What does an electric guitar consist of and how does it work? What does a guitar consist of: the main parts of acoustic and electric guitars

Knowledge of the structure of an electric guitar is extremely useful for all novice guitarists, firstly, it will save a huge amount of time when choosing a new instrument, and secondly, you will not “fall” in the eyes of a more experienced musician, moreover, with knowledge of the basics of “what and where and what back and forth” it’s easier to watch various video lessons.

So, an electric guitar consists of several main parts, and each wooden element is a sound-generating element, in other words, the sound of an electric guitar is made up of these component parts. Wooden elements include: neck, soundboard, fingerboard, nut. Metal parts include: pegs, tailpiece and others. Without electronics, it’s also impossible to include tone and volume controls, as well as pickups.

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Fender Stratocaster Neck

Strictly speaking, the neck is designed so that we can clamp certain frets and thus extract the sounds we need from the guitar. Necks can be divided into thin and thick (conventionally), and for high-speed playing, mostly thin ones are used, for example, on some Ibanez guitars; thicker necks are found in Gibson and Fender guitar brands, and depending on the model and year of manufacture, the neck may have different widths. Also, the neck can be divided by the wood from which it is made; most Fender necks are based on maple, Gibson mahogany or mahogany. The wooden elements of the neck also include a pickguard, which is designed to ensure that no traces of playing remain on the guitar (look at old, used Fenderas and you will understand everything). Most Gibson guitars have an ebony fingerboard, which is the standard of quality among guitars (Indian rosewood and other hardwoods are also used), Fenders may not have a fingerboard at all, or again a fingerboard made from a different type of maple, an option with ebony (more expensive instrument).

Gibson SG headstock

Any neck has a head (not the head that is the “head”, but the head of the neck), depending on the model and brand, the head of the neck can be different, in addition, any neck will have a nut, which is made specifically so that the string does not rub on the fingerboard and did not make a rattling sound. The threshold can be made of wood, plastic, ivory options are possible, although this is not at all hardcore, and the wooden trim is no worse than the plastic one.

Fender tuners

Also, on the neck there are pegs designed to tension the strings. The tuners can be adjusted, thereby setting the force for tensioning the strings, and if you want to distinguish a branded instrument from a fake, then one of the options would be to inspect the tuning mechanism; if Fender brand guitars do not have the manufacturer’s mark, then most likely you are holding a fake in your hands, For Gibson guitars, it is possible that the tuners are handled by a third-party company, for example, Kluson.

Anchor rod

All modern necks are based on an anchor rod designed to level the neck, the thing is that over time, due to temperature changes, the neck begins to move a little, this immediately affects the sound of the instrument and, importantly, the tuning of the guitar, so usually musicians during seasonal changes, rotate the anchor rod to avoid the above factors. Another “bell” that indicates that the electric guitar needs to be adjusted is a decrease, or, conversely, an unreasonable increase in the distance between the strings and frets of the instrument.

In addition, it must be said that the brand of the electric guitar manufacturer is stamped on the neck. Also, during the manufacture of the instrument, the neck can be covered with up to five different layers of paint and varnish.

Electric guitar body

The body of the guitar, along with the neck, are the most important structural elements; alas, without them, not a single instrument will be able to fulfill its obligations.

Semi-acoustic, apparently Jolana. Pay attention to the neck, there is no fingerboard and over time there are traces of playing

The deck can be either solid or hollow. Hollow electric guitars are called semi-acoustic; it is also possible that half the body is hollow and the other half is solid, and each style of music will have its own body, what does this mean? For example, in blues and jazz it is better when an electric guitar has a hollow body (of course not always), and for metal and other heavy genres it is better to have a solid body, but everything is individual for each musician.

This Thunderbird is made from walnut!

The wood in the soundboard is simply of the greatest importance, depending on what wood the guitar was made from, the sound will be the same in the future. The body of a guitar is usually made from one piece of wood, however, options are possible when a composite of two types of wood gives a better sound than one type, an example is the Gibson Les Paul, some guitars of this brand are made by pressing one piece of wood into the other (mahogany and maple). Moreover, there is such a thing as a solid-body neck, this is when the neck goes into the soundboard and other parts of the body are glued to the sides, examples include Gibson and BC RICH basses. In general, for an electric guitar it is better when the soundboard consists of one piece of wood.

As for wood, maple gives a softer and more sonorous sound, but mahogany has a characteristic duller, but bassy sound.

If you are still interested in the structure of an electric guitar, then we continue. The case contains all the electronics and volume and tone controls. Depending on the presence of pickups, their type, brand and brand of guitar, there may be a different number of regulators.

