Electric guitar building. Active electronics in electric guitar

The electric guitar first appeared in the 20th century and immediately gained popularity due to its unusual sound. With the help of a pickup and electrical amplification, a variety of melodies are created.

What is the device of an electric guitar? It has three parts: body, neck and head.. On the body are: a string holder (bridge or typewriter), various pickups and a switch, an overlay, tone and volume controls, a lever (tremolo), a jack for connecting a cord, a belt mount.

The neck consists of two parts: the neck itself and the fingerboard, on which the frets, marks, and nut are located. An important detail is the anchor rod. Its purpose is to regulate the deflection of the neck.

A peg mechanism is located on the head. The tension of the peg determines the tension of the strings. They are used to tune the electric guitar. In some cases, special plates are installed on the nut to block the adjustment of the strings (top-lock). Then a mini-tuning mechanism is installed in the micro-tuning bridge.

Enclosure types

• Whole. Made from one piece of wood one-piece body is considered the most expensive and high quality. Features clear, bright sound. Glued together from several pieces of wood of the same species, the body loses the resonance of the wood, and the sound quality deteriorates. The exception is the case, consisting of different types of wood. This trick produces the sharp, harsh sound that is characteristic of heavy music.
• Hollow. The produced sound is warm, rich, soft, but quickly fades and creaks when played at high volumes.

When studying the device of an electric guitar, it is important to pay attention to the material from which the body is made. The duration of string vibrations and the trajectory of movement directly depend on the type of wood. The vibration of pickups is also determined by the material of the body and overlays: maple, alder, rosewood, walnut, ash.

A solo part with high frequencies will sound great on a guitar made of ash, alder, poplar, linden. The rhythm will be clearly expressed on guitars made of mahogany, linden, ash. A powerful rhythm part will be delightful on a walnut, rosewood, wenge, mahogany guitar.

Vulture

There are several types of fastening the neck to the body:

• bolts. In this case, it is quite easy to change the neck if necessary, but the duration of the notes is reduced.
• pasted. It transmits vibrations better, is used most often.
• Through. The deck consists of two halves that are attached to the neck. The sound is long and warm.
• Heelless. The advantage is easier access to high positions.

The width and thickness of the neck determine the style of the sound. Those who prefer fast hard music (legato, tapping) choose thin but wide necks. Adherents of the classics opt for rounded necks. Manufacturers found a compromise and offered a neck with a variable fingerboard radius. Near the deck it is flat, and closer to the head it is round.

The material of the neck and fretboard is also important. It is the overlay that reflects or transmits the received vibrations., so ebony, maple or rosewood is used for its production. Maple provides a bright sound, ebony provides density and depth, and rosewood provides warmth and softness. The neck is made of mahogany, maple or composite material. solid, beautiful tree not only looks spectacular, but also stiffens to hold the strings.

Anchor and scale

The anchor is installed in two ways: under the fingerboard or on the back of the neck, closer to the peg mechanism. The second option is preferable and more reliable. A special key is used for adjustment.

The scale is the distance from the bridge to the nut when the string is open. The scale determines where the frets are placed.. A distance equal to ½ of the length of the scale is between the 12th and 13th frets. A ¼ length is between the 5th and 6th frets. Depending on the length, a different sound is extracted: melodious, warm, soft or hard, sharp, aggressive.

Pickups

The role of pickups is to convert string vibrations into an electrical signal. The sound quality directly depends on the quality of the pickup. Two types are produced: electromagnetic and piezoelectric. Electromagnetic are classified into passive and active, as well as Single and Hambacker. Passive pickups do not require additional power, while active pickups use batteries. Therefore, the sound of the latter is much better.

Singles (have one coil) are distinguished by a clear and bright sound, but can be phony. Therefore, manufacturers have found a way out: singles with a humbucker effect. They provide a clear sound without extraneous noise, used in jazz, blues. Humbuckers (have two coils) produce a powerful, but soft sound, devoid of low frequencies, when overloaded, they sound clear and aggressive.

Piezoelectric pickups come in the form of a small disk or narrow strip that fits under the saddle. It can also be set under each string, achieving unusual effects. And to eliminate noise, it is advisable to use a preamplifier buffer.

Bridges and Switches

Bridges are available with or without tremolo system. The machine (tremolo system) allows you to lower and raise the pitch of notes directly on the guitar using a special lever, but “eats” the sustain. In this case, a system of micro-adjustment of the tuning pegs is used. Bridges without tremolo have a smoother sound and are less likely to get out of tune..

If the pickup is closer to the tailpiece, it is called a bridge pickup. Closer to the neck - neck. A special switch allows the bridge pickup to be used for soloing, and the neck pickup for playing chords.

A three- or five-position switch is used. Positions activate various combinations of pickups: bridge, middle, near the neck.

Now, knowing the structure of the electric guitar, it is much easier to start learning and enjoy quality music.

