Elements of an electric guitar. Components of a guitar
You need to understand the essence of the task ahead. To do this, you need to understand and understand the detailed structure of the electric guitar. If you have ever held an acoustic guitar in your hands, you will immediately see the similarities and differences in construction between these instruments. Let's take a closer look at the device of this wonderful musical instrument.
1)Head (feather) neck- serves for fixing pegs on it. It can have various outlines, up to the most bizarre.
2)kolki- serve to tension the strings. There are: singles, doubles, closed and open.
3)anchor nut- With it, you can easily adjust the deflection of the neck.
4)Vulture- practically the most important and expensive part of the guitar. Necks differ in the way they are attached to the body. Depending on the configuration of the guitar, the neck can be either glued or screwed using a special bolt. Each mounting method has its own effect on the sound color of the entire instrument. The most expensive fastening option is when the neck goes right through the body and thus gives the guitar a deep, very juicy sound.
5)Nut- is made of plastic.
6)fret sills.
7)Markers- help the musician navigate the fretboard.
8)Button- Required to fasten the belt.
9)Tremolo arm- with it you can use the machine.
10)Pickups- These are electromagnetic devices necessary for converting the vibrations of a string into an electrical signal. There are two types of magnetic pickups:
Single (SC) - this type of pickup refers to magnetic pickups and has in its design the number of cores equal to the number of strings on an electric guitar. Each core is under its own string. These types of pickups have a clean, transparent sound that is not typical of humbucking pickups. The disadvantages include noise immunity, i.e. when playing, such a pickup will pick up extraneous radio interference. But this does not prevent some manufacturers from installing only Singles on their guitars. For example, the Fender Stratocaster only has these pickups.
Humbucker (HB) - Structurally, it is a bundle of two single-type pickups (SC) located in one housing. Depending on the configuration of the humbucker, the pickups included in its composition are connected either in parallel or in series. The main advantage of this type of pickup is its resistance to extraneous interference, to which the Single is prone. The humbucker has a thick, meaty sound. A prime example of an electric guitar equipped with such pickups is the Gibson Les Paul.
11)Pickup switch- 3 or 5 position, it allows you to switch between all the pickups, and therefore get a different sound of the instrument.
12)Volume and tone knobs- with their help, the volume and timbre of the guitar sound are adjusted, respectively.
13)String holder (machine, bridge)- a device for attaching strings to an electric guitar. All tailpieces can be divided into three types: fixed, tremolo and floyd rose.
A guitar with a fixed bridge has a nicer, smoother, longer sound.
Tremolo bridge - allows the player to lower the pitch of the strings while playing using the tremolo lever.
The floyd rose bridge is the most popular type of tailpiece, allowing the player to both lower and raise the pitch.
14)Cord socket.
15)Deca- the second very important part in the device of an electric guitar. The sound of an instrument depends mainly on how the soundboard resonates during playing. Usually made in one piece, rarely glued together from several pieces of wood. As for the appearance and shape of the body, unlike acoustic guitars, this practically does not affect the sound of the instrument.
The electric guitar device discussed above is the same for almost all electric guitars.
Please read the review if you decide.
Let's figure out what the guitar consists of, how its parts and parts are correctly called, and what functional tasks certain elements perform. The article is for informational purposes, but can be useful not only for beginners, the article details and correctly names the main details of the design. Often even professionals call these details not quite correctly, perhaps the information given in the article will serve to correctly understand the meaning of the names. For a guitar master, the article can also serve as a navigator in the catalog of our store. By clicking on the link, you can open the page with the product in the next window.
The main parts of the guitar are the neck, which crowns the head, and the body of the guitar.
The head of the guitar is mounted - a mechanism that allows you to adjust the tension of the strings. The upper or lower surface of the head is most often decorated with overlays - made of dark wood mosaic, sometimes the overlay may include elements of mother-of-pearl and other materials. Along with aesthetic tasks, the overlay strengthens the head.
The head is firmly glued to the neck, called the part of the neck from head to heel. The same material is used for the neck and head, more often cedar, mahogany or maple are used, the heel of the neck is glued from the same material in the lower part. The part of the heel that is visible from the outside is called the heel.
The neck of a guitar is called both a single whole and its individual elements. To be more precise, let's look at what elements the neck consists of. The upper part of the neck is made of hard material - ebony, rosewood, mahogany, modern guitar masters sometimes use hydrocarbon composite resins.
