Components of a guitar. Construction of an electric guitar All about electric guitars and their structural properties

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What is an acoustic guitar made of? In general, it can be divided into two main elements: the body and the neck. This educational program will tell you more about the device acoustic guitar.

In this article we will not talk about various types acoustic guitar, you can talk about this. Read more about the difference between “classical” and “acoustic” in this article .

Roughly and without going into details, let’s break it down into the following components:

Housing (body)
-Top deck
-Lower deck
-Shell

Vulture
Internal structure

Acoustic guitar body structure.

The body consists of an upper, lower deck and shell. The top is the part of the guitar where the strings are attached, and the opposite plate is the back. The shell connects the decks.

Top deck.

The sound of a guitar depends primarily on the top. The greatest influence is exerted by the type of wood and the veining of the annual rings. Spruce and cedar are nai the best material for this part of the guitar, and the thinner the veins of the annual rings of the tree, the better the sound will be. You can often find an upper deck consisting of several longitudinal parts; less commonly, a deck consisting of two halves is found. The best option would be a deck assembled from four parts, since in this case the master will be able to select finer-grained sections of wood that will fit perfectly under each other.
Guitar device with the budget version of the top deck it is somewhat different. As a rule, it is made from veneer. Sometimes this material is called musical plywood or laminate, although these definitions have their own specifics.
There is a hole in the top soundboard called a voice box or sound hole. The optimal size for it is 8.5 cm in diameter. This is the size of the voice box that will give the best sound. Any experiments with shape and size most often lead to worse sound. The voice box is usually decorated with ornaments. Opposite it, on the inside of the bottom deck, there is a label with information about the master who made the guitar.
Next to the sound hole, on the side of the widest part of the top, there is a wooden plate called the bridge or bridge.

This picture shows a stand or bridge (from the English "bridge" - bridge) classical guitar. The stand has a small elevation with holes for attaching strings and a lower sill on which the strings rest.
The structure of a guitar stand of a non-classical type (Western, Dreadnought) is somewhat different: the strings are inserted into round grooves that pierce the stand right through. To fix the strings, these grooves are closed with plastic pins.

Bottom deck.

Now let's look at the structure of the lower deck. It also has an influence on the sound, but, let's say, it rather adds color to the sound, without having such a direct influence as the top soundboard. A wide variety of materials are used for its manufacture. The most common types of acoustic guitars are made from the following types of wood: pear, cypress, maple, walnut, mahogany, laminate. But the best material for this part will be rosewood. The lower deck consists of two parts, and the butt seam is connected by piping. Piping is usually used on more expensive guitars. It gives strength to the deck, as it is quite massive.

Shell.

The structure of an acoustic guitar also includes one more element: the lower and upper soundboards are connected to each other by a shell. As a rule, it is made of the same material as the lower deck.
At the bottom of the body, on the shell, there is a button that serves as an attachment for a strap, which makes it possible to play the guitar while standing. Sometimes it is called a button.

The structure of the neck of an acoustic guitar.

Now you can move on to the structure of the neck. It consists of several elements (Fig. 2). “Heel of the neck” - it is this part of the neck that is attached to the shell. The “hyphal body” itself, its main part is called the “neck of the vulture”. It is better to buy a guitar made of durable wood. The fingerboard is already glued onto the “neck of the fingerboard”. Both are most often made from rosewood, ebony, beech, and hornbeam.
Along the entire length of the neck there are crossbars - these are frets. They are made from different materials. On a budget guitar you can see the design made of plastic. Most often, frets are made of steel, brass, cupronickel. It is very important that the distance between the frets is correct (the distance is calculated mathematically, and then everything is in the hands of the master), since the tuning of the guitar will depend on this. If acoustic guitar device balanced, the instrument will not be out of tune. But if the tuning is broken, then no matter how much you tune the guitar, you will be guaranteed a bad sound. The whole point is that there will be a mismatch in sound in different positions vulture. So it’s better not to save much in the beginning and buy a good acoustic guitar that will not only pay for itself several times over, but will also bring you pleasure and not pain.

At the very top of the “neck”, on the side of the fingerboard, there is a nut with slots for strings. On expensive guitars it is made of natural bone. The distance between the lower and upper sill is called the scale, usually about 650 mm.

At the very top of the neck is the headstock. The pegs on which the strings are attached live here. Using the pegs, you can tighten or loosen the string, thereby adjusting the sound. The pegs correspond to the number of strings on six string guitar there will be six of them, on a seven-string, respectively, seven.

Internal structure of an acoustic guitar.

