The Anatomy of the Electric Guitar
Headstock
- Tuners - (tuning peg) strings are wound around the tuning peg. The tuning peg controls the tuning of the guitar. To change pitch of a string, just turn the tuning peg or key. By increasing tension on the string, the pitch will be higher. By decreasing tension on the string, the pitch will be lower.
- Nut - the point on the guitar neck where the strings touch the neck and join the headstock.
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Neck
- Fret - the fret board is divided into sections called frets. There are usually 22 or 24 frets on an electric guitar. 6 strings over 24 frets gives the guitar a range of four octaves. Each fret you press down upon increases the pitch one half step.
- Fretboard - the fretboard is where you have control of the pitch and articulation of the music you play on the guitar.
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Body
- Strap Button - location where you may attatch a strap, if you so choose.
- Pickguard - protects the face of the guitar from errant picking and strumming.
- Pickups - a Pickup is a magnet wrapped in wires which sits on the face of an electric guitar, underneath the strings. When the strings move, it interferes with the magnetic field of the pickup and that impulse is sent to the amplifier. The impulse is then modified at the amplifier.
- Tremolo Bar - (whammy bar) the tremolo is a bar connected to the bride of the guitar. By moving the tremolo bar up or down, you can move the bridge, thus changing the pitch.
- Pickup Selector - a switch located on the body of the guitar used to select different pickups for different tones and sounds.
- Volume and Tone knobs - control knobs on the body of the guitar which are used to adjust guitar volume and tone.
- Jack - this is where you plug your amplifier cable into the guitar.
- Bridge - the bridge assembly, or just "bridge" is an area on the face of the guitar where the strings meet or are connected to the face.
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