The Electric Guitar – A Primer

Amplified sound created by electrical currents caused by vibrating strings is the definition of the music created by an electric guitar. The first electric guitars in the 1930s consisted of electromagnetic transducers fastened to hollow-arch-top acoustic guitars. The Fender, created by Les Paul, was the original modern-day electric guitar. The Fender made its debut in the 1940s.

The Body of the GuitarWhile some modern electric guitars have a partially hollow resonance-chamber, the electric guitar is characterized by its body being made out of solid wood with controls and pickups mounted on the surface. Because electric guitars do not use soundboards (a piece of wood through which sound is vibrated) (*it should be noted that what is known as the right handed or left handed acoustic electric guitar is very similar to the pre-cursor of the modern electric guitar, thus these do have soundboards in their design) one would think that the type of wood used in the construction of the guitar would not matter. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The type of wood still determines how the guitar will resonate. Rich sounds are created by dense wood (i. E. Mahogany, ash, and alder).

BarA metal bar attached to the bridge varies the string tension be moving the bridge backwards and forwards. This bar is also known as the Tremolo, Whammy, Vibrato, or Wang Bar.

Fingerboard and NeckMaple-wood is the standard material used in the electric guitar’s neck construction. The fret or fingerboard is usually made of maple or rosewood is attached to the front of the neck. When the musician wishes to change the pitch of the sound, he or she will press the strings into the fingerboard which changes the vibrating-length. Bright pitches come from maple fingerboards. Timbres that are dark are produced by rosewood fingerboards.

The PickupsThe ‘voice’ of the electric guitar comes from the pickups. These are magnets wrapped in wire and their purpose is to capture the vibration of the strings and convert them to an electrical signal that can be amplified. Each string vibration disrupts the pickup’s magnetic field, which creates the electrical current.

There are two types of pickups:

The Single Coil PickupSingle coil pickups consist of only one coil and they tend to create a bright sound. The drawback to using a single coil pickup is that it is susceptible to having a background ‘hum.’ Ambient sound and signal created by electronics that is caused by changes in the magnetic flux of the pickup is the root cause of this hum.

Humbucker PickupsBecause of the hum distortion of the single coil pickup, the Humbucker, or dual coil, pickup was created. These pickups have a thick sound and consist of two coils wound in a mirror image of each other. The polarity is opposed within the six magnetic-coils. All of this cancels out the ambient sound or hum before it is amplified. Some guitars have the option of switching between single coil and Humbucker.

The Guitar StringsGuitar strings can produce various sounds based upon the combinations of alloys, windings, and gauges. Electric guitar strings are made of metal and are strung as such: high E, B, G, D, A, low E. The left handed electric guitar is strung the exact opposite.

AlloysSteel is the most common alloy because it has great volume and brilliant tones. Stainless steel strings that are plated with Nickel have a tone that is more subdued. Strings made entirely out of Nickel have a more muted but round sound which makes them ideal for jazz and rhythm guitaring.

GaugeThe thickness of the string is the gauge. Those who wish to play the guitar fast will need thinner gauged strings because they are easy to bend. Strummers who want vast volume should use strings that are medium of gauge. While hard to play because the strings don’t bend very well, a full vibrant sound can be had with strings of a heavy gauge

The String’s WindingThe winding of the string comes in four different styles: flat, ground, round, and any of the other three but nylon taped. Fast guitarists usually prefer not to use the most common winding because round windings tend to ‘grab’ the fingers. Flat windings, also known as ribbon strings, have a smooth, oily surface and are the pride and joy of fast guitarists that like subdued tones. Only electric bass guitars have ground windings. Ground windings are round wound with a machine polish. Any of these three windings can be coated with nylon to produce a sound like that of an acoustic bass guitar. This is the definition of ‘nylon taped.’

Finding an electric guitar for sale should cause the prospective buyer to do his or her homework to determine if the instrument is the right buy based upon the comfort level and the type of music that will be played. An electric guitar’s sonic character varies due to the diverse combinations of string, wood, and pickups.