Nov 12 2008
Anatomy of the electric guitar
Yesterday while I was at work my girlfriend messaged me to ask me what a ‘pickup’ was. I explained it to her then asked her why she was asking. She told me it was because she had been reading Guitar Today and saw that word used a lot but didn’t know what it meant. This got me thinking that there are a lot of terms and names for different aspects of guitar playing that a beginner might not understand. So, rather then send you on a Google search or to your nearest paperback guitar reference, I thought I would introduce you to the anatomy of a guitar.
Tuning Machines-Strings are fed through your tuning machines and turning them adjusts the tension and therefore the pitch of given string.
Headstock - This is the name for the area where the tuning machines are fastened. Many guitar manufacturer’s will place their logo here and usually they each have their own distinct headstock. i.e. This Squier headstock (in image) is on pretty much all Squier guitars, making it recognizable from far even if you can’t see the logo.
Nut-This is the (usually) plastic or bone peice that keeps the strings in place at the headstock end of the guitar. Tiny grooves are filed to hold each string in place.
Frets-Frets are on the fretboard on the face of the neck. They are separated by the tiny metal bars.
Fret Inlays-These are the ‘dots’ located on some of the frets. They mark the 3rd,5th, 7th, 9th, 12th (two dots), 15th, 17th, 19th and 21st frets.
Neck- The neck is where the fretboard is located. It is usually bolted onto the body and widens at the end to turn into the headstock.
Body/Chassis- The body, sometimes called a chassis, of the guitar is what makes the sound from the strings resonate. The shape of the body is what separates many different types of electric guitars. There are three distinct types of body. THe solid body (pictured above), a hollow body and a semi-hollow body.
Pickups-Pickups do what their name suggests. They pick up the sound of the strings. Most guitars have a bridge and neck pickup, some also have what is called a middle pickup. Though there are many types of pickups; Single coil, humbuckers, Rails, active pickups, ect. they all do the same job of picking up the sound of the strings and sending it through the circuit.
Pickup selector- They can be two way, three way or even five way selectors. They select different pickups or different combinations of the pickups on the guitar to provide different tones.
Bridge-A bridge holds your guitar strings with ’string saddles’. There are many types of bridges and some of them have a tremolo system.
Volume/Tone Knobs-Sometimes there are up to four or five different knobs. They control the guitars’ outputted volume or tone. If there is more than one of each it is safe to assume that they control different pickups.
Input/Jack-This is where the guitar patchcord plugs in.
Strap Button-These are found in different spots on different guitars. They allow you to attach a guitar strap.
