PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Some of the very first guitars were made in the late 1800s. They were hollow bodied acoustics that used tungsten pickups, or a rare metal wire that transfers sound.
The first amplified electric guitar was designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp who was the manager at the National Guitar Coperation with Paul Barth who was Vice president.
Parts
- Headstock-
- Strings-
- Neck-
- Frets
- Pickups-
- Body-
- Nut-
- Bridge-
The body will be the first part we talk about. The body is the wood part of the guitar that you play on. The sound depends on which wood you have. For example, if you have Agathis,(or commercial grade mahogany) it is a tropical pine usually found in South-East Asia. It's mostly used for building cabinets. It is a cheap wood used for bargain guitars.
Maple wood is one of the many main woods used to make electric guitars. Its usually used for the more expensive guitars like the J200 series by gibson. It is usually found here in America using the two kinds of maple. Eastern Hard Maple and Western Soft Maple. Names given to them because of their location and density.
Some things on the body are the bridge which allows the strings to sit at a relative height to the fret board. The bridge includes the saddle and the tie block. The earliest bridge manufacturing company was the Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company in Los Angeles.
Now lets go to the headstock. This is the head of the guitar which supports the tuners. Which holds the strings of the instrument. You can also use headstocks to identify the maker by their shape. They are usually made in the U.S. or Mexico.
Next are the Strings. Strings are the vibrating elements that produce sound in a string instrument. Strings must be decorative using only one type of material so usually steel, nylon, or gut. The most popular manufacturers are Hannahbach from Germany,Rotosound from the U.K, Savarez from France, and D'addario from the U.S.A.
Now the neck. The neck is where the frets, fretboard, and the headstock are located. The neck is a piece of or several pieces of wood. This is where the fretboard is. The fretboard is a piece of wood usually made of rosewood on the front of the neck. The rosewood is usually found in Madagascar or India. It holds the strings and frets. Now frets are metal pieces numbering from 20-24 which helps strings change length to change the note.
And last but not least we have the nut. The nut's function is to maintain correct string spacing and alignment to go through to their tuning pegs. They are commonly made of plastic or metal. It is located at the headstock end of the fretboard. They are made here in the U.S. They were mainly used for shredding back in the 80's.
Pickups are magnets wrapped in coils of copper wire. When a string is plucked, the vibration causes a magnetic flux, or vibration, which is then amplified through a speaker. It is located under the guitar strings with usually three on each guitar. One pickup mainly used is widely known as the humbucker. It uses two wire coils to send sound to the amplifier. This pickup was originally made in Indiana by Electro-voice.
