Electric Guitar Parts Explained
Many different electric guitar parts go into producing the sound you hear through your amp, from the physical body parts of an electric guitar, to the pickups and controls that directly affect its output.
Some of these depend on the different types of guitar you play, while others, like the neck and strings, can be found on all common guitar types.
In this guide I'll take a look at these electric guitar parts' names, location and function, so that the next time you see a guitar parts diagram, you'll have a better idea of exactly what you're looking at.
Headstock and Tuners
The headstock is the part at the very top of the guitar, and because you'll find it on both main types of guitar, it quickly becomes one of the most familiar parts of acoustic and electric guitars for learners.
Look at a detailed diagram of an electric guitar headstock and you might be surprised to see so many guitar parts labelled in this one small section, including:
Tuning pegs
Tuning posts
Nut
String tree
Truss rod cover
The tuning pegs and posts are where the tuning itself takes place - turn the peg to tighten the string and the pitch increases slightly. Loosen the string and the pitch drops.
Each string is fastened into place by a nut, while the string tree ensures the strings meet the headstock at the correct angle, on guitars like Fenders where the headstock itself is flat.
Finally, remove the truss rod cover and you'll find (you guessed it) the truss rod, which strengthens the neck of the guitar against the tension exerted on it by the tight strings.
Fretboard
Moving on to the fretboard, one of the largest parts of an electric guitar. The fretboard is the wood panel on the front of the neck, marked with intervals (frets) to show where the fingers should be placed to play certain notes and chords.
Wood
The wood used on the fretboard might not be the same as the wood of the guitar neck itself - in fact the two are often different. Common neck woods include maple and mahogany, whereas fretboards are often made from maple, ebony or rosewood.
Frets
Frets are the horizontal lines that cross the fretboard or fingerboard at regular intervals. There's usually between 19 and 24 of these (up to two full octaves) and they're made of metals like nickel, copper, zinc and stainless steel.
When playing the guitar, you apply pressure close to the fret (ideally just behind it, rather than directly on the fret) and by effectively shortening the length of the guitar string, this adjusts the note it produces.
Pickups
Pickups are among the most important electric guitar parts, as they take the vibration of the string and turn it into an electric signal to transmit to the amplifier. A pickup is a row of tiny electromagnets placed across the strings and many electric guitars have two or even three of these on the neck, bridge, and somewhere in between (the 'middle').
Single coil
Single coil pickups are the simpler design. As the string vibrates in the pickup's magnetic field, it induces a small electric current in the coil, which is sent to the amplifier. The amp increases the volume and effects can be introduced by the amp or by using pedals.
Humbuckers
One of the coolest electric guitar part names, 'humbuckers' literally 'buck the hum' by using two rows of magnets with their poles in opposite orientations.
This means that while the sound from the strings is added together and outputted as desired, any background noise and interference is cancelled out by the second inverted signal (an effect called 'antiphase superposition') which effectively means humbuckers have built-in noise reduction.
Knobs and Controls
There are several knobs and controls you'll see on a typical electric guitar parts diagram. These include the volume, tone and a pickup selector switch.
Volume
One of the most straightforward parts on the whole guitar, the volume knob makes the output louder or quieter. Some guitars have multiple volume knobs, allowing each pickup to be adjusted separately.
Tone
A lot of beginner's guides to electric guitars give a very vague explanation of the tone knob, saying it alters the 'warmth' of the sound. This is true, but it's worth knowing how the tone knob achieves this.
With the tone knob set to 10, all frequencies from the guitar's strings are sent through to the amp. As you lower the tone, the high-end frequencies are blocked, giving you an output with less treble and fewer high-pitched harmonics and overtones.
Reducing the tone blocks part of the signal - the highest frequencies - so it directly affects the volume too. Because of this, you might need to turn your volume up slightly to get the same overall level from your amp.
Pickup Selector Switch
As I mentioned above, some electric guitars have 2-3 pickups. The pickup selector switch determines which pickup (or which combination of two pickups) is active at any one time. Each pickup can be adjusted individually, so by switching between them during a performance, you can very quickly change the sound from your guitar.
Bridge
The bridge is where the bottom ends of the strings are anchored. Together with the nuts at the top, this determines the length of the string, which in turn affects the note you hear when you pluck the string at full length.
Acoustic and electric guitar bridges secure the strings in a variety of ways. These include tying the string to the bridge, passing it through a hole, pinning it down or clamping it in place.
Body
The body of the guitar is the large section at the bottom of the neck, where you'll find the bridge, knobs and output jack. On acoustic guitars, the body is typically quite deep and hollow. Because electric guitars use an external amplifier instead of internal resonance, they usually have a flatter, lighter body which is largely aesthetic, and to give the guitarist something to hold.
Strings
The strings run along the length of the neck. Plucking the strings with fingers or a guitar pick (or other objects like bottles!) produces notes and chords. The note produced can be altered by pressing down partway along the string to change the wavelength of the vibration.
Input Jack
What many people call the 'input jack' is actually the output jack. This is where the signal from the pickups is transmitted out of the guitar and on to any effects pedals and, ultimately, to the amp where its volume is boosted and played out through the speakers.
FAQs
What's the most important part of an electric guitar?
Now that we have all the different guitar parts labelled, which is the most important? Personally I'd say it's the pickups - without them an electric guitar would be unable to produce any output. But several component parts including the strings, pickup and jack, are all essential for a working guitar. If yours isn't working as it should, find out more about guitar repairs in Leeds and West Yorkshire.
What does the whammy bar do?
The whammy bar, also called the tremolo arm, is fitted to a tremolo bridge (standard bridges don't have a tremolo bar).
On guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster, pushing down on the whammy bar lowers the pitch of the note being played, by slightly changing the position of the bridge. Some guitars have a floating tremolo, which allows the note to be raised as well as lowered.
What do the pickups do on an electric guitar?
An acoustic guitar works by resonating the vibration of the strings in its hollow wooden body. An electric guitar needs to turn those vibrations into an electric signal that can be amplified externally. The pickups are the electromagnets that make this magic happen.
Read more blogs about guitars, music, and learning.
https://www.bryanguitar.co.uk/blog
Get in touch for more detailed explanations
