the body while the lower bout attaches the bridge to the rest of the body.
The Function Of The Bout
The waist, or the narrowest part of the body, makes it easy to rest your guitar on your knee when you’re in a seated position. You can then wrap your arm around the body and reach the strings, hopefully without straining your arm and finger.
The shape and size of the bouts have a significant effect on the tone, sound, and volume of your guitar. While the Pyle 36” Classical Acoustic Guitar and the J&Z Acoustic Guitar 40” Steel Strings look similar, these guitars have a unique sound of their own. It is because of the differences in their overall size, 36″ and 40″. This difference affects the size of their bouts.
The differences in the size of the upper and lower bout also affect your guitar’s overall tone. You can perform an experiment that will prove the effect of the differences in the upper and lower bouts on the overall tone.
Drop a pick into your guitar’s body, rattle it back and forth from the upper bout to the lower bout and back again, and listen carefully. You should be able to hear the significant difference between these two bouts. Generally speaking, the upper boat emphasizes the higher tones, while the lower bout highlights the lower tones.
Even the waist has its function, too, tone-wise. The width of the waist changes the vibrations inside the guitar. It, in turn, affects the overall tone and volume of its sound.
The bottom line: When either the upper bout or lower bout becomes damaged, such as cracking or warping, it will affect your guitar’s performance.
Conclusion
To conclude, the lower bout being the largest part of a guitar means that it plays a crucial role in sound production, as well as a guitar’s tone and volume. You must then ensure that it’s always in good shape.