EMG sensor range

Pickups are now mainly divided into two types - single coils and humbuckers. Depending on the location of the sensors and their layout, the sound can be completely different. Gibson guitars have two humbuckers, which gives a tighter sound (a humbucker is essentially two single-coil pickups), while Fender guitars have three single-coil pickups in the standard layout, which is ideal for lighter genres of music. Moreover, depending on the power supply, pickups can be divided into active and passive; as a rule, active electronics have a characteristic sound that some people like and some don’t (example: EMG pickups). The advantages of active electronics include the absence of background at high volumes, the disadvantages are, as they say, unnatural sound, although Metallica turns out to play with an “unnatural sound”.

The deck has a jack cord input, which connects the other end to a guitar or bass cabinet.

This 11-string bass has a distinctly non-standard body and neck size.

Depending on the presence of strings, soundboards can be made with different strengths (this can also be said for necks). If the guitar has 7 or more strings, then the soundboard must withstand greater loads, as well as the neck, therefore, it is necessary to use harder types of wood and a thicker body.

We will write about the tailpiece separately

Sometimes even the most virtuosic guitarists do not know exactly how an electric guitar works. There's nothing to be ashamed of, but understanding the design of your instrument can open up new horizons, new sound production techniques, or allow you to better understand how the instrument works. In this article we will try to describe in as much detail as possible what the most typical electric guitar consists of and how it works.

To make information about the structure of an electric guitar better understood, let’s divide it into two logical parts: a description of the appearance and the “filling.”

Appearance

Below is a diagram showing the parts of an electric guitar. This instrument is in many ways similar to an ordinary acoustic guitar: it also has a body, soundboard and neck, 6 metal strings, and may have pickups, but at the same time, an electric guitar is much more complex. It contains details that acoustics do not have.

Frame

If we talk about similar elements: the deck (body), then their structure is significantly different. The body of an electro is much smaller than that of an acoustic, and most often it is solid, but sometimes it is also hollow.

A solid deck is made from one or more pieces of wood glued together. The sound of this body is sharp and “aggressive”, making it popular with rock music performers. The only negative is that if the body consists of several parts, the sound may deteriorate due to a violation of the resonance at the joints of the wood.

A hollow body is slightly wider than a solid body and has a warmer, richer sound and is used for jazz, blues and country. The disadvantage of such a body is that it has a small sustain, that is, a short sound, and a quick decay of the sound.

On the shell of the body at the bottom (if you place the guitar with the neck up) there is a jack for connecting an amplifier and outputting sound to speakers. Sometimes, the input is located on the front panel of the guitar (ex. Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG)

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The neck is a very important element of the guitar because the quality of the music performed depends on its comfort. This part can vary significantly from tool to tool. For example, on some guitars it is narrower and rounder, on others it is wide and flat.

Of course, you need to select it depending on the anatomical features of your hand, but traditionally it is believed that a narrow and wide neck is convenient for playing moving passages and other techniques that are usually found in the metal and rock genres, and a narrow and rounded neck is suitable for playing chords in blues and jazz.

In general, the neck of an electric guitar is the same as that of an acoustic guitar. The only difference is the number of frets; for an electric guitar it can reach 27, and for an acoustic guitar no more than 23. The most common models usually have 21, 22 or 24 frets.

Filling

Now it's time to talk about the parts that only an electric guitar has. We'll call them the filling.

The bridge is the part on the body to which the strings are attached, i.e. in simple words, the bottom threshold. It comes with or without tremolo. The tremolo bridge is complemented by a lever (vibrato lever) that sets it in motion. This system allows you to change the pitch of the sound by 1.5-2 tones, which makes the sound more interesting.

However, a bridge with a tremolo has several disadvantages: the guitar is more difficult to tune or tune into a non-standard tuning, has less sustain, and if one of the strings breaks, the entire instrument is out of tune. Accordingly, a system without a tremolo does not have all these disadvantages, but at the same time it is impossible to achieve interesting vibrato with it.

The pickups (usually there are three of them), as the diagram shows, are located near the nut under the strings and, in fact, pick up the sound, i.e. convert string vibrations into loud sound. They are divided into types: single and humbucker.

They differ in the nature of the transmitted sound: the first makes it cleaner and more transparent, and the second makes it more saturated and powerful. The single-coil is traditionally used in jazz and country, but the design of its pickups does not allow for the suppression of extraneous noise, which is why the guitar often hums when played with distortion. Accordingly, the humbucker is more suitable for playing heavy music.

