normally a circular section cut out of the soundboard to allow sound energy to project from the soundchamber.

This USED to be an easy description: it was the enormous HOLE in the face of your instrument!! However, the advent of some new instrument styles has required a re-definition of this feature. In general, the soundhole is ANY hole cut into the face of your acoustic guitar for the purpose of allowing the sound to "escape" and project into the outside world. This includes the F-holes on an archtop, the Custom or Signature Ovation guitars (that have holes worked into a decorative leaf pattern up toward the top of the body) and some Washburn acoustic basses (which are designed with a series of slanted lines cut through the body into the main body cavity). Basically , ANY hole intentionally cut into your instrument for acoustic purposes is a soundhole.

a hole in an acoustic guitar that produces the sound of the acoustic guitar

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