At the top of the neck is installed, which is called a bone, it can be made of natural bone or plastic. The bone is easily dismantled if necessary, it is either held under the pressure of the strings, or it is glued so that it can be easily peeled off. Through the bone, the vibrating string imparts energy to other elements of the guitar's structure, its position can significantly affect the sound of the guitar.
The fretboard is divided into frets, which determine the positions for extracting a sound of a certain height, limited by the frets. As the tone rises, the distance between the frets decreases. The length of the frets is calculated mathematically exactly. Depending on the scale of the guitar, the fret sizes change proportionally. For marking the frets, it can be used with scales corresponding to the lengths of the frets. Each fret is limited by a fret threshold.
The body of the guitar consists of three main parts - the top deck, the bottom deck and the sides between them. The middle part of the body of the guitar is called the waist.
The bottom deck futor is located above the seam at the place where the deck parts are glued together. It is special on the inside, and it is also glued in the upper part of the deck.
In addition to the footers, the decks are glued on the inside. To the upper deck, in addition to the transverse springs, they are glued. Springs provide rigidity to the structure of the guitar body. An equally important task of springs is harmonic tuning; it is not for nothing that springs in Spain are called harmonic.
Guitar springs serve as an important instrument tuning tool when building an instrument. The vibrational energy of the string is transferred to the structure at the nodal points from the bone through the stand and . The task of the springs is to compensate and distribute the vibration energy in such a way that we can hear the sound of the desired intonation and timbre. Adjustment is carried out by the location of the springs, the selection of material, changing the thickness and height of the springs. The springs, as well as other internal parts of the guitar, are made of spruce and cedar with good resonant properties.
At the junctions, the decks and shells are glued. The rail is specially bent according to the shape of the shell. Often, between the upper deck and the shell, the role of the counter-shell is performed by crackers - special small wedges.
In the figure, in the lower part of the body of the guitar, it is indicated, usually a button is not installed on a classical guitar, since the performer plays while sitting, a button is installed on a western and other folk guitars so that the belt can be fastened.
On guitars with steel strings, which prevents the neck from deforming under the tension of the strings.
The guitar is a magical instrument. Her parts can be heard in any style of music - from classical to modern rock compositions. The history of this goes back to ancient times. After all, for more than 4000 years, mankind has been using related cithara, zither, lute. Often in our homes you can find this beautiful instrument, but not everyone wonders what the guitar consists of.
History of occurrence
Translated from Persian "chartra" - four-string. It was the instruments with four strings that came to the countries of the Middle East and Europe from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Then a fifth string was added to the guitar. It happened in Italy during the Renaissance. At this time, the number of frets on the fretboard increased from eight to twelve. The six-strings familiar to us appeared in the middle of the 17th century, and since then the structure of classical guitars has remained practically unchanged. In the 30s of the last century, a kind of guitar revolution began, and electronic components, amplifiers were added to musical instruments, and in the following decades, various sound effects.
The device and features of classical guitars
The forerunners of classical instruments were "Spanish". They had five double strings and not quite familiar to them. Then, in the 18-19 centuries, a sixth string was added to the Spanish one, musical masters experiment with forms, scale length, invent new peg mechanisms. The result is a classic that has come down to us.
So what is a classical guitar made of? The main parts of the instrument are the head, neck and body. Strings are attached and stretched on the head of the neck with the help of pegs, and it is equipped with frets and frets to change the length of the vibrating string and thereby the frequency of the sound. The body of the instrument consists of a top deck, a back deck with a shell, a resonator hole and a stand - the place where they are connected to the body. Next, consider what an acoustic guitar consists of.
The device and features of acoustics
What is this type of guitar made of? Acoustics on the device is almost no different from classical instruments. The difference lies in the size of the body and the strings - they are metal. Depending on the size, such instruments are divided into dreadnoughts, jumbo and folk guitars. Widely used in such musical styles as blues, rock, bard song, and many other song genres.
Various types of wood are used for the production of tools. Although guitars made from exotic woods are not uncommon, acoustics are made from certain types of woods. After all, every wooden element from its design affects the sound.
The device and features of the electric guitar
Electric guitars differ from acoustic and classical guitars by the presence of pickups and an electrical circuit with control knobs and switches. These guitars require sound amplification equipment. For playing at home, tube and transistor combo amplifiers with a power of 4-35 watts are most popular.