The pickup selector allows you to choose between one or two of the three pickups located under the strings. As a rule, each of them gives its own unique sound, which is explained by the physical properties and design of the instrument. Therefore, by switching between them you can experiment with the sound.

The volume levers allow you to change the volume, and the timbre levers allow you to change the sound character of the instrument.

This is all the basic information that can be provided about the design of an electric guitar. As you understand, the design of an electric guitar is quite simple. Of course, many of the elements can be described in much more detail, talking about their types and subspecies, but this will complicate the text and confuse the beginner.

Thank you for reading the article, we hope that you found answers to all your questions in it. If anything is still unclear, write in the comments and may the diagram help you. And as you probably already know, we have a VKontakte group, where we post a lot of useful materials about guitars every day, as well as sheet music and tabs of popular compositions. So subscribe so you don't miss out on new information.

In this video I will talk about the basics of how to build an electric guitar for beginners.

An electric guitar makes sounds using strings, so of course the main component is strings. Most guitars are six-string, although there are seven- and eight-string models, and they are mainly used for very heavy styles of music, I will make a separate video about them. Bass guitar is also a separate topic, and we will talk about it later.

Sound is produced by the vibration of a string, which we set in motion using a pick or fingers. The six strings of an electric guitar vary in thickness. The thinnest string is at the very bottom and is called first string, on it we play higher notes. Next comes the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Accordingly, the pitch of the sound decreases, the sound becomes lower as we go up [from the first string to the sixth].

The strings are located along neck- this is such a long piece of wood with a metal rod inside. They are attached to headstock with help pegs. By tightening and loosening the pegs, we change the tension of the string and, accordingly, change its height. Now I relax it and you hear how the sound changes to a lower side. When tensioned, the sound changes in a higher direction [showing example].

[showing frets on the fretboard] These areas of the fingerboard are called frets, and the metal strips between them are called thresholds. By pressing the string against the nut, we change its length, and, accordingly, the pitch of the string changes. The shorter the string, the higher its sound. For example, the first string sounds like this when it is open, and by pressing it at the twelfth fret, we get a sound an octave higher [showing example].

Most guitars have 22 or 24 frets, allowing you to cover a full four octaves. The twelfth fret is located in the middle of the string and divides it into two equal parts. Most guitars have markings on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st frets and, if present, the 24th fret. They allow you to navigate the fretboard and better see where which notes are. There are also additional marks on top that allow us to see where we are on the fretboard when playing standing, since the front marks are not very visible when standing [showing marks on the edge of the fingerboard].

On the other hand, the strings are attached to a tailpiece, which we call bridge. The bridge can be fixed, like on this guitar, that is, it is stationary and does not move anywhere, and there are movable bridges with the Floyd Rose or Whammy Bar system. They have a handle, and when you move it, the length of all the strings changes at once and creates a wow effect. [cannot be expressed in words, watch the video😀] . I advise beginners to take a guitar with a fixed bridge, as there is less hassle with it, I know this from my own experience [my first two guitars were Floyd Rose systems].

When a sound is produced, the string begins to vibrate, and the wood of the guitar, which we call soundboard, allows these vibrations to be strengthened and give them additional color. On this particular guitar, the soundboard is made from three pieces of mahogany glued together to create a low, deep sound.

Vibrating the string activates the magnets inside pickups, which convert string vibrations into an electrical signal [misspoke in the video] and transmit them to the amplifier using a cable [showing sound through an amplifier]. Every guitar has a socket where we plug the cable into. [showing nest].

Most guitars have either two or three pickups. One pickup is always located at the bridge, and it creates a brighter, ringier sound [showing example]. The second pickup is located at the neck and it creates a lower and darker (or dark) sound. It's much better heard when we play chords. Bridge is playing now [showing example], and now we're playing the pickup at the neck [showing example]. You can hear that the sound here is deeper and lower.

We can switch between pickups using a special knob. On my guitar, the low position activates the bridge pickup, and the high position activates the neck pickup. In the middle position, both pickups are activated, creating a mix of sounds [showing example].

We can also control the pickups using knobs located on the deck. There is a pen volume, everything is clear with it — it changes the sound volume through a specific pickup [showing example]. The second handle — this is the handle timbre. With the timbre turned up to maximum, the sound is loud and rich [showing example]. If we turn the timbre down to minimum, the sound turns out suppressed and muffled. [showing example]. My guitar has two separate volume knobs for each pickup and two separate tone knobs.