We have become familiar with all the external components of an acoustic guitar, now we can look inside. On back side The top and bottom decks contain springs and baffles - they are used to improve the sound and strengthen the body.

As mentioned earlier, the lower deck, due to its massiveness, is sometimes reinforced with edging. There is another way - these are crackers. They can be seen in the last picture - these are small thin bars along the junction of the shell and the decks:

These are the things :) A brief theoretical acquaintance with the structure of an acoustic guitar can be considered complete.

The structure of an electric guitar using the example of a Fender Stratocaster

1-Grif. 2-Body. 3-Headstock. 4-Top threshold. 5-Fret saddle. 6-Pegs. 7-Bridge (with tremolo). 8-Humbucker pickup. 9-Single pickup. 10-Lever. 11-Pickup switch. 12-Tone control. 13-Volume control. 14-Cable connection socket. 15-Hole for adjusting the anchor. 16-Belt fastening. 17-Fret marker.

Electric guitar neck(1) is practically no different from acoustics and consists of two parts: the neck itself and the fingerboard, held together with glue. Let us remind you that the fretboard is the upper part of the fretboard on which the frets are located. On headstock(3) are also pegs(6), and inside the neck there is anchor, whose task is still the same - to prevent the strings from bending the neck. The neck can be glued to the soundboard, or it can be attached with screws (this is one of the differences from acoustics).

Like an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar has a neck, body, strings, pegs... But the body of an electric guitar is not at all the same as an acoustic one, but flat.

Electric guitar body(2) Can be made entirely of wood, or hollow.

Hollow body guitars have a warm, rich sound and are commonly used in jazz, blues and country. The disadvantages of these guitars are the rapid decay of sound and the appearance of a creaking sound when played at high volumes.

The body of solid body guitars is made of either one or several pieces of wood, usually of the same type, that are glued together. The more places the body is glued, the worse the sound will be due to the loss of wood resonance in these places. The exception is some guitar models, the body of which is deliberately made of different types of wood to improve the sound. Such guitars have a sharper and more aggressive sound, which is most suitable for playing heavy music.

Now about what fundamentally distinguishes an acoustic guitar from an electric guitar.

Bridge or machine(7) is the device by which the strings are attached to the soundboard. There are two types of bridges: with and without tremolo (in the picture there is a bridge with tremolo). Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Bridges with tremolo system is a movable stand that is driven by a lever (10), which allows you to change the tension of all strings and create a vibrato effect even with open strings. Typically, such machines are installed on Stratocasters and similar instruments. Such machines allow you to change the pitch of the sound by one and a half to two tones, which greatly diversifies the sound.

Bridges without tremolo Suitable for telecaster and semi-acoustic guitars. Their design is even simpler, the number of parts is reduced to a minimum, due to which guitars equipped with such bridges stay in tune better, sound more melodious, and with them less problems when you need to quickly change strings.

For beginners, it is better to choose guitars equipped with a machine with a simple tremolo (when the machine only works to lower the sound) or without it at all.

Under the strings on the body of the electric guitar there are sensors - pickups that convert the vibrations of the string into an electrical signal. The pickup is a very important part of the guitar; the sound produced by the guitar depends on their type and quality.

Pickups There are two types: singles (9) and humbuckers (8). Singles have a clean and transparent sound. These pickups are used when playing blues and country styles. The disadvantage associated with the design of such pickups is a lot of extraneous noise and a strong background when playing with distortion. Although now they are releasing split singles, which have significantly reduced noise.

Humbuckers suppress extraneous noise and are more suitable for playing through guitar effects. These sensors have a more powerful and rich sound. Due to these qualities, humbuckers are more suitable for heavy types of music.

Manufacturers combine both types of pickups in different sequences and thus achieve a variety of instrument sounds. In the description of an electric guitar, you can see something like S-S-H or H-S-H - thus indicating the sequence in which the pickups S - single, H - humbucker are installed on the guitar.

Pickups can be passive or active. Active sensors have a wider frequency range and a weaker output signal. To enhance it, a preamplifier powered by the crown is built into the guitar. Active pickups, like passive ones, come in both single-coil and humbucker pickups.

To switch between pickups, a switch (11) is installed on the guitar, making one or two of the pickups installed on the guitar active. By switching between pickups, you can change the sound your guitar produces. Switches are often installed that turn on two adjacent pickups and thus create new sounds.

Also on the body of the electric guitar, as a rule, there are volume (13) and tone (12) controls.

