What Are the Different Parts of an Electric Guitar?

An electric guitar is a type of stringed instrument usually made of wood that generates sound by converting the vibrations of the strings into electrical currents. While it is difficult to ascertain who exactly invented the electric guitar, some of the first commercial electric guitars were hollow-bodied versions sold by the Rickenbacker company in the early 1930s. Inventor Les Paul created a solid body version a few years later, which opened the door for musical genres like Chicago blues and rock 'n' roll.

Types

There are many different types of electric guitars, each with their own unique look and sound. The two most common types of electric guitars are hollow body and solid body. Hollow body guitars were popularized by jazz musicians in the 30s. As the name implies, these guitars have a hollow cavity similar to an acoustic guitar to give it greater vibration and resonance. Solid body guitars, on the other hand, have no such hollow cavity, with all the sound being created by the magnetic pickups.

Headstock

The headstock is the rectangular-shaped block located at the top of the guitar. The headstock most commonly contains six metal tuning pegs, either all on one side or three on one side and three on the other, which hold one end of the strings. The number of pegs can vary depending on the number of strings, which is typically between six and twelve. You can adjust the pitch of the strings by turning the tuning pegs up or down.

Neck

The neck of an electric guitar is a long, skinny piece of wood that joins the headstock to the body of the guitar. The part of the guitar called the nut is located at the top of the neck where the neck meets the headstock. The nut is a thin strip of a material, such as plastic or bone, with small grooves carved across it to hold the strings in place. Parallel to the nut and inlaid at different intervals down the neck are a series of metal wires called frets. Frets are what create the different musical notes when the strings are plucked.

Body

The body is the bottom half of the guitar, where the opposite ends of the strings are anchored. The anchoring unit is a piece of hardware known as the bridge, which is typically made of metal and located on the front of the body near the center. In many electric guitars, there are six sequential holes that pass from the bridge to the back of the guitar. You string these types of guitars by pushing each string through the hole in the back and pull it through the bridge on the front side of the body. Many guitars also include a pickguard, a thin covering located at the bottom of the guitar to prevent scratching the body with your pick or fingernails.

Pickups

Pickups are a series of magnets wrapped with coils of fine wire. They are typically encased in metal near the center of the body, directly underneath where the pick normally makes contact with the strings. Pickups are essentially tiny microphones: when the strings vibrate, an electrical current is induced in the pickups, which is then sent to an amplifier through a cable to create sound. Pickups can have a single coil or a double coil--also known as a "humbucker"--and can vary in number depending on the sound desired.