[playing a chord] The sound we hear now is a classic sound clean electric guitars. For this video I use inexpensive amplifier Roland, but it should be noted that the amplifier plays a big role in shaping the sound of an electric guitar. Recently, software has become popular emulators amplifiers and when playing through a computer, you can buy an emulator and get access to a huge number of expensive amplifiers without spending thousands and thousands of dollars.

To create a rock or metal sound, we need an overdrive effect (or distortion). For this we use a pedal like this [showing Metal Muff pedal] or built-in overdrive in the amplifier. Just press the button and now we can chop metal 🤘 [playing riff from Sad But True (Metallica) and solo from Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)].

The structure of an electric guitar using the example of a Fender Stratocaster

Electric guitar neck(1) is practically no different from acoustics and consists of two parts: the neck itself and the fingerboard, held together with glue. Let us remind you that the fretboard is the upper part of the fretboard on which the frets are located. On headstock(3) are also pegs(6), and inside the neck there is anchor, whose task is still the same - to prevent the strings from bending the neck. The neck can be glued to the soundboard, or it can be attached with screws (this is one of the differences from acoustics).

Like an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar has a neck, body, strings, pegs... But the body of an electric guitar is not at all the same as an acoustic one, but flat.

Electric guitar body(2) Can be made entirely of wood, or hollow.

Hollow body guitars have a warm, rich sound and are commonly used in jazz, blues and country. The disadvantages of these guitars are the rapid decay of sound and the appearance of a creaking sound when played at high volumes.

The body of solid body guitars is made of either one or several pieces of wood, usually of the same type, that are glued together. The more places the body is glued, the worse the sound will be due to the loss of wood resonance in these places. The exception is some guitar models, the body of which is deliberately made of different types of wood to improve the sound. Such guitars have a sharper and more aggressive sound, which is most suitable for playing heavy music.

Now about what fundamentally distinguishes an acoustic guitar from an electric guitar.

Bridge or machine(7) is the device by which the strings are attached to the soundboard. There are two types of bridges: with and without tremolo (in the picture there is a bridge with tremolo). Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Bridges with tremolo system is a movable stand that is driven by a lever (10), which allows you to change the tension of all strings and create a vibrato effect even with open strings. Typically, such machines are installed on Stratocasters and similar instruments. Such machines allow you to change the pitch of the sound by one and a half to two tones, which greatly diversifies the sound.

Bridges without tremolo Suitable for telecaster and semi-acoustic guitars. Their design is even simpler, the number of parts is reduced to a minimum, due to which guitars equipped with such bridges hold tuning better, sound more melodious, and have fewer problems when you need to quickly change strings.

For beginners, it is better to choose guitars equipped with a machine with a simple tremolo (when the machine only works to lower the sound) or without it at all.

Under the strings on the body of the electric guitar there are sensors - pickups that convert the vibrations of the string into an electrical signal. The pickup is a very important part of the guitar; the sound produced by the guitar depends on their type and quality.

Pickups There are two types: singles (9) and humbuckers (8). Singles have a clean and transparent sound. These pickups are used when playing blues and country styles. The disadvantage associated with the design of such pickups is a lot of extraneous noise and a strong background when playing with distortion. Although now they are releasing split singles, which have significantly reduced noise.

Humbuckers suppress extraneous noise and are more suitable for playing through guitar effects. These sensors have a more powerful and rich sound. Due to these qualities, humbuckers are more suitable for heavy types of music.

Manufacturers combine both types of pickups in different sequences and thus achieve a variety of instrument sounds. In the description of an electric guitar, you can see something like S-S-H or H-S-H - thus indicating the sequence in which the pickups S - single, H - humbucker are installed on the guitar.

Pickups can be passive or active. Active sensors have a wider frequency range and a weaker output signal. To enhance it, a preamplifier powered by the crown is built into the guitar. Active pickups, like passive ones, come in both single-coil and humbucker pickups.

To switch between pickups, a switch (11) is installed on the guitar, making one or two of the pickups installed on the guitar active. By switching between pickups you can change the sound your guitar produces. Switches are often installed that turn on two adjacent pickups and thus create new sounds.

Also on the body of the electric guitar, as a rule, there are volume (13) and tone (12) controls.

The electric guitar first appeared in the 20th century and immediately gained popularity due to its unusual sound. Using a pickup and electrical amplification, a variety of melodies are created.

What is the structure of an electric guitar? It has three components: body, neck and head. The body contains: a tailpiece (bridge or machine), various pickups and a switch, a pickguard, tone and volume controls, a lever (tremolo), a socket for connecting a cord, and a belt fastening.