Titles components classical guitars:
The headstock is the element located at the end of the fingerboard that is used to secure, tension and tune the strings.
Pegs (there are six of them: one for each string) are a unique mechanical component of the guitar that is capable of rotating to wind the strings, as well as increase or decrease their tension.
Upper sill- place of support for strings. Located between the headstock and the fingerboard itself. This is where the vibration starts empty space— the sound of a guitar (without pressure on the frets), each of its strings.

Fret is the space between the frets in which the performer applies pressure (presses the strings) with the fingers of his left hand.

A fret nut is a metal element that separates the frets from each other.

The neck is an important part of the guitar where the frets (19 in total) and fret nuts are located.

The drum (body) is the second important part of the guitar, connected to the neck with a bolt located on the . On the sides of the drum it is applied stroke .

Resonator hole- hole in the front of the case guitars necessary for depth of sound.

Strings (six in total)- are divided into two groups: three fifths made of synthetic fibers and three strings made of fiber with a spiral winding of metal wire.

Therefore, we continue to get acquainted with other varieties of six-strings. Today you will study in detail the structure of an electric guitar and its main components. If you are just planning to buy an electric guitar, then this post is for you.

Let's get acquainted!

Visually and structurally, the electric guitar still has some similarities with the acoustic guitar, but no matter how these similarities unite them, these are still two fundamentally different types tools. We can observe differences both in the design itself and in the method of producing sound. For acoustics, a resonator hole in its body is enough for us to hear it, but for an electric guitar we need a completely different approach - receiving sound through a number of devices by transmitting it from pickups to an amplifying device and subsequent output to acoustic systems. Of course, you can try to play it without a connection, but it is unlikely that you will do this, because that is not why you bought it or are going to buy it.

Well, that seems to have been sorted out! Since you are such an ardent fan of guitar music, then undoubtedly an electric guitar will become your a good helper in creativity, it is possible that for many years. There are quite a lot of varieties of electric guitars today, but the differences in their structure are not large; this could be, for example, the type of fastening of the neck to the body of the guitar, the type of tailpiece, the type of anchor rod (1 anchor, 2 anchors) or the type of installed pickups, i.e. e. The differences are only in some details. Since we're talking about details, then let's look at what an electric guitar consists of.

Electric guitar device

The pictures below show the Fender Stratocaster solid body electric guitar, perhaps the most popular instrument in the history of rock music. For many musicians, this is the ideal form and unique sound. Well, now in more detail about the design. The electric guitar consists of:

Frame
Pickguard
Pickups
Switch
Volume and tone controls
Bridge
Cable connector
Buttons (straplocks)
Overlay
Marks (dots)
Upper sill
Vulture head
Pegs
Strings
Anchor nut
Neck attachment
Tone block cover

The example of this guitar shows the general structure of an electric guitar, and the numbers indicate its main parts. The two main components of any electric guitar are the body and the neck.

Electric guitar body

It is very different from an acoustic guitar and can be either solid or hollow inside (varieties of semi-acoustic guitars) or glued together from several pieces of wood (most often one). But there is one nuance here - the more pieces there are in its composition, the worse the sound of the guitar will be due to the fact that in the places of gluing all the resonating properties of the wood itself will be lost. The only exception would be a composite made from different types of wood. Electric guitars with such a body have an aggressive and harsh sound; they are mainly played for heavy music.

Hollow bodies have a completely different sound - more saturated, but quickly fades away. These guitars are best suited for playing jazz, country or blues music. Its disadvantages include the fact that a creaking sound may appear during loud playing. The quality and type of wood have a greater impact on the sound in hollow body guitars than in solid body guitars. But regarding the shape and design of the body of electric guitars, in contrast to acoustic ones, we can say the following - these parameters have little effect on the sound of the instrument.

The top of the body in some guitars is covered with a top - this is a special pickguard that is made from a different type of wood and most often serves as a decorative element rather than a functional one. But on guitars like the Fender Stratocacter, a plastic pickguard is installed. It contains: single-type pickups, and other guitars may have humbuckers; a pickup switch that allows you to turn on the pickups individually or simultaneously; volume and tone controls, with which you can adjust the level at the output of the pickups, as well as change the timbre of high and (or) low frequencies.

To attach the strings, there is a bridge on the body (also called a “machine”), which can be either with a tremolo system (VintageTremolo in the picture or Floyd Rose) or without it (Tune-o-Matic or Hardtail). But to connect an electric guitar to an amplifier, a jack connector (Jack TRS ¼”) is specially installed on the body, to which the plug located at the end of the instrument cable is connected. To hold the guitar suspended using a belt, special steel buttons are located on both sides; sometimes so-called straplocks (belt locks) are installed. Ok, we've figured out the body, now let's see how it works...