Magnetic pickups appeared in the mid-20s of the last century at Gibson. And the guitar revolution happened a decade later, when jazz musicians discovered the wide range of possible electric guitar tones.
If we talk about the appearance of tools, then the most original and popular forms are:
Other models of guitars from various manufacturers somehow borrowed the features of these instruments.
Materials for manufacturing
Above it was considered what parts the guitar consists of. What are they made from? The top deck has the most significant effect on the sound.
The traditional material for it in classical and acoustic guitars is spruce. High-level instruments have a body made of red spruce. For simpler models, cheaper varieties are used. Used for the production of the upper deck and cedar. Cedar and spruce instruments sound different, but beautiful in their own way: the former has a brighter sound, while the latter is softer and more enveloping.
Mahogany is the most popular back and sides material. The same material is used for the production of these guitar parts. In addition to mahogany, you can find instruments made of rosewood, maple, walnut, bubinga and koa wood.
The neck of an acoustic guitar is most often made of mahogany. The second most popular are maple necks. The most common fretboard is rosewood. In acoustic and electric guitars of a higher class made of ebony - ebony.
Electric guitars, like acoustic and classical instruments, are made of wood, although there are metal guitars and models made from artificial materials. "Classic" Gibson layout: mahogany body and neck, maple topboard, mahogany fretboard.
Fender instruments: alder body, maple neck, maple or rosewood fretboard.
The device and features of bass guitars
Bass guitars differ from other types of instruments in the thickness of the strings, increased scale and, as a result, large dimensions.
Such a guitar is a relative of the double bass. There are usually four or five strings, although six or more stringed instruments are found. They play with the fingers using a specific technique, or with a mediator.
A brief popular overview of classical guitar construction with elements of technology.
Article from the "How it's done" series. Especially for guitarists and those who don't know yet.
Instead of a short introduction
concert guitar- this is a full scale guitar (650mm scale, and now there is a tendency to increase the scale up to 660mm), made entirely of solid wood without any imitations. If the overlay is black, then it is ebony. That is, a concert guitar is not only the size of a guitar, but also the quality and class of components, and a regulated scheme for assembling them. And all this for the sake of the appropriate sound in the concert hall.
Depending on the master, the assembly order, shape, color scheme can vary quite a lot. There are no hard and fast rules in guitar making. The shape of the head, body, stand, type of edging, type of other decorations, varnish, color - all this can be chosen by the guitar master, combined in his own way. Of course, there are some limits, but in general everything is quite liberal.
Array Guitar Made entirely from solid wood. To put it very roughly, but accurately, the guitar is made of thin wood plates, about 2.5mm thick.
Wood harvesting. One way or another, the tree is harvested first. Today, the guitar luthier does not have to participate in the whole cycle of the preparation himself. There are special enterprises that find wood, saw it correctly in a guitar style, dry it in a natural way, i.e. without any heating and steam treatment. The material is aged for several years, after which it goes on sale sawn in a special way.
What do they look like blanks for guitar, i.e. what kind of sticks do they have that will become a guitar after some time?
Guitar deck- these are two identical halves, not only the identity of the overall dimensions is implied, but also the pattern of the layers, the texture of the wood. .
The photo shows two halves of the deck blank. In this form, they are sold at procurement enterprises.
To make the workpieces the same, when sawing they are cut off one after another from a workpiece of a larger size. Also, with such sawing, the uniformity of the deck in terms of physical characteristics is naturally observed. After all, even if you pick up visually identical halves of the deck cut from different blanks, they will not be the same in terms of internal physical properties, close, but not the same. Yes, and why do this if you can combine the halves of the decks by folding the sawn-off blanks one after the other.
Typical soundboard material is spruce and cedar of various types. There are other breeds, but they are not so common.
Of course, some craftsmen saw their own blanks. Buying unsawn material is cheaper, but this is not the only reason and the subject of a separate discussion. Each master chooses the material himself.
The halves of the deck or bottom are glued together, the excess is cut off and brought out to the required thickness. Glued to the deck acoustic system. One of the most successful systems is the "fan" system, consisting of several thin springs - radial sticks of spruce or cedar.
The springs converge to the outlet forming a kind of fan.
The acoustic system is necessary to evenly distribute the load and vibrations on the deck, transmitted by the strings.
Other deck speaker designs
Thanks to the Internet, you can find a lot of the most diverse and even bizarre acoustic systems for the soundboard of the guitar.
