Just The Fundamentals Of The Electric Guitar

By Jason Briggs


Electric guitar is a stringed instrument which works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Electric guitars have electromagnets in the system that converts the string vibrations into electric signals. The electric signals generated are weak and hence need to be amplified using the amplifiers before being sent to the loudspeaker. Are you looking for a gretsch guitar?

Most of the electric guitars have six strings and a range of frets on the neck. These guitars are usually solid body guitars while some of them do have a hollow or semi hollow body. It is the combination of the magnetic induction and the amplification that make electric guitars work. The sound in electric guitars is produced by magnetic pick ups and controlled by knobs. On striking the string of the electric guitar that is not plugged in, the sound produced is almost inaudible.

Electric guitars generally have longer necks which can be of two types i.e. set neck or a bolt-on neck. The top of the neck is called headstock. The headstock contains machine heads or tuners which when rotated change the string tension and hence help in tuning the guitar. Between the headstock and the neck are the nuts over which the strings of the guitar pass.

The playing area of the instrument is known as fingerboard or fretboard. The fingerboards of the electric guitars are made up of frets or bars horizontally located at regular distances. These frets stop the strings at a certain position, when pressed. This way of stopping the strings at the right position helps in producing appropriate tones. The tones produced by the electric guitars can be adjusted by control knobs. Electric guitars also have metallic cylinders called truss rods which can be used for adjusting the tension on the neck.

Electric guitars are made of various materials and construction techniques. The material used in making the body of the electric guitar has an impact on the sound quality of the guitar although solid body guitars are not much affected by the material used. Some of the commonly used woods in making the body are alder, swamp ash, poplar, mahogany, maple and basswood. Materials such as cardboard and plastic are also used in making the bodies. For the soundboard, the commonly used material is rosewood, koa, and ebony. The neck is commonly made of mahogany, maple and basswood.

The materials used for the strings of the electric guitars are different from that used for acoustic guitars since the strings of electric guitar need not produce tones of high volume. Most of the electric guitar strings are made of stainless steel, pure nickel and nickel plated steel.

Electric guitars had not achieved much fame when they were initially produced. But over the years they have made a niche in the music industry. Most of the musical shows now have electric guitars as the major instruments. Electric guitars are used for playing various types of music like rock n roll, heavy metal, pop and punk.




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