Guitar Anatomy

 The overall design of the guitar, although it has evolved much over the decades, still remains entirely true to tradition. Almost every guitar will have a number of clearly recognizable parts. We will start at the top of the guitar and work downwards. 

 Headstock – This is the entire top part of the guitar neck, which incorporates the tuning pegs or machine heads, and is usually attached to the neck at a slight angle. 

 Machine heads – Or some other form of tuning peg, are incorporated into the headstock, with the excess string wound around them, and are used to bring the strings up to tension(tune). 

 Nut – This is the cross bar, which has slots in it, in which the strings sit, just before they run up into the headstock. 

 Neck – The long part of the guitar, which runs from the headstock down to the body,joining the body at the 12th or 14th fret usually. 

 Fret board – The front of the neck,physically fingered when playing the guitar. 

 Frets – Wire bars running across the fret board, which when responding to the pressure of your left hand(for right handed players),changes notes accordingly. 

 Strings – Nylon, gut or steel wires, sometimes wound, which are fingered and plucked, or strummed, to produce sound. 

 Heel or Neckjoint – This is the reinforced section of the guitar, where the neck joins the body. 

 Body – Which incorporates the sides and the back of the guitar, and has the soundboard on top. 

 Soundboard – The top of the guitar body, the front face, which is responsible for initiating resonance in an acoustic guitar, by picking up the vibration of the strings via the bridge, and transferring it into the hollow body. 

 Pickguard – A hard, usually plastic plate attached to the soundboard, which protects it from being damaged or worn by a person using a pick. 

 Soundhole – Only acoustic or semi-acoustic guitars have a soundhole, think of it as the speaker, this is where the resonating sound escapes from to be heard. 

Endpin- Where the strap is   attached and often a cord is plugged in here for amplification. 

Saddle or Bridge – The part of the guitar, which anchors the strings at the bottom end. Upon an acoustic guitar, the saddle is responsible for initiating resonance with the soundboard. 

Electric Guitar Components

 Electric guitars contain several parts not found on acoustic guitars. 

 Pickups – These are small magnetic devices that can pick up the vibrations of the strings, and convert these vibrations into a measurable electrical current. This electrical current is then amplified externally. 

 Selector switches – When a multi-pickup setup is used, the selector switch allows the musician to select which pickup, or combination of pickups, they require to be active. 

 Volume and tone controls– Simple knobs to adjust the volume and tone of the guitar. 

 Equalization – Some more modern guitars may contain a basic equalizer setup, allowing the tone to be shaped before being amplified. Note; some acoustic-electric guitars may have on-board equalizers. 

 Tremolo – Sometimes called the whammy bar, or vibrato arm, this piece of equipment allows the player to gently modulate the strings by changing the tension of them using their right hand. 

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