Acoustic Guitar Fretboard Simulator (2D)

Strings (standard tuning)

Fret 0 (open)

Click a string on the fretboard, or use the controls, then pluck.

Live Readout

Str	Fret	Note	Hz

Soundboard boost

1.00×

Sustain

0.0 s

How it works

Each open string is tuned to a fixed frequency (E2 82.41 Hz, A2 110.00 Hz, D3 146.83 Hz, G3 196.00 Hz, B3 246.94 Hz, E4 329.63 Hz). Pressing fret k shortens the vibrating length so the pitch rises by equal-temperament semitones: f = f_open · 2^k/12.

Plucking is modelled with a simplified Karplus-Strong string synthesis: the string starts as noise (a sharp pluck), and a short delay-line averaging filter repeatedly smooths and slightly damps it every round trip, so the visible waveform relaxes from a jagged burst into a clean decaying sine — the same digital-waveguide idea real physical-modelling synthesizers use.

The soundboard of an acoustic guitar has its own resonant body cavity (Helmholtz + top-plate modes), typically peaking around 100-200 Hz. Notes near that band get extra sustain and loudness here — a crude but real approximation of why low notes on a real guitar "bloom" more than high ones.

Ringing string Fretted note Soundboard resonance zone