You need to understand the essence of the task ahead. To do this, you need to understand and understand the detailed structure of the electric guitar. If you have ever held an acoustic guitar in your hands, you will immediately see the similarities and differences in construction between these instruments. Let's take a closer look at the device of this wonderful musical instrument.

1)Head (feather) neck- serves for fixing pegs on it. It can have various outlines, up to the most bizarre.

2)kolki- serve to tension the strings. There are: singles, doubles, closed and open.
3)anchor nut- With it, you can easily adjust the deflection of the neck.
4)Vulture- practically the most important and expensive part of the guitar. Necks differ in the way they are attached to the body. Depending on the configuration of the guitar, the neck can be either glued or screwed using a special bolt. Each mounting method has its own effect on the sound color of the entire instrument. The most expensive mounting option is when the neck goes right through the body and thereby gives the guitar a deep, very rich sound.
5)Nut- is made of plastic.
6)fret sills.
7)Markers- help the musician navigate the fretboard.
8)Button- Required to fasten the belt.
9)Tremolo arm- with it you can use the machine.
10)Pickups- These are electromagnetic devices necessary for converting the vibrations of a string into an electrical signal. There are two types of magnetic pickups:

Single (SC) - this type of pickup refers to magnetic pickups and has in its design the number of cores equal to the number of strings on an electric guitar. Each core is under its own string. These types of pickups have a clean, transparent sound that is not typical of humbucking pickups. The disadvantages include noise immunity, i.e. when playing, such a pickup will pick up extraneous radio interference. But this does not prevent some manufacturers from installing only Singles on their guitars. For example, the Fender Stratocaster only has these pickups.

Humbucker (HB) - Structurally, it is a bundle of two single-type pickups (SC) located in one housing. Depending on the configuration of the humbucker, the pickups included in its composition are connected either in parallel or in series. The main advantage of this type of pickup is its resistance to extraneous interference, to which the Single is prone. The humbucker has a thick, meaty sound. A prime example An electric guitar equipped with these pickups is the Gibson Les Paul.

11)Pickup switch- 3 or 5 position, it allows you to switch between all the pickups, and therefore get a different sound of the instrument.
12)Volume and tone knobs- with their help, the volume and timbre of the guitar sound are adjusted, respectively.
13)String holder (machine, bridge)- a device for attaching strings to an electric guitar. All tailpieces can be divided into three types: fixed, tremolo and floyd rose.

A guitar with a fixed bridge has a nicer, smoother, longer sound.

Tremolo bridge - allows the player to lower the pitch of the strings while playing using the tremolo lever.

The floyd rose bridge is the most popular type of tailpiece and allows the player to both lower and raise the pitch.

14)Cord socket.
15)Deca- the second very important part in the device of an electric guitar. The sound of the instrument depends mainly on how the soundboard resonates while playing. Usually made in one piece, rarely glued together from several pieces of wood. Concerning appearance and body shape, unlike acoustic guitars, it practically does not affect the sound of the instrument.

The electric guitar device discussed above is the same for almost all electric guitars.

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

Let's introduce ourselves!

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 obtaining sound. For acoustics, a resonator hole in its body is enough for us to hear it, but for an electric guitar, a completely different approach is needed - receiving sound through a number of devices by transmitting it from pickups to an amplifying device and then outputting it to speakers. Of course, you can try to play it without a connection, but you are unlikely to do this, because this is not what you bought it for or are going to buy it for.

Well, that seems to have been sorted out! Since you are such an ardent fan of guitar music, then undoubtedly the electric guitar will become a good assistant in your work, it is possible that on long years. There are quite a lot of varieties of electric guitars today, but the differences in their design are not big, it can be, for example, the type of attachment of the neck to the body of the guitar, the type of string holder, the type of truss rod (1 anchor, 2 anchors) or the type of installed pickups, i.e. e. the differences are only in some details. Since we are talking about details, then let's see what an electric guitar consists of.

Electric guitar device

The images 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 more about the design. The electric guitar consists of:

1. Frame
2. Pickguard
3. Pickups
4. Switch
5. Volume and tone controls
6. Bridge
7. Cable connector
8. Buttons (straplocks)
9. Overlay
10. Labels (dots)
11. Nut
12. Vulture head
13. kolki
14. strings
15. Anchor nut
16. Neck attachment
17. Tone 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 caveat here - the more pieces it contains, the worse the sound of the guitar will be due to the fact that all the resonant properties of the wood itself will be lost at the gluing points. The only exception will be a composite of different types of wood. Electric guitars with such a body have an aggressive and harsh sound, they are mainly played with 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 a loud game. The quality and type of wood has a greater effect on the sound in hollow body guitars than in solid body guitars. But regarding the shape and design of the body of electric guitars, unlike acoustic ones, we can say the following - these parameters have little effect on the sound of the instrument.

