A Primer For The Electric Guitar
Sound created by string vibrations transformed into currents of electricity and then amplified is the basic definition of an electric guitar. In the 1930s the first incarnation of the electric guitar appeared, although it was nothing more than electromagnetic-transducers attached to a hollow arch-top acoustic guitar. In the 1940s Les Paul invented the Fender, the first modern electric guitar.
The BodyThe standard electric guitar design has a solid wood body that has mounted pickups and controls (although some do have resonance chambers that are semi-hollow). The type of wood used in the body’s construction is just as important as that of an acoustic guitar (acoustic guitars use wooden soundboards, which is the wood of the body through which sound is vibrated). Note: the right handed and left handed acoustic electric guitar both use soundboards in their sound reproduction. The electric guitar’s body wood will establish the resonation. Dense woods produce rich sounds, such as ash, mahogany, and alder.
The Guitar’s BarAttached to the bridge is a metal bar that deals with string tension variation. It works by tilting the bridge forward and back. Other names for this component are Tremolo Bar, Whammy Bar, Wang Bar, and Vibrato 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.
Pickups fall into two basic categories:
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.
HumbuckerHumbuckers were designed to overcome the humming effects of the single coil pickup. Humbuckers consist of two coils and are thicker in sound. The two coils are wound reverse to each other with opposing polarity in the 6 magnetic coils. This causes any ambient sound to be ‘cancelled out’ before amplification. Some electric guitars types let the musician turn off one of the coils to change the guitar’s ‘personality.’
Guitar StringsElectric guitar strings have various windings, alloys, and gauges, all of which factor into the sound of the guitar. All electric guitar strings are made of metal and the right handed electric guitar is strung high E, B, G, D, A, and low E while the left handed electric guitar is strung upside down.
The String’s AlloysMost commonly used are strings made of steel because they produce vast volumes and tones that are brilliant. Stainless-steel nickel plated strings have a subdued tone. Nickel strings have a muted-round sound and are best used in rhythm and jazz.
The String’s GaugeString thickness is the string’s gauge. Fast guitarists prefer thinner gauges because they are easy to bend. Pickers and strummers prefer medium gauges because they produce a considerable volume. A full-vibrant sound is produced by heavy gauged strings, but these are hard to play because they do not bend easily.
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.’
One must do his or her homework when finding an electric guitar for sale. The prospective buyer must take into consideration the type of music he or she plans to play and how comfortable he or she will be with the instrument. Each guitar has an individual sonic-personality because of the various combinations of pickups, wood, and string.
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