The neck consists of two parts: the neck itself and the overlay, on which the frets, marks, and nuts are located. An important detail is the anchor rod. Its purpose is to regulate the deflection of the bar.

The tuning mechanism is located on the head. The tension of the peg determines the tension of the strings. With their help, the electric guitar is tuned. In some cases, special plates are installed on the top nut that block the adjustment of the strings (top-lock). Then a mini tuning mechanism is installed in the bridge for microtuning.

Housing types

• Whole. Made from one piece of wood, The one-piece body is considered the most expensive and high-quality. Characterized by producing clear, bright sound. Glued together from several pieces of wood of the same species, the body loses the resonance of the wood, and the sound quality deteriorates. The exception is a body consisting of different types of wood. This trick ensures the production of a sharp, hard sound characteristic of heavy music.
• Hollow. The sound produced is warm, rich, soft, but quickly fades and creaks if played at high volumes.

When studying the structure of an electric guitar, it is important to pay attention to the material from which the body is made. The duration of vibration of the strings and the trajectory of movement directly depend on the type of wood. The vibration of pickups is also determined by the body material and pickguards: maple, alder, rosewood, walnut, ash.

A solo part with high frequencies will sound great on a guitar made of ash, alder, poplar, or linden. The rhythm will be clearly expressed on guitars made of mahogany, linden, and ash. A powerful rhythm part will be amazing on a guitar made of walnut, rosewood, wenge, or mahogany.

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There are several types of attachment of the neck to the body:

• Bolts. In this case, it is quite easy to change the neck if necessary, but the duration of the notes is reduced.
• Pasted. It transmits vibrations better and is used most often.
• Through. The deck consists of two halves that are attached to the neck. The sound is long and warm.
• Heelless. The advantage is easier access to high positions.

The width and thickness of the neck determine the sound style. Those who prefer fast hard music (legato, tapping) choose thin but wide necks. Adherents of the classics opt for rounded necks. Manufacturers found a compromise and offered a neck with a variable fingerboard radius. Near the soundboard it is flat, and closer to the head it is round.

The material of the neck and fingerboard is also important. It is the pad that reflects or transmits the vibrations received, therefore, ebony, maple or rosewood are used for its production. Maple provides bright sound, ebony provides density and depth, and rosewood provides warmth and softness. The neck is made of mahogany, maple or composite material. Solid, beautiful wood not only looks impressive, but also provides rigidity to hold the strings.

Anchor and scale

The anchor is installed in two ways: under the pickguard or on the back of the neck, closer to the tuning mechanism. The second option is preferable and more reliable. A special key is used for adjustment.

The scale is the distance from the tailpiece to the nut of the neck if the string is open. The scale determines the placement of frets. A distance equal to ½ scale length is between the 12th and 13th frets. And ¼ of the length is between the 5th and 6th frets. Depending on the length, a different sound is produced: melodious, warm, soft or hard, sharp, aggressive.

Pickups

The role of pickups is to convert string vibrations into an electrical signal. The sound quality directly depends on the quality of the pickup. They are produced in two types: electromagnetic and piezoelectric. Electromagnetic are classified into passive and active, as well as Single and Hambacker. Passive pickups do not require additional power, while active ones are powered by a battery. Therefore, the sound of the latter is much better.

Single coils (have one coil) have a clear and bright sound, but can produce noise. Therefore, manufacturers found a solution: single-coils with a humbker effect. They provide clear sound without extraneous noise and are used in jazz and blues. Humbuckers (have two coils) produce a powerful, but dim sound, devoid of low frequencies, and when overloaded they sound clear and aggressive.

Piezoelectric pickups come in the form of a small disk or narrow strip that fits under the bridge. You can install it under each string, achieving unusual effects. And to eliminate noise, it is advisable to use a preamplifier buffer.

Bridges and switches

Bridges are available with or without a tremolo system. The machine (tremolo system) allows you to lower and raise the pitch of notes directly on the guitar using a special lever, but “eats up” the sustain. In this case, a system of micro-adjustment of pegs is used. Bridges without a tremolo have a smoother sound and are less likely to go out of tune.

If the pickup is located closer to the tailpiece, it is called a bridge pickup. Closer to the neck is the neck. A special switch allows you to use the bridge pickup for soloing, and the neck pickup for playing chords.

A three or five position switch is used. The positions activate different combinations of pickups: bridge, middle, and near the neck.

Now, knowing the structure of an electric guitar, it is much easier to start learning and enjoy high-quality music.