Electric Guitar - Construction

Construction

While in terms of the materials used for the body, guitar construction has many variations such as the shape of the body, and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups, there are features which are found in most guitars. The photo below shows the different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine heads, which are used for tuning; the nut (1.4), a thin fret-like strip of metal, plastic, graphite or bone which the strings pass over as they first go onto the fingerboard; the machine heads (1.1), which are worm gears which the player turns to change the string tension and thus adjust the tuning; the frets (2.3), which are thin metal strips which stop the string at the correct pitch when a string is pressed down against the fingerboard; the truss rod (1.2), a metal cylinder used for adjusting the tension on the neck (not found on all instruments); decorative inlay (2.2), a feature used to keep place of where the notes of the guitar are.

The neck and the fretboard (2.1) extend from the body; at the neck joint (2.4), the neck is either glued or bolted to the body; the body (3) of this instrument is typically made of wood with a hard, polymerized finish; pickups, a type of transducer (3.1, 3.2); the control knobs (3.8) for the volume and tone potentiometers; a fixed bridge (3.4), on some guitars a spring-loaded hinged bridge called a "tremolo system" is used instead, which allows players to "bend" notes or chords up or down in pitch or perform a vibrato embellishment; and a plastic pickguard, a feature not found on all guitars, which is used to protect the body from scratches or cover the control cavity which holds most of the electric guitar's wiring.

The degree to which the sonic character of the amplified solid body guitar can be determined by the woods used in the body (3) is a disputed subject. Many find that it is highly significant, while many others believe that the difference between woods is relatively subtle. In acoustic and archtop guitars there is clearly a more pronounced sonic definition caused by the type of wood used.

For solid body electric guitars typical woods include alder (brighter, but well rounded), swamp ash (similar to alder, but with more pronounced highs and lows), mahogany (dark, bassy, warm), poplar (similar to alder) and basswood (very neutral). Maple, a very bright tonewood, is also a popular body wood, but is very heavy. For this reason it is often placed as a 'cap' on a guitar made of primarily of another wood. Cheaper guitars are often made of cheaper woods, such as plywood, pine or agathis, not true hardwoods, which can affect the durability and tone of the guitar. Although most guitars are made from wood, any material may be used in the construction of a guitar. Materials such as plastic, metal, or cardboard are examples of unusual but possible materials that affect the overall sound of the guitar.

The guitar output jack is typically designed for monaural function. On many guitars with active electronics a stereo jack may be installed but is wired for mono sound. The extra "ring" lug on the jack is then used to break the ground connection to the on-board battery thus preserving battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These guitars require use of a mono plug to close the internal switch and connect the battery to ground. Standard guitar cables are outfitted with a high impedance 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These utilize a tip and sleeve configuration referred to as a TS phone connector.

A few guitars are actually set up for stereo, for example Rickenbacker guitars equipped with Rick-O-Sound. There are a variety of ways the "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but not exclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge pickups to separate output buses on the guitar. A stereo cable can then route each pickup to its own signal chain or amplifier. For these applications, the most popular connector is a high impedance 1/4 inch plug with a tip, ring and sleeve configuration also known as a TRS phone connector. Some studio instruments, notably certain models of Gibson Les Paul, incorporate a low impedance 3-pin XLR connector for balanced audio. Many exotic arrangements and connectors are employed to support features such as midi and hexaphonic pickups.