Already a common option has become a system in the form of a lattice. The material of the grille springs is as light as possible, but a carbon fabric ribbon is glued on top of them, which makes them quite rigid.
Or here's an option.
Double deck construction with Nomex
Today everyone has already heard about double decks, a topic on the forum. The bottom line is that the soundboard is formed from three layers, two thin outer layers of conventional soundboard material and an inner layer of a special honeycomb structure called Nomex, Nomex. The deck is strong and very light.
Guitar rosette and edges
The rosette of the guitar is made of multi-colored veneer, cut and glued in a special way. The bottom line is that a package is formed from veneer in such a way that at the end it has a pattern, an ornamental element. The package is cut like a sausage and the whole ornament is already formed from these elements.
Self external edging, i.e. the strip of wood that runs along the corner of the guitar is made from solid wood. The edges perform both a decorative function and cover the ends of the deck and bottom from harmful effects, such as moisture, and serve as additional components in the strength of the hull. Of course, the edges are also elements of the guitar's decoration and are often complicated by various stripes of ornaments. The color contrast with the soundboard or body of the guitar is used.
The bottom of the guitar or the lower soundboard is made in the same way as the upper soundboard from two identical halves glued along the axis of symmetry. On the inside, this seam is glued with a strip of wood for strength.
Across the bottom, as well as on the deck, rips are glued, necessary to give the body of the guitar sufficient strength. Rips are stronger than springs and are also made of spruce.
There are also plenty of rip designs. For example: grooves are made in the rip like arches. Rips are different in size, their number also varies.
guitar sides are also symmetrical halves. The material of the bottom and shells, as a rule, is the same. This rule must be observed unquestioningly for professional guitars. Moreover, the texture of the material of the shells and the bottom should also match, not only the name. The appearance of the same type of wood differs significantly from workpiece to workpiece, both in saturation from light to dark, and in the color and texture itself.
How do shells bend? Wood tends to bend when heated with a certain amount of moisture, and if the shape is fixed, cooled and dried, then the wood will retain this shape. The material is soaked, heated and bent to the shape of the guitar, then cooled and dried. 
When talking about the material of manufacture of a classical guitar, it means the material of manufacture of the bottom and sides, since the soundboard is mainly made of spruce or cedar. If you hear that the guitar is rosewood, then its body is made of rosewood, but not the soundboard.
Vulture consists of several parts. In the classic version, it is customary to glue the headstock separately, rather than cut a club-like shape from a single piece. The heel is also glued separately. The very body of the neck, where the thumb rests, is called the neck of the neck.
The function of the fingerboard is not only to hold the strings, but also to be a convenient intermediary for a person. In order to make it convenient to play on the neck of your guitar, in addition to an ergonomic shape, it is also necessary to have normal string heights above the fretboard, or rather above the tops of the frets. String heights can vary, depending on string tension and the guitarist's picking technique.
The neck itself should have some, if not noticeable, deflection. A flat neck is also allowed, but a bent neck allows you to lower the strings a little lower and not crackle on the bass in the first positions.
A brief diagram of the manufacture of the neck. A blank is taken, the future neck is sawn in half lengthwise. One side is turned over and the halves are glued together through the vein. The role of the vein is both decorative and providing strength.
Subject to certain angles (15 degrees), the future head is glued.
A rosewood or ebony plank is glued to the top of the head, often also from the bottom, in order to hide the neck-head gluing seam, this also strengthens this neck knot and decorates it.
Grooves and holes for peg mechanics are made. The head is given its final shape.
From the other end of the future neck, the heel is glued and cut out.
The neck of the work of Nikolai Ivanovich Yeshchenko in his workshop
The heel of the guitar can be Spanish or dovetail. There are two options for the assembly sequence of the entire guitar.
Anticipating your question, I will answer that the way that the master does better is good.
Spanish way
The Spanish design of the guitar is based on the fact that the upper knuckle and the heel of the neck are one, i.e. the klz is a continuation of the neck and heel. In place of the imaginary border between the neck and the pseudo-lock, a groove is made into which the shells are inserted.
This design feature requires a special guitar gluing sequence. The Spanish assembly is performed in the following sequence:
- A deck with springs and rips is formed; installed on a special desktop - solera.
- A neck is glued to the deck, which is also fixed to the solera.
- The shells curved in the form of a guitar are glued.