From above, the body in some guitars is covered with a top - this is such a special fingerboard, which is made from another tree and most often serves decorative element than functional. But on guitars like the Fender Stratocacter, a plastic pickguard is installed. On it are located: pickups of the "single" type, and on other guitars there may be "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 tone 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” type connector (Jack TRS ¼”) is specially installed on the case, to which the plug located at the end of the instrument cable is connected. To hold the guitar on the weight with the help of a belt, special steel buttons are located on both sides, sometimes so-called straplocks (belt locks) are installed. Ok, we figured out the case, and now let's see how it works ...

Electric guitar neck

In terms of its structure, this part of the electruha also differs markedly from the acoustic one. What are these differences? - you ask. Firstly, it is the length and radius of the fretboard, and secondly, the headstock can be the most various forms This is rare for 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 where you press your fingers while playing. On the fingerboard there are metal frets that divide the neck along the entire length into frets and allow you to change the tone of the strings and, accordingly, take different ones, and there are also marks / dots between these frets, clarifying and indicating for convenience 3, 5, 7, 9 and subsequent frets .

At the beginning of the neck, i.e. at the top, the nut is installed, and immediately after it head goes neck, on the platform of which mechanical tuning pegs are located, designed for tension and fixation metal strings and, most importantly, a truss rod adjustment nut that prevents the neck from deforming due to string stress. On this example of a Fender Stratocacter guitar, the neck is not glued in and is attached to the body with 4 bolts. Lid on reverse side guitar covers all the mechanics of the bridge, as well as the electrical part.

Here is such an electric guitar device! 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! Must see interesting video under the article to consolidate the learned material.

The neck consists of two parts: the neck itself and the fingerboard, fastened with glue. The neck is most often made of maple, and the fretboard is made of rosewood. The fretboard is the top part of the fretboard where the frets are located. The number of frets can be 21, 22 or 24. The fret closest to the head is the first, then the second, third... the fret closest to the deck is the last. On the headstock there are pegs around which the strings are stretched. Inside the neck (between the neck and the fingerboard) there is a special truss rod, the task of which is to prevent the strings from bending the neck. The neck can be glued to the deck, or it can be attached with screws.

The soundboard is the body of the electric guitar and one of the most important parts of it. A solid soundboard can be made from one or more pieces of wood of the same variety, which are glued to each other. The varieties of wood from which the deck is made are quite diverse, and each type of wood gives different sound, and cost differently. Here are some of them: mahogany, linden, alder, ash. All decks are of two types:

This is a metal device that keeps the strings in tune. There are two types of machines: with a tremolo system (left) and without it (right). They differ in that tremolo bridges have a lever - a device that allows you to change the pitch. If you press the lever, the tension of the strings will loosen and the pitch will decrease, but if you pull the lever, which is not possible on all machines, the tonality will increase. The main disadvantages of tremolo machines are: the guitar gets out of tune faster, there is little sustain, it is difficult to change strings, and on some models it is impossible to quickly reconfigure the guitar to one of the alternative settings.

Pickups

The pickups pick up the vibrations of the strings, which are then converted into electrical signals. Pickups are a very important part of the guitar, their type and quality determine the sound produced by the guitar.
There are two types of pickups:

Both types of pickups can be combined with each other to achieve the desired sound. When you see something in the description of an electric guitar type H-S-H or S-S-H, know that this indicates the sequence in which the pickups are installed on the guitar S - single (single), H - humbucker (humbucker).

S-S-S Standard model Fender Stratocaster.

H-H Standard model Gibson Les Paul.

S-S Fender Telecaster.

H-S-H This variant can be found on Ibanez guitars and is popular among hard rock fans.

S-S-H Humbucker near the machine, this option can be found on the modification of the "strat" ​​Fat - Stratocaster.

strings
The strings vary in thickness. There are 6 kinds of strings: .008, .009, .010, .011, .012 and .013. .008 - the thinnest, .013 - respectively the thickest. There are other string gauges, like 0.14, 0.15, .009, but they are not commonly found on the market. For beginners, it's best to start with the thinnest ones, which are on .008, as thick strings are harder to press, and when the fingers and hand get stronger, you can try moving to .009. The larger the string diameter, the steeper the sound.

Pickup switch

The pickup switch activates one or two of the guitar's mounted pickups. By switching between pickups, you can change the sound produced by the guitar. On some guitars, such as early Fender Stratocasters, the installed switches have 3 possible positions. Thus, only one of the pickups can be active. Later, 2 more positions were added, which include two adjacent pickups and thus create two more new sounds. It is in positions 2 and 4 that extraneous noise is the least noticeable.

Volume and tone controls

The volume and tone controls are designed to increase or decrease the volume of the sound and change its timbre. The standard Stratocaster has 2 tone controls: the first is connected to the pickup closest to the neck and only affects the sound when that pickup is selected with the switch. The second knob on older models is connected to the middle pickup. The pickup located at the typewriter does not have its own regulator. On newer Strats, the second knob is connected to both the middle pickup and the one near the machine. These knobs don't affect the sound too much, turn them all the way down to position 10 and you'll get more treble, to position 1 - there will be more mids and lows.