Description
Patent Pending
The Acousonix Frequency Hammer
$450.00
The Acousonix Frequency Hammer provides accurate dominant frequency readings of anything the device strikes. The Frequency Hammer is specifically and uniquely engineered to analyze tonewood and, really, any other component of an instrument. The Hammer’s software has a series of clever filters which allow it to read acoustic instruments and tonewood with an especially high degree of fluidity. The initially intended application was to help luthiers tune top and back plates, calculate wood ratings, and do general frequency analysis on an instrument. However, we have found that this tool can accurately read the dominant frequency of just about any object that generates a sound when tapped. Each component is handcrafted and designed within the Galloup School, featuring:
-Software engineered with luthier Bryan Galloup’s approval and oversight
-A specially formulated “tapper” engineered to optimally excite the struck surface
-A fully wooden, hand sanded handle built out of our private wood collection
-USB-C Charging Port
-USB-C Charger Included
-OLED frequency readout Screen
Robbert (verified owner) –
Incredibly easy and practical to use. The instant feedback is incredibly handy, especially when testing or shopping for tonewoods. Paired with the Acousonix software, it’s an absolute dream team! I really love the standalone convenience—getting the frequency directly without having to boot up my laptop or software means I end up using it much more often. On top of that, it looks aesthetically stunning and feels great in the hand. Highly recommended!
George Gorkle –
The Accusonic Frequency Hammer has changed the way I voice guitars and evaluate wood.
As a luthier, I have always relied heavily on experience, feel, and listening when selecting materials and voicing an instrument. The Frequency Hammer gives me a way to measure those observations and attach useful data to them. I can compare pieces of wood, document their resonant behavior, and follow how an instrument changes throughout the building and voicing process.
It has been especially useful for top voicing. I can take repeatable measurements as I work and compare them with previous instruments instead of relying on memory alone. Over time, that gives me a much better record of how material properties and construction choices relate to the finished guitar.
Being able to quantify wood properties has also improved the way I select and organize material. Wood varies enormously, even within the same species, and having measurable information about individual pieces makes those differences much easier to understand and document.
The Frequency Hammer has become a regular shop tool for me. I use the information it provides alongside the judgment and experience I have developed as a builder, and it has significantly improved my understanding of what is happening during the voicing process.
The customer service deserves its own mention. It is easily the best support I have received for any product I have purchased. Every question I have had has been answered thoroughly and personally, with a clear interest in making sure I understand both the equipment and the data it produces.
For anyone building acoustic instruments who wants a more measurable and repeatable way to study wood and instrument resonance, I highly recommend the Accusonic Frequency Hammer. It has been one of the most useful tools I have added to my shop.
Larry Coon –
This tool is a must-have if you care about resonance frequencies in your builds. It complements an FFT frequency response graph, enabling builds to be both better and more efficient. I use this hammer for four distinct purposes:
1) When examining raw tonewood, the hammer quickly reveals the long, cross and twist frequencies without guesswork. When coupled with the Acusonix software, these values help determine the quality and best uses for any piece of tonewood. If I have the opportunity to look through someone’s tonewood stock, I take the hammer with me and quickly find the best selections to purchase. If I’m starting a new build with my own stock, I know which pieces are best suited for my intended purpose.
2) When voicing the braces I can get immediate feedback on what I’m doing with my chisel. This lets me quickly and accurately hit my targets.
3) With a near-completed guitar (before I put on the strings) I can immediately determine the main modal frequencies — air, top and back. I can then quickly tune these frequencies relative to each other and to my targets. I can also compare them to scale tones to avoid wolf notes. This is also without guesswork — for example, the long dipole and the back monopole may be very close together in frequency. Which is which? An FFT frequency response curve doesn’t give you this information. The hammer helps you sort it out quickly.
4) With a completed guitar (mine or someone else’s) it’s easy to determine the main modal frequencies. If a guitar doesn’t sound right, I can quickly diagnose any modal tuning issues. On the other end of the spectrum, if I fall in love with a new guitar’s sound, I can (with permission) quickly find out what makes it tick.
Tools come and go in my shop, but the Acousonix Hammer will be with me for the long haul.
Zef Guerra –
The frequency hammer is indispensable. I use it on the top start to finish . I discovered a frequency my frequency analyzer did not pick up 35 Hz between the braces .
Larry Nye –
I’m a retired Engineer from Texas Instruments, a split cane bamboo fly rod designer and builder and a guitar player for the past 63 years as well as an amateur acoustic instrument builder I have always been interested in the physics of acoustic instruments. I actually employ a process to frequency tune my bamboo fly rod tip sections on the rods I design and build. When I started building my first Archtop guitar, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to try and learn as much as I could about the how the build process, materials and the carving affected the voicing of the instrument.using empirical data. The Acousonix Frequency hammer and FFT software provide a very effective and user friendly set of tools to perform this type of characterization. This keeps the engineering part of my brain engaged and challenged and allows me to utilize my creative side as well. Being a recent survivor of a couple of strokes, this provides me with a useful methodology to exercise both my brain and my body and will hopefully result in a really cool guitar as a result . The folks at Acousonix are great and Cooper is wonderful to deal with and extremely helpful.!