- Counter-shells are glued to the shells.
- Finish assembling the hull bottom. On the very first photo of the article, the guitarjustjust waiting for the bottom to be glued.
- Next, the fingerboard, neck processing, bridge and finish.
European way
The design of the guitar is such that the neck is glued into a ready-made closed body, that is, the soundboard, bottom, sides - everything is already together. The neck is glued into the kletz with the help of a dovetail groove. Other ways are also possible.
It also often happens that the body of the guitar is finally closed by gluing the finished soundboard to the finished semi-body. In the photo you see the finished semi-hull and deck.
The inside surfaces of the body and body are covered with a thin layer of lacquer to protect the guitar from sudden changes in humidity.
Kletsy- bottom and top. The top knuckle is a wooden shape that is visible through the hole when viewed at an angle towards the base of the fingerboard, the bottom knuckle is not visible without a mirror. A neck is glued into the upper dump according to the European assembly. Klets are needed to stiffen the body. The Spanish construction of the guitar, as you understand, also has a top end, but this is a single unit with the neck itself.
counter-shells- this is a strip of wood that runs along the gluing of the soundboard-shell, bottom-shell to strengthen the gluing and the entire body of the guitar as a whole. They are solid, they are with cuts, and it happens that they are completely recruited from individual chopiks.
Fretboard made of heavy-duty wood to strengthen the neck, and also to ensure that the outer surface of the fretboard must be very wear-resistant and not wear under the fingers. An absolutely aesthetic moment - any dirt is less visible on black.
frets should be processed in a special way, hold tightly without hesitation in the cut, not protrude at the ends, the tops of the frets should be in the same plane.
guitar stand made of dense material, rosewood or a tree similar in density to it. The stand itself must be rigid so that under the tension of the strings, it does not unnecessarily sag. Gluing the bridge is the most responsible gluing on the guitar. The load on the stand is very large.
Nuts and Nuts guitars are usually made from bone. But today there are many new synthetic substitutes.
An important technological process in the manufacture of the guitar is varnishing. Each master himself chooses the method of application and varnish for his guitars. There are enough varnishes. Synthetic varnishes and organic varnishes, and today you can also find a guitar coated with special drying oils, such as tung oil.
It is very important to know the names of the guitar parts by heart. Most guitarists rarely encounter these words and concepts, but, of course, there are cases when it is necessary. This article will act as a cheat sheet dedicated to guitar parts. There will also be a small description of each part or part of the guitar. Acoustic guitar and electric guitar will be considered.
Acoustic guitar:
1) Stand for strings. Often made from wood. Acts as a stand.
2) Nut. Usually made from plastic. Strings rest on it, sometimes it has grooves for strings.
3) Nut. It looks like a saddle, only narrower and located at the other end of the neck.
4) Vulture. One of the main parts of the guitar. Made of wood, usually lacquered on the back. Many acoustic and electric guitars have a metal truss rod in the neck that can be used to adjust the camber of the neck.
5) Shell. The side of the body of the guitar.
6) Top deck. The front side of the body of the guitar.
7) Neck heel. The place where the neck is attached to the body of the guitar.
8) Strings. Usually metal, but nylon on classical guitars.
9) Frets. Metal nut that divides the neck into segments. These segments themselves are also called frets.
10) Headstock. The part of the guitar that is behind the fretboard.
11) Pin mechanics, pins. They are usually made of metal. They are used for tuning the guitar, as well as for attaching strings.
Electric guitar:
1) Button for the belt. A special metal bolt to which the belt is attached.
2) Jack socket. The hole in which to connect the wire. (Jack)
3) Volume control. Adjusts the volume.
4) Tone control. Adjusts the high frequency output.
5) Pickup switch. Allows you to switch between pickup modes.
6) Bridge, typewriter, string holder. All three names are used depending on the situation.
7) Tremolo lever. A lever with which you can lower or raise the pitch by loosening or tightening the strings.
8) Humbucker pickup. Consists of two connected coils.
9) Pickups single. Single coil pickups.
10) Guitar body. Made of wood, varnished or oiled.
11) Vulture. Compared to an acoustic guitar, the neck of an electric guitar is more accessible to play on the upper frets. (you can clamp all 21-24 frets)
12) Nut, fret. Convex metal strips that separate the frets.
13) Label. Special marks that help you navigate when playing the guitar.
14) Pegs. Used to tune the guitar and also to hold the strings.