Electric guitar neck

In terms of its design, this part of the electric device is also noticeably different from the acoustic one. What are these differences? – you ask. Firstly, it is the length and radius of the fingerboard, and secondly, the headstock can be the most various forms, this is a rare occurrence with acoustic guitars. The fingerboard is glued on top of the main body of the neck and is most often made of rosewood or ebony. This is the part that you press your fingers against while playing. On the pickguard there are metal thresholds that divide the neck along the entire length into frets and allow you to change the tonality of the strings and take different ones accordingly, and there are also marks/dots between these thresholds that clarify and designate for convenience the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and subsequent frets .

At the beginning of the fingerboard, i.e. at the top, a top nut is installed, and immediately after it comes the headstock, on the platform of which there are mechanical pegs designed to tension and fix the metal strings and, most importantly, a nut for adjusting the anchor rod, which protects the neck from deformation due to the tension load strings In this example of a Fender Stratocacter guitar, the neck is not glued in and is attached to the body with 4 bolts. The cover on the back of the guitar covers all the bridge mechanics as well as the electrical part.

This is what an electric guitar is like! Well, have you figured it out? Great! Now you know well what parts it consists of. Perhaps this article will help you in choosing a guitar, but we will talk about this in more detail in another article. Don't miss the next post about! Be sure to check it out interesting video under the article to consolidate the learned material.

Tip: tap the fingertips of your left hand on a hard surface more often to form subcutaneous calluses. They will not be visible, but in the future it will not hurt to clamp them.

Lesson 1
The structure of a guitar or what a guitar is made of

In this lesson you will become familiar with the structure of a guitar. I strongly recommend not to go to next lesson if you don't quite understand the previous one.

The structure of a classical guitar.

A guitar consists of two main parts: the body and the neck. It is very important to know its structure at the beginning of your studies. Because then the lessons will be much more difficult.
In turn, the body of the guitar consists of:
Top deck; ; shell; springs (6); resonator hole (also called voice box); socket; stand (filly).
The guitar neck consists of: heel; head; (or heads); pegs; thresholds. And of course the strings. If it is convenient for you, you can familiarize yourself with the structure of the guitar in the figure.

Some note. The stand is often called a “filly”. Pegs exist to tension and loosen strings. There are usually 6 springs inside a classical guitar. They serve primarily to increase the strength of the top deck.
Well, we have completed lesson 1, which opened up our knowledge about the structure of the guitar, and we are moving on to the next lesson called “Building a Guitar.”

Lesson 2
Guitar tuning

In classical guitar, the standard guitar tuning is:
1 note string mi 4th string note re
2nd string note si 5 string note la
3rd string note salt 6th string note mi
The first string is the bottom one. Thus, the system goes from bottom to top. Well, let’s take a look at the lesson called guitar tuning. This lesson is very important at the beginning of your studies.
For those who are unfamiliar with the notes, it is necessary to learn them; without them, further studies in the classical guitar course are impossible. Notes can be learned in lesson 3.

Lesson 3

Notes and stave (stave)

5 stripes - staff. The key is G (treble).
Octave - distance from note to to note to. The smallest distance between notes is a semitone.
The distance between the sills is fret. Each fret is a semitone.

Half note. Where 1 is a flag, 2 is a calm, 3 is a note head

Lesson 4
Alteration signs

There are signs for rising and falling sounds.
A sharp raises a note by half a tone
A flat lowers a note by half a tone.
Bekar cancels the previously placed accidental signs
A flat double lowers a note by a tone.
Double sharp raises the note by a tone

Lesson 5
Order of notes on the fretboard

You need to learn the notes on the fretboard. This lesson expands on guitar tuning.

Lesson 6
Chromatic scale
Now it's time for practice. Now you are presented with the chromatic scale in C major. The chromatic scale is a scale built on halftones. Try to unlearn it. You need to play the bass strings with your thumb (P), the third string with your index finger (i), the second string with your middle finger (m), and the first string, as you probably guessed, with your ring finger (a). In parentheses are the Latin abbreviations that are used in all notes. But, as a rule, chromatic scales are played by alternating the index and middle fingers. You can find out about them on the page " " .
Chromatic scale in C major

Lesson 7
Duration
Music has its time, this time is determined and called duration.

Lesson 8
Letter designation of notes, chords,
keys and alterations Letter designation of notes:
do - C salt - G
D - D A - A
mi -E si - H
fa - F si b - B

Chord letters:
C major - C D minor - d or Dm
E major - E A minor - a or Am
Little m - minor

Letter designations of keys: