151-429: The Fender Duo-Sonic is an electric guitar launched by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation as a student model guitar, an inexpensive model aimed at amateur musicians. It was referred to as a "3/4 size" Fender guitar. The original "Duo-Sonic" features two single-coil pickups and a vertical switch on the lower horn of the body to select bridge, neck or both pickups in a humbucking style configuration (as opposed to
302-466: A monaural signal. Many guitars with active electronics use a jack with an extra contact normally used for stereo . These guitars use the extra contact to break the ground connection to the on-board battery to preserve battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These guitars require a mono plug to close the internal switch and connect the battery to ground. Standard guitar cables use a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These have
453-400: A vibrato embellishment. A plastic pickguard on some guitars protects the body from scratches or covers the control cavity, which holds most of the wiring. The degree to which the choice of woods and other materials in the solid-guitar body (3) affects the sonic character of the amplified signal is disputed. Many believe it is highly significant, while others think the difference between woods
604-427: A " jazz guitar ". The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings' vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber . The classical Spanish guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive fingerstyle technique where each string is plucked individually by the player's fingers, as opposed to being strummed. The term "finger-picking" can also refer to
755-402: A "bass") is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length , and four to six strings. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is usually tuned the same as the double bass , which corresponds to pitches one octave lower than the four lowest pitched strings of a guitar (E, A, D, and G). The bass guitar is a transposing instrument , as it
906-413: A 12-string guitar, allowing him to incorporate chiming 12-string elements in standard six-string playing. In 1982 Uli Jon Roth developed the "Sky Guitar", with a vastly extended number of frets, which was the first guitar to venture into the upper registers of the violin. Roth's seven-string and "Mighty Wing" guitar features a wider octave range. The bass guitar (also called an "electric bass", or simply
1057-538: A 24” scale length C-shaped neck. They have a string-through-body hardtail 'Strat' bridge, with vintage-like bent-steel saddles. These guitars, and a re-introduced 'Mustang' range, form the 'Offset Series' and are made in Mexico. The bodies are alder and the necks maple, with maple or rosewood fretboards. Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike
1208-525: A United States patent for an Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument and the patent was later issued in 1937. By the time it was patented, other manufacturers were already making their own electric guitar designs. Early electric guitar manufacturers include Rickenbacker in 1932; Dobro in 1933; National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in 1934; Vega , Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 and many others by 1936. By early-mid 1935, Electro String Instrument Corporation had achieved success with
1359-590: A built-in system to electrically amplify their output without altering their tone as an alternative to using a separate microphone. The system may consist of piezoelectric pickups mounted under the bridge, or a low-mass microphone (usually a condenser mic) inside the body of the guitar that converts the vibrations in the body into electronic signals. Combinations of these types of pickups may be used, with an integral mixer/preamp/graphic equalizer. Such instruments are called electric acoustic guitars . They are regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars because
1510-407: A few months earlier, it featured basic but effective construction and a 22.5 inch scale length (standard Fender guitars feature a 25.5 inch scale) and cost $ 149.50 (equivalent to $ 1,675 in 2023). The original model was only available in a light tan color called Desert Sand and had a maple fingerboard with 21 frets and a neck with a soft-V profile. The original model Duo-Sonics also sport
1661-440: A filler strip running down the length and behind the neck, used for strength or to fill the cavity through which the truss rod was installed in the neck. In acoustic guitars, string vibration is transmitted through the bridge and saddle to the body via sound board . The sound board is typically made of tonewoods such as spruce or cedar. Timbers for tonewoods are chosen for both strength and ability to transfer mechanical energy from
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#17327915643911812-576: A folding neck called the "Foldaxe" was designed and built for Chet Atkins by Roger C. Field . Steinberger guitars developed a line of exotic, carbon fiber instruments without headstocks, with tuning done on the bridge instead. Fingerboards vary as much as necks. The fingerboard surface usually has a cross-sectional radius that is optimized to accommodate finger movement for different playing techniques. Fingerboard radius typically ranges from nearly flat (a very large radius) to radically arched (a small radius). The vintage Fender Telecaster , for example, has
1963-473: A gold-colored, anodized pickguard that helps in screening the single-coil pickups and electronics from interference. In 1959 the Duo-Sonic went through a face lift. The most significant change was a switch from a maple fingerboard to a rosewood one in keeping with changes to other Fender models at this time. These fretboards were originally in the slab-style but switched to the veneer style after approximately
2114-410: A guitar amp have played a key role in the development of blues and rock music , both as an accompaniment instrument (playing riffs and chords ) and performing guitar solos , and in many rock subgenres, notably heavy metal music and punk rock . The electric guitar has had a major influence on popular culture . The guitar is used in a wide variety of musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as
2265-428: A guitar amplifier and speaker. When an electric guitar is played, string movement produces a signal by generating (i.e., inducing ) a small electric current in the magnetic pickups, which are magnets wound with coils of very fine wire. The signal passes through the tone and volume circuits to the output jack, and through a cable to an amplifier . The current induced is proportional to such factors as string density and
2416-477: A guitar was constructed from wood, with its strings made of catgut . Steel guitar strings were introduced near the end of the nineteenth century in the United States, but nylon and steel strings became mainstream only following World War II . The guitar's ancestors include the gittern , the vihuela , the four- course Renaissance guitar , and the five-course baroque guitar , all of which contributed to
2567-427: A guitar with one finger (the bar). Known for its portamento capabilities, gliding smoothly over every pitch between notes, the instrument can produce a sinuous crying sound and deep vibrato emulating the human singing voice. Typically, the strings are plucked (not strummed) by the fingers of the dominant hand, while the steel tone bar is pressed lightly against the strings and moved by the opposite hand. The instrument
2718-519: A hard, polymerized finish. Strings vibrating in the magnetic field of the pickups (3.1, 3.2) produce an electric current in the pickup winding that passes through the tone and volume controls (3.8) to the output jack. Some guitars have piezo pickups, in addition to or instead of magnetic pickups. Some guitars have a fixed bridge (3.4). Others have a spring-loaded hinged bridge called a vibrato bar , tremolo bar , or whammy bar , which lets players bend notes or chords up or down in pitch or perform
2869-555: A larger version of the contemporary four-course guitars. The vihuela enjoyed only a relatively short period of popularity in Spain and Italy during an era dominated elsewhere in Europe by the lute ; the last surviving published music for the instrument appeared in 1576. Meanwhile, the five-course baroque guitar , which was documented in Spain from the middle of the 16th century, enjoyed popularity, especially in Spain, Italy and France from
3020-803: A major component in the development of electric blues , rock and roll , rock music , heavy metal music and many other genres of music. Electric guitar design and construction varies greatly in the shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars may have a fixed bridge or a spring-loaded hinged bridge , which lets players "bend" the pitch of notes or chords up or down, or perform vibrato effects. The sound of an electric guitar can be modified by new playing techniques such as string bending , tapping , and hammering-on , using audio feedback , or slide guitar playing. There are several types of electric guitar. Early forms were hollow-body semi-acoustic guitars , while solid body guitars developed later. String configurations include
3171-477: A modern 12-string guitar , but they only have four or five courses of strings rather than six single strings normally used now. They were more often used as rhythm instruments in ensembles than as solo instruments, and can often be seen in that role in early music performances. ( Gaspar Sanz 's Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española of 1674 contains his whole output for the solo guitar.) Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily distinguished, because
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#17327915643913322-658: A neck-through design is difficult or even impossible to repair, depending on the damage. Historically, the bolt-on style has been more popular for ease of installation and adjustment. Since bolt-on necks can be easily removed, there is an after-market in replacement bolt-on necks from companies such as Warmoth and Mighty Mite. Some instruments—notably most Gibson models—continue to use set-in glued necks. Neck-through bodies are somewhat more common in bass guitars. Materials for necks are selected for dimensional stability and rigidity, and some allege that they influence tone. Hardwoods are preferred, with maple , mahogany , and ash topping
3473-416: A primary instrument in genres such as blues , bluegrass , country , flamenco , folk , jazz , jota , ska , mariachi , metal , punk , funk , reggae , rock , grunge , soul , acoustic music , disco , new wave , new age , adult contemporary music , and pop , occasionally used as a sample in hip-hop , dubstep , or trap music . The modern word guitar and its antecedents have been applied to
3624-434: A rhythm guitarist and a lead guitarist. Many experiments with electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument were made dating back to the early part of the 20th century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters were adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the bridge ; however, these detected vibrations from
3775-402: A right-handed guitar strung in reverse (the treble strings and bass strings reversed). The problem with doing this is that it reverses the guitar's saddle angle. The saddle is the strip of material on top of the bridge where the strings rest. It is normally slanted slightly, making the bass strings longer than the treble strings. In part, the reason for this is the difference in the thickness of
3926-423: A semi-acoustic tone (see below) or both. Semi-acoustic guitars have a hollow body similar to an acoustic guitar and electromagnetic pickups mounted directly into the body. They work in a similar way to solid-body electric guitars except that because the hollow body also vibrates, the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into an electrical signal. Many models, known as semi-hollow bodies, have
4077-418: A single block of wood, semi-acoustic guitar bodies are made from multiple pieces of wood in an archtop form, a method of construction different from the typical steel string acoustic guitar . The top is formed from a moderately thick piece of wood which is then carved into a thin outward-curving shape, whereas conventional acoustic guitars have a thin, flat top. Some steel-string acoustic guitars include
4228-464: A single sound hole and a narrower neck. By the 14th century the qualifiers "moresca" or "morisca" and "latina" had been dropped, and these two chordophones were simply referred to as guitars. The Spanish vihuela , called in Italian the viola da mano , a guitar-like instrument of the 15th and 16th centuries, is widely considered to have been the single most important influence in the development of
4379-469: A six-string model (the most common model) or in seven- or twelve-string formats. An instruments overall design, internal construction and components, wood type or species, hardware and electronic appointments all add to the abundant nature of sub-categories and its unique tonal & functional property. Acoustic guitars form several notable subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars ; steel-string guitars, which include
4530-428: A slight vibrato technique from pushing the string down harder and softer. "Scalloped" fretboards, where the wood of the fretboard itself is "scooped out" between the frets, allow a dramatic vibrato effect. Fine frets, much flatter, allow a very low string-action , but require that other conditions, such as curvature of the neck, be well-maintained to prevent buzz. The truss rod is a thin, strong metal rod that runs along
4681-570: A solid block running through the middle of the soundbox designed to reduce acoustic feedback. They do not provide enough acoustic volume for live performance, but they can be used unplugged for quiet practice. Semi-acoustic guitars are noted for being able to provide a sweet, plaintive, or funky tone. They are used in many genres, including jazz, blues, funk , sixties pop, and indie rock . They generally have cello-style F-shaped sound holes , which can be blocked off to further reduce feedback. Whereas chambered guitars are made, like solid-body guitars, from
Fender Duo-Sonic - Misplaced Pages Continue
4832-496: A sound closer to that of an acoustic guitar with the flip of a switch or knob, rather than switching guitars. Those that combine piezoelectric pickups and magnetic pickups are sometimes known as hybrid guitars. Hybrids of acoustic and electric guitars are also common. There are also more exotic varieties, such as guitars with two , three, or rarely four necks, all manner of alternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards (used almost exclusively on bass guitars, meant to emulate
4983-472: A specific tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass, and country guitar playing in the United States. Electric guitars , first patented in 1937, use a pickup and amplifier that made the instrument loud enough to be heard, but also enabled manufacturing guitars with a solid block of wood needing a resonant chamber. A wide array of electronic effects units became possible including reverb and distortion (or "overdrive") . Solid-body guitars began to dominate
5134-436: A standard acoustic guitar . It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals , which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers . The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb , distortion and "overdrive" ;
5285-399: A tip and sleeve configuration referred to as a TS phone connector . The voltage is usually around 1 to 9 millivolts . A few guitars, such as Rickenbacker guitars equipped with Rick-O-Sound , feature stereo output. There are a variety of ways the "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but not exclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge pickups to separate output buses on
5436-405: A top so heavily reinforced that it essentially functioned as a solid-body instrument. Unlike acoustic guitars, solid-body electric guitars have no vibrating soundboard to amplify string vibration. Instead, solid-body instruments depend on electric pickups, and an amplifier ("amp") and speaker . The solid body ensures that the amplified sound reproduces the string vibration alone, thus avoiding
5587-687: A triple single-coil guitar. The history of electric guitars has been summarized by Guitar World magazine, and the earliest electric guitar on their top 10 list is the Ro-Pat-In Electro A-25 "Frying Pan" (1932) described as "The first-fully functioning solid-body electric guitar to be manufactured and sold". It was the first electric guitar used in a publicly promoted performance, performed by Gage Brewer in Wichita, Kansas in October 1932. The most recent electric guitar on this list
5738-590: A typical small radius of approximately 7.25 inches (18.4 cm). Some manufacturers have experimented with fret profile and material, fret layout, number of frets, and modifications of the fingerboard surface for various reasons. Some innovations were intended to improve playability by ergonomic means, such as Warmoth Guitars' compound radius fingerboard. Scalloped fingerboards added enhanced microtonality during fast legato runs. Fanned frets intend to provide each string with an optimal playing tension and enhanced musicality. Some guitars have no frets , while others, like
5889-409: A way to reduce or counter the sound, as they are designed to "buck" (in the verb sense of oppose or resist ) the hum, hence their name. The high combined inductance of the two coils also leads to the richer, "fatter" tone associated with humbucking pickups. Electric guitar necks vary in composition and shape. The primary metric of guitar necks is the scale length , which is the vibrating length of
6040-788: A wide variety of chordophones since classical times, sometimes causing confusion. The English word guitar , the German Gitarre , and the French guitare were all adopted from the Spanish guitarra , which comes from the Andalusian Arabic قيثارة ( qīthārah ) and the Latin cithara , which in turn came from the Ancient Greek κιθάρα which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Kithara appears in
6191-409: A wood post with a neck attached and two hollow-body halves attached to the sides for appearance only — shares nothing in common for design or hardware with the solid-body Gibson Les Paul , designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in 1952. The feedback associated with amplified hollow-bodied electric guitars was understood long before Paul's "log" was created in 1940; Gage Brewer's Ro-Pat-In of 1932 had
Fender Duo-Sonic - Misplaced Pages Continue
6342-473: A year. The other significant change was a switch from anodized aluminum to plastic pickguards. In 1964 the Duo-Sonic was redesigned based on the Fender Mustang that had recently been added to the student model line but without the vibrato tail-piece. The student guitars now all featured larger and slightly offset bodies, necks with larger headstocks and rosewood fingerboards and plastic pickguards with
6493-436: Is expected to know his or her way around the instrument. In addition to fretboard inlay, the headstock and soundhole surround are also frequently inlaid. The manufacturer's logo or a small design is often inlaid into the headstock. Rosette designs vary from simple concentric circles to delicate fretwork mimicking the historic rosette of lutes. Bindings that edge the finger and soundboards are sometimes inlaid. Some instruments have
6644-404: Is glued into the corners where the rib meets the top and back. This interior reinforcement provides 5 to 20 mm of solid gluing area for these corner joints. Solid linings are often used in classical guitars, while kerfed lining is most often found in steel-string acoustics. Kerfed lining is also called kerfing because it is scored, or "kerfed"(incompletely sawn through), to allow it to bend with
6795-558: Is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces. The first solid-body Spanish standard guitar was offered by Vivi-Tone no later than 1934. This model featured a guitar-shaped body of a single sheet of plywood affixed to a wood frame. Another early, substantially solid Spanish electric guitar, called the Electro Spanish, was marketed by the Rickenbacker guitar company in 1935 and made of Bakelite . By 1936,
6946-413: Is notated in bass clef an octave higher than it sounds (as is the double bass) to avoid excessive ledger lines being required below the staff . Like the electric guitar, the bass guitar has pickups and it is plugged into an amplifier and speaker for live performances. Modern guitars can be constructed to suit both left- and right-handed players. Typically the dominant hand is used to pluck or strum
7097-563: Is often seen as a desirable alternative to the more popular Mustang, since it lacks the difficult-to-maintain tremolo bridge that can be disabled with a switch. In 1993 Fender released a Mexican-made reissue Duo-Sonic in a 22.7" scale. It was available in Black, Torino Red and Arctic White. It was dropped from the Fender line in 1997 but was then launched again as a Chinese made Squier Affinity model in 1998 only to be dropped in 1999. The Duo-Sonic
7248-406: Is often used in two roles: as a rhythm guitar , which plays the chord sequences or progressions , and riffs , and sets the beat (as part of a rhythm section ); and as a lead guitar , which provides instrumental melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and solos . In a small group, such as a power trio , one guitarist may switch between both roles; in larger groups there is often
7399-402: Is often used with an extra seventh string by choro musicians to provide extra bass support. In Mexico, the popular mariachi band includes a range of guitars, from the small requinto to the guitarrón , a guitar larger than a cello, which is tuned in the bass register. In Colombia, the traditional quartet includes a range of instruments too, from the small bandola (sometimes known as
7550-462: Is played while sitting, placed horizontally across the player's knees or otherwise supported. The horizontal playing style is called "Hawaiian style". The twelve-string guitar usually has steel strings, and it is widely used in folk music , blues , and rock and roll . Rather than having only six strings, the 12-string guitar has six courses made up of two strings each, like a mandolin or lute . The highest two courses are tuned in unison, while
7701-411: Is strengthened by differing types of internal bracing . Many luthiers consider the top the dominant factor in determining the sound quality. The majority of the instrument's sound is heard through the vibration of the guitar top as the energy of the vibrating strings is transferred to it. The body of an acoustic guitar has a sound hole through which sound projects. The sound hole is usually a round hole in
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#17327915643917852-418: Is subtle. In acoustic and archtop guitars, wood choices more clearly affect tone. Woods typically used in solid-body electric guitars include alder (brighter, but well rounded), swamp ash (similar to alder, but with more pronounced highs and lows), mahogany (dark, bassy, warm), poplar (similar to alder), and basswood (very neutral). Maple , a very bright tonewood , is also a popular body wood but
8003-402: Is the neck-through-body construction. These are designed so that everything from the machine heads down to the bridge is located on the same piece of wood. The sides (also known as wings) of the guitar are then glued to this central piece. Some luthiers prefer this method of construction as they claim it allows better sustain of each note. Some instruments may not have a neck joint at all, having
8154-420: Is the best known. Originally used on gut-strung instruments, the strength of the system allowed the later guitars to withstand the additional tension of steel strings. Steel strings produce a brighter tone and a louder sound. The acoustic guitar is used in many kinds of music including folk, country, bluegrass, pop, jazz, and blues. Many variations are possible from the roughly classical-sized OO and Parlour to
8305-530: Is the point at which the neck is either bolted or glued to the body of the guitar. Almost all acoustic steel-string guitars, with the primary exception of Taylors, have glued (otherwise known as set) necks, while electric guitars are constructed using both types. Most classical guitars have a neck and headblock carved from one piece of wood, known as a "Spanish heel". Commonly used set neck joints include mortise and tenon joints (such as those used by C. F. Martin & Co.), dovetail joints (also used by C. F. Martin on
8456-548: Is used extensively in jazz , blues , R & B , and rock and roll . The first successful magnetic pickup for a guitar was invented by George Beauchamp , and incorporated into the 1931 Ro-Pat-In (later Rickenbacker ) "Frying Pan" lap steel; other manufacturers, notably Gibson , soon began to install pickups in archtop models. After World War II the completely solid-body electric was popularized by Gibson in collaboration with Les Paul , and independently by Leo Fender of Fender Music . The lower fretboard action (the height of
8607-517: Is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. A 3,300-year-old stone carving of a Hittite bard playing a stringed instrument is the oldest iconographic representation of a chordophone, and clay plaques from Babylonia show people playing a lute-like instrument which is similar to the guitar. Several scholars cite varying influences as antecedents to
8758-450: Is very heavy. For this reason, it is often placed as a "cap" on a guitar made primarily of another wood. Cheaper guitars are often made of cheaper woods, such as plywood , pine , or agathis —not true hardwoods—which can affect durability and tone. Though most guitars are made of wood, any material may be used. Materials such as plastic, metal, and even cardboard have been used in some instruments. The guitar output jack typically provides
8909-754: The Gibson SG used by Angus Young from the group AC/DC . Some otherwise solid-bodied guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, the PRS Singlecut, and the Fender Telecaster Thinline , are built with hollow chambers in the body. These chambers are designed to not interfere with the critical bridge and string anchor point on the solid body. In the case of Gibson and PRS, these are called chambered bodies . The motivation for this may be to reduce weight, to achieve
9060-466: The Gittler guitar , have no neck in the traditional sense. Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with some exceptions ) and typically has six or twelve strings . It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with
9211-673: The Slingerland company introduced a wooden solid-body electric model, the Slingerland Songster 401 (and a lap steel counterpart, the Songster 400). Gibson's first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model ("ES" for "Electric Spanish", and "150" reflecting the $ 150 price of the instrument, along with matching amplifier). The ES-150 guitar featured a single-coil, hexagonally shaped "bar" pickup, which
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#17327915643919362-424: The loudspeaker . The original purpose of the resonator was to produce a very loud sound; this purpose has been largely superseded by electrical amplification , but the resonator guitar is still played because of its distinctive tone. Resonator guitars may have either one or three resonator cones. The method of transmitting sound resonance to the cone is either a "biscuit" bridge, made of a small piece of hardwood at
9513-409: The six-string guitar (the most common type), which is usually tuned E, A, D, G, B, E, from lowest to highest strings; the seven-string guitar , which typically adds a low B string below the low E; the eight-string guitar , which typically adds a low E or F# string below the low B; and the twelve-string guitar , which has six two-string courses similar to a mandolin . In rock, the electric guitar
9664-418: The wolf tones and unwanted feedback associated with amplified acoustic guitars. These guitars are generally made of hardwood covered with a hard polymer finish, often polyester or lacquer. In large production facilities, the wood is stored for three to six months in a wood-drying kiln before being cut to shape. Premium custom-built guitars are frequently made with much older , hand-selected wood. One of
9815-589: The "Frying Pan", and set out to capture a new audience through its release of the Electro-Spanish Model B and the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts , which was the first full 25-inch scale electric guitar ever produced. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was revolutionary for its time, providing players a full 25-inch scale, with easy access to 17 frets free of the body. Unlike other lap-steel electrified instruments produced during
9966-403: The 16th century, the five-course guitar was established. It was not a straightforward process. There were two types of five-course guitars, differing in the location of the major third and in the interval pattern. The fifth course can be inferred because the instrument was known to play more than the sixteen notes possible with four. The guitar's strings were tuned in unison, so, in other words, it
10117-897: The American Orville Gibson . Lloyd Loar of the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co introduced the violin-inspired F-shaped hole design now usually associated with archtop guitars, after designing a style of mandolin of the same type. The typical archtop guitar has a large, deep, hollow body whose form is much like that of a mandolin or a violin-family instrument. Nowadays, most archtops are equipped with magnetic pickups, and they are therefore both acoustic and electric. F-hole archtop guitars were immediately adopted, upon their release, by both jazz and country musicians, and have remained particularly popular in jazz music, usually with flatwound strings . All three principal types of resonator guitars were invented by
10268-464: The Bible four times (1 Cor. 14:7, Rev. 5:8, 14:2, and 15:2), and is usually translated into English as harp . The origins of the modern guitar are not known. Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard , ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides." The term
10419-610: The Broadcaster. Another notable solid-body design is the Fender Stratocaster , which was introduced in 1954 and became extremely popular among musicians in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide tonal capabilities and more comfortable ergonomics than other models. Different styles of guitar have different pick-up styles, the main being 2 or 3 " single-coil " pick-ups or a double humbucker , with the Stratocaster being
10570-498: The D-28 and similar models) and Spanish heel neck joints, which are named after the shoe they resemble and commonly found in classical guitars. All three types offer stability. Bolt-on necks, though they are historically associated with cheaper instruments, do offer greater flexibility in the guitar's set-up, and allow easier access for neck joint maintenance and repairs. Another type of neck, only available for solid-body electric guitars,
10721-488: The Deleuze-Guattari, for use when traveling or in confined rooms or spaces), to the slightly larger tiple , to the full-sized classical guitar. The requinto also appears in other Latin-American countries as a complementary member of the guitar family, with its smaller size and scale, permitting more projection for the playing of single-lined melodies. Modern dimensions of the classical instrument were established by
10872-580: The Renaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornate, with ivory or wood inlays all over the neck and body, and a paper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" inside the hole. Classical guitars, also known as "Spanish" guitars, are typically strung with nylon strings, plucked with the fingers, played in a seated position and are used to play a diversity of musical styles including classical music . The classical guitar's wide, flat neck allows
11023-557: The Slovak-American John Dopyera (1893–1988) for the National and Dobro ( Do pyera Bro thers) companies. Similar to the flat top guitar in appearance, but with a body that may be made of brass, nickel-silver, or steel as well as wood, the sound of the resonator guitar is produced by one or more aluminum resonator cones mounted in the middle of the top. The physical principle of the guitar is therefore similar to
11174-503: The Spaniard Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–1892). Flat-top guitars with steel strings are similar to the classical guitar , however, the flat-top body size is usually significantly larger than a classical guitar, and has a narrower, reinforced neck and stronger structural design. The robust X-bracing typical of flat-top guitars was developed in the 1840s by German-American luthiers, of whom Christian Friedrich "C. F." Martin
11325-419: The Spanish guitar. All of these nations even imitated the five-course guitar by "recreating" their own. Finally, c. 1850 , the form and structure of the modern guitar were developed by different Spanish makers such as Manuel de Soto y Solares and, perhaps the most important of all guitar makers, Antonio Torres Jurado , who increased the size of the guitar body, altered its proportions, and invented
11476-449: The amount of movement over the pickups. Because of their natural qualities, magnetic pickups tend to pick up ambient, usually unwanted electromagnetic interference or EMI. This mains hum results in a tone of 50 or 60 cycles per second depending on the powerline frequency of the local alternating current supply. The resulting hum is particularly strong with single-coil pickups. Double-coil or " humbucker " pickups were invented as
11627-633: The back of the guitar by metal ferrules . Many believe this design improves a guitar's sustain and timbre . A few examples of string-through body guitars are the Fender Telecaster Thinline , the Fender Telecaster Deluxe , the B.C. Rich IT Warlock and Mockingbird, and the Schecter Omen 6 and 7 series. Compared to an acoustic guitar, which has a hollow body, electric guitars make much less audible sound when their strings are plucked, so electric guitars are normally plugged into
11778-403: The baroque guitar. It had six courses (usually), lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist. It was also larger than the contemporary four-course guitars. By the 16th century, the vihuela's construction had more in common with the modern guitar, with its curved one-piece ribs, than with the viols, and more like
11929-474: The blade switch more common on Fender guitars). The Duo-Sonic features typical Fender construction techniques with a bolt-on maple neck , attached to a solid body . The bridge is fixed and the line has a shorter scale neck than standard models as a concession to younger, beginner guitarists and other players with smaller hands. The Fender Duo-Sonic was introduced in 1956. Like the Musicmaster introduced
12080-418: The body at the base of the guitar. These appear on Rickenbackers , Gretsches , Epiphones , a wide variety of archtop guitars , particularly jazz guitars , and the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. Pictured is a tremolo arm or vibrato tailpiece - style bridge and tailpiece system, often called a whammy bar or trem . It uses a lever ("vibrato arm") attached to the bridge that can temporarily slacken or tighten
12231-430: The body. Set-in necks are glued to the body at the factory. This is the traditional type of joint. Leo Fender pioneered bolt-on necks on electric guitars to facilitate easy adjustment and replacement. Neck-through instruments extend the neck to the length of the instrument so that it forms the center of the body. While a set-in neck can be carefully unglued by a skilled luthier , and a bolt-on neck can simply be unscrewed,
12382-628: The breakthrough fan-braced pattern. Bracing, the internal pattern of wood reinforcements used to secure the guitar's top and back and prevent the instrument from collapsing under tension, is an important factor in how the guitar sounds. Torres' design greatly improved the volume, tone, and projection of the instrument, and it has remained essentially unchanged since. Guitars are often divided into two broad categories: acoustic and electric guitars . Within each category, there are further sub-categories that are nearly endless in quantity and are always evolving. For example, an electric guitar can be purchased in
12533-555: The bridge on top of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal. Electric guitars were originally designed by acoustic guitar makers and instrument manufacturers. The demand for amplified guitars began during the big band era; as orchestras increased in size, guitar players soon realized the necessity in guitar amplification and electrification. The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers . The first electrically amplified stringed instrument to be marketed commercially
12684-546: The closer the fret spacing. Opinions vary regarding the effect of scale length on tone and feel. Popular opinion holds that longer scale length contributes to greater amplitude . Reports of playing feel are greatly complicated by the many factors involved in this perception. String gauge and design, neck construction and relief, guitar setup, playing style, and other factors contribute to the subjective impression of playability or feel. Necks are described as bolt-on , set-in , or neck-through , depending on how they attach to
12835-430: The constant 17.817—an approximation to 1/(1-1/ 2 12 {\displaystyle {\sqrt[{12}]{2}}} ). If the nth fret is a distance x from the bridge, then the distance from the (n+1)th fret to the bridge is x-(x/17.817). Frets are available in several different gauges and can be fitted according to player preference. Among these are "jumbo" frets, which have a much thicker gauge, allowing for use of
12986-459: The development of the modern six-string instrument. There are three main types of modern guitar: the classical guitar (Spanish guitar); the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar ; and the Hawaiian guitar (played across the player's lap). Traditional acoustic guitars include the flat top guitar (typically with a large sound hole) or the archtop guitar , which is sometimes called
13137-399: The different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine heads (1.1), which use a worm gear for tuning. The nut (1.4)—a thin fret-like strip of metal, plastic, graphite, or bone—supports the strings at the headstock end of the instrument. The frets (2.3) are thin metal strips that stop the string at the correct pitch when the player pushes a string against
13288-538: The effects of different woods or materials on the electric guitar sound. Several neck shapes appear on guitars, including shapes known as C necks, U necks, and V necks. These refer to the cross-sectional shape of the neck (especially near the nut). Several sizes of fret wire are available, with traditional players often preferring thin frets, and metal shredders liking thick frets. Thin frets are considered better for playing chords, while thick frets allow lead guitarists to bend notes with less effort. An electric guitar with
13439-462: The electric guitar on record include Les Paul , Eddie Durham , George Barnes , Lonnie Johnson , Sister Rosetta Tharpe , T-Bone Walker , and Charlie Christian . During the 1950s and 1960s, the electric guitar became the most important instrument in popular music . It has evolved into an instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles in genres ranging from pop and rock to folk to country music , blues and jazz . It served as
13590-429: The exterior surface of a guitar, both for decoration and artistic purposes and, in the case of the markings on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th fret (and in higher octaves), to provide guidance to the performer about the location of frets on the instrument. The typical locations for inlay are on the fretboard, headstock, and on acoustic guitars around the soundhole, known as the rosette . Inlays range from simple plastic dots on
13741-420: The fingerboard. The truss rod (1.2) is a metal rod (usually adjustable) that counters the tension of the strings to keep the neck straight. Position markers (2.2) provide the player with a reference to the playing position on the fingerboard. The neck and fretboard (2.1) extend from the body. At the neck joint (2.4), the neck is either glued or bolted to the body. The body (3) is typically made of wood with
13892-413: The fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically , by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier . The guitar is classified as a chordophone , meaning the sound is produced by a vibrating string stretched between two fixed points. Historically,
14043-432: The first improvements on the vibrato system in many years when, in the late 1970s, he experimented with "locking" nuts and bridges that prevent the guitar from losing tuning, even under heavy vibrato bar use. The fourth type of system employs string-through body anchoring. The strings pass over the bridge saddles, then through holes through the top of the guitar body to the back. The strings are typically anchored in place at
14194-432: The first solid-body guitars was invented by Les Paul . Gibson did not present their Gibson Les Paul guitar prototypes to the public, as they did not believe the solid-body style would catch on. Another early solid-body Spanish style guitar, resembling what would become Gibson's Les Paul guitar a decade later, was developed in 1941 by O.W. Appleton, of Nogales, Arizona. Appleton made contact with both Gibson and Fender but
14345-516: The flat-topped, or "folk", guitar; twelve-string guitars ; and the arched-top guitar. The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers, such as the acoustic bass guitar, which has a similar tuning to that of the electric bass guitar. Renaissance and Baroque guitars are the ancestors of the modern classical and flamenco guitar . They are substantially smaller, more delicate in construction, and generate less volume. The strings are paired in courses as in
14496-474: The fretboard and accessible through the sound hole. Some truss rods can only be accessed by removing the neck. The truss rod counteracts the immense amount of tension the strings place on the neck, bringing the neck back to a straighter position. Turning the truss rod clockwise tightens it, counteracting the tension of the strings and straightening the neck or creating a backward bow. Turning the truss rod counter-clockwise loosens it, allowing string tension to act on
14647-616: The fretboard and located at exact points that divide the scale length in accordance with a specific mathematical formula. The exceptions include fretless bass guitars and very rare fretless guitars. Pressing a string against a fret determines the strings' vibrating length and therefore its resultant pitch. The pitch of each consecutive fret is defined at a half-step interval on the chromatic scale . Standard classical guitars have 19 frets and electric guitars between 21 and 24 frets, although guitars have been made with as many as 27 frets. Frets are laid out to accomplish an equal tempered division of
14798-448: The fretboard to intricate works of art covering the entire exterior surface of a guitar (front and back). Some guitar players have used LEDs in the fretboard to produce unique lighting effects onstage. Fretboard inlays are most commonly shaped like dots, diamond shapes, parallelograms, or large blocks in between the frets. Dots are usually inlaid into the upper edge of the fretboard in the same positions, small enough to be visible only to
14949-403: The fretboard usually differs from the wood in the rest of the neck. The bending stress on the neck is considerable, particularly when heavier gauge strings are used (see Tuning ), and the ability of the neck to resist bending (see Truss rod ) is important to the guitar's ability to hold a constant pitch during tuning or when strings are fretted. The rigidity of the neck with respect to the body of
15100-534: The fretboard's surface constitutes a segment. The smaller the fretboard radius, the more noticeably curved the fretboard is. Most modern guitars feature a 12" neck radius, while older guitars from the 1960s and 1970s usually feature a 6-8" neck radius. Pinching a string against a fret on the fretboard effectively shortens the vibrating length of the string, producing a higher pitch. Fretboards are most commonly made of rosewood , ebony , maple , and sometimes manufactured using composite materials such as HPL or resin. See
15251-410: The guitar is one determinant of a good instrument versus a poor-quality one. The cross-section of the neck can also vary, from a gentle "C" curve to a more pronounced "V" curve. There are many different types of neck profiles available, giving the guitarist many options. Some aspects to consider in a guitar neck may be the overall width of the fretboard, scale (distance between the frets), the neck wood,
15402-420: The guitar market during the 1960s and 1970s; they are less prone to unwanted acoustic feedback . As with acoustic guitars, there are a number of types of electric guitars, including hollowbody guitars , archtop guitars (used in jazz guitar , blues and rockabilly ) and solid-body guitars , which are widely used in rock music . The loud, amplified sound and sonic power of the electric guitar played through
15553-926: The guitar. A stereo cable then routes each pickup to its signal chain or amplifier. For these applications, the most popular connector is a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) plug with a tip, ring, and sleeve configuration, also known as a TRS phone connector . Some studio instruments, notably certain Gibson Les Paul models, incorporate a low- impedance three-pin XLR connector for balanced audio . Many exotic arrangements and connectors exist that support features such as midi and hexaphonic pickups. The bridge and tailpiece , while serving separate purposes, work closely together to affect playing style and tone. There are four basic types of bridge and tailpiece systems on electric guitars. Within these four types are many variants. A hard-tail guitar bridge anchors
15704-405: The inside of the neck. It is used to correct changes to the neck's curvature caused by aging of the neck timbers, changes in humidity, or to compensate for changes in the tension of strings. The tension of the rod and neck assembly is adjusted by a hex nut or an allen-key bolt on the rod, usually located either at the headstock, sometimes under a cover, or just inside the body of the guitar underneath
15855-403: The large Dreadnought (the most commonly available type) and Jumbo . Ovation makes a modern variation, with a rounded back/side assembly molded from artificial materials. Archtop guitars are steel-string instruments in which the top (and often the back) of the instrument are carved from a solid billet, into a curved, rather than flat, shape. This violin-like construction is usually credited to
16006-463: The late 16th century to the mid-18th century. In Portugal, the word viola referred to the guitar, as guitarra meant the " Portuguese guitar ", a variety of cittern . There were many different plucked instruments that were being invented and used in Europe during the Middle Ages. By the 16th century, most of the forms of guitar had fallen off, to never be seen again. However, midway through
16157-450: The latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz , rock and heavy metal guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars. Invented in 1932 by Johannes Isaac, the electric guitar was adopted by jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early proponents of
16308-649: The list. The neck and fingerboard can be made from different materials; for example, a guitar may have a maple neck with a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. Today there are expensive and budget guitars exploring other options for fretboard wood for instance Pau-Ferro , both for availability and cheap price while still maintaining quality. In the 1970s, designers began to use exotic human-made materials such as aircraft-grade aluminum , carbon fiber , and ebonol . Makers known for these unusual materials include John Veleno , Travis Bean , Geoff Gould , and Alembic . Aside from possible engineering advantages, some feel that with
16459-536: The lowest four strings of the six-string guitar, which is the same tuning pitch as an electric bass guitar. It can, more rarely, be found with five or six strings, which provides a wider range of notes to be played with less movement up and down the neck. Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies; solid bodies produce little sound without amplification. In contrast to a standard acoustic guitar, electric guitars instead rely on electromagnetic pickups , and sometimes piezoelectric pickups, that convert
16610-421: The lute an offshoot or separate line of development which did not influence the evolution of the guitar in any significant way. At least two instruments called "guitars" were in use in Spain by 1200: the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) and the so-called guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar). The guitarra morisca had a rounded back, a wide fingerboard, and several sound holes. The guitarra Latina had
16761-550: The modern guitar. Although the development of the earliest "guitar" is lost to the history of medieval Spain, two instruments are commonly claimed as influential predecessors: the four-string oud and its precursor, the European lute ; the former was brought to Iberia by the Moors in the 8th century. It has often been assumed that the guitar is a development of the lute, or of the ancient Greek kithara. However, many scholars consider
16912-483: The musician to play scales, arpeggios, and certain chord forms more easily and with less adjacent string interference than on other styles of guitar. Flamenco guitars are very similar in construction, but they are associated with a more percussive tone. In Portugal, the same instrument is often used with steel strings particularly in its role within fado music. The guitar is called viola , or violão in Brazil, where it
17063-585: The neck and creating a forward bow. Adjusting the truss rod affects the intonation of a guitar as well as the height of the strings from the fingerboard, called the action . Some truss rod systems, called double action truss systems, tighten both ways, pushing the neck both forward and backward (standard truss rods can only release to a point beyond which the neck is no longer compressed and pulled backward). The artist and luthier Irving Sloane pointed out, in his book Steel-String Guitar Construction , that truss rods are intended primarily to remedy concave bowing of
17214-414: The neck and sides built as one piece and the body built around it. The fingerboard , also called the fretboard, is a piece of wood embedded with metal frets that comprises the top of the neck. It is flat on classical guitars and slightly curved crosswise on acoustic and electric guitars. The curvature of the fretboard is measured by the fretboard radius, which is the radius of a hypothetical circle of which
17365-714: The neck differed in being C-shaped and a 24" scale length, and was fitted with more modern 'medium jumbo' frets; finally, the treble pickup was located 3/4" further from the bridge. In 2016 Fender re-introduced the Duo-Sonic in two forms: the Duo-Sonic MN (two single coil pickups - in Arctic White, Torino Red and Capri Orange) and the Duo-Sonic HS (a single coil neck and a tappable humbucker bridge pickup - in Daphne Blue, Black and Surf Green), both equipped with
17516-471: The neck, but cannot correct a neck with "back bow" or one that has become twisted. Classical guitars do not require truss rods, as their nylon strings exert a lower tensile force with lesser potential to cause structural problems. However, their necks are often reinforced with a strip of harder wood, such as an ebony strip that runs down the back of a cedar neck. There is no tension adjustment on this form of reinforcement. Inlays are visual elements set into
17667-454: The nut, which can adversely affect tuning stability, some guitarists fit a roller nut. Some instruments use a zero fret just in front of the nut. In this case the nut is used only for lateral alignment of the strings, the string height and length being dictated by the zero fret. A guitar's frets , fretboard , tuners , headstock , and truss rod , all attached to a long wooden extension, collectively constitute its neck . The wood used to make
17818-413: The octave. Each set of twelve frets represents an octave. The twelfth fret divides the scale length exactly into two halves, and the 24th fret position divides one of those halves in half again. The ratio of the spacing of two consecutive frets is 2 12 {\displaystyle {\sqrt[{12}]{2}}} ( twelfth root of two ). In practice, luthiers determine fret positions using
17969-502: The others are tuned in octaves. The 12-string guitar is also made in electric forms. The chime-like sound of the 12-string electric guitar was the basis of jangle pop . The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than, that of a six-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar and the double bass , the acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings, which are normally tuned E-A-D-G, an octave below
18120-423: The pickups do not produce a signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or body, and the amplification of the sound merely increases volume, not alters tone. Electric guitar design and construction vary greatly in the shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. However, some features are present on most guitars. The photo below shows
18271-420: The pitch. The traditional tuner layout is "3+3", in which each side of the headstock has three tuners (such as on Gibson Les Pauls ). In this layout, the headstocks are commonly symmetrical. Many guitars feature other layouts, including six-in-line tuners (featured on Fender Stratocasters ) or even "4+2" (e.g. Ernie Ball Music Man). Some guitars (such as Steinbergers ) do not have headstocks at all, in which case
18422-419: The player. These usually appear on the odd-numbered frets, but also on the 12th fret (the one- octave mark) instead of the 11th and 13th frets. Some older or high-end instruments have inlays made of mother of pearl, abalone, ivory, colored wood or other exotic materials and designs. Simpler inlays are often made of plastic or painted. High-end classical guitars seldom have fretboard inlays as a well-trained player
18573-592: The rising cost of rare tonewoods , human-made materials may be economically preferable and more ecologically sensitive. However, wood remains popular in production instruments, though sometimes in conjunction with new materials. Vigier guitars , for example, use a wooden neck reinforced by embedding a light, carbon fiber rod in place of the usual heavier steel bar or adjustable steel truss rod. After-market necks made entirely from carbon fiber fit existing bolt-on instruments. Few, if any, extensive formal investigations have been widely published that confirm or refute claims over
18724-423: The same fashion as other guitars, although slides are also often used, especially in blues. A steel guitar is any guitar played while moving a polished steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar in that it does not use frets; conceptually, it is somewhat akin to playing
18875-607: The section "Neck" below for the importance of the length of the fretboard in connection to other dimensions of the guitar. The fingerboard plays an essential role in the treble tone for acoustic guitars. The quality of vibration of the fingerboard is the principal characteristic for generating the best treble tone. For that reason, ebony wood is better, but because of high use, ebony has become rare and extremely expensive. Most guitar manufacturers have adopted rosewood instead of ebony. Almost all guitars have frets, which are metal strips (usually nickel alloy or stainless steel) embedded along
19026-405: The shape of the rib). During final construction, a small section of the outside corners is carved or routed out and filled with binding material on the outside corners and decorative strips of material next to the binding, which is called purfling . This binding serves to seal off the end grain of the top and back. Purfling can also appear on the back of an acoustic guitar, marking the edge joints of
19177-406: The sound of a stand-up bass ), 5.1 surround guitar , and such. Solid-body seven-string guitars were popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. Other artists go a step further, by using an eight-string guitar with two extra low strings. Although the most common seven-string has a low B string, Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds and Rickenbacker ) uses an octave G string paired with the regular G string as on
19328-538: The strings at or directly behind the bridge and is fastened securely to the top of the instrument. These are common on carved-top guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Paul Reed Smith models , and on slab-body guitars, such as the Music Man Albert Lee and Fender guitars that are not equipped with a vibrato arm. A floating or trapeze tailpiece (similar to a violin 's) fastens to
19479-461: The strings from nut to bridge. A typical Fender guitar uses a 25.5-inch (65 cm) scale length, while Gibson uses a 24.75-inch (62.9 cm) scale length in their Les Paul . While the scale length of the Les Paul is often described as 24.75 inches, it has varied through the years by as much as a half inch. Frets are positioned proportionally to scale length—the shorter the scale length,
19630-476: The strings from the fingerboard), lighter (thinner) strings, and its electrical amplification lend the electric guitar to techniques less frequently used on acoustic guitars. These include tapping , extensive use of legato through pull-offs and hammer-ons (also known as slurs), pinch harmonics , volume swells , and use of a tremolo arm or effects pedals . Some electric guitar models feature piezoelectric pickups, which function as transducers to provide
19781-615: The strings to alter the pitch . A player can use this to create a vibrato or a portamento effect. Early vibrato systems were often unreliable and made the guitar go out of tune easily. They also had a limited pitch range. Later Fender designs were better, but Fender held the patent on these, so other companies used older designs for many years. With the expiration of the Fender patent on the Stratocaster -style vibrato, various improvements on this type of internal, multi-spring vibrato system are now available. Floyd Rose introduced one of
19932-542: The strings to the air within the guitar body. Sound is further shaped by the characteristics of the guitar body's resonant cavity. In expensive instruments, the entire body is made of wood. In inexpensive instruments, the back may be made of plastic. In an acoustic instrument, the body of the guitar is a major determinant of the overall sound quality. The guitar top, or soundboard, is a finely crafted and engineered element made of tonewoods such as spruce and red cedar . This thin piece of wood, often only 2 or 3 mm thick,
20083-427: The strings. Physical properties of the thicker bass strings require them to be slightly longer than the treble strings to correct intonation . Reversing the strings, therefore, reverses the orientation of the saddle, adversely affecting intonation. The headstock is located at the end of the guitar neck farthest from the body. It is fitted with machine heads that adjust the tension of the strings, which in turn affects
20234-425: The strings. This is similar to the violin family of instruments where the dominant hand controls the bow. Left-handed players usually play a mirror image instrument manufactured especially for left-handed players. There are other options, some unorthodox, including learn to play a right-handed guitar as if the player is right-handed or playing an unmodified right-handed guitar reversed. Guitarist Jimi Hendrix played
20385-592: The time, the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was designed to play while standing upright with the guitar on a strap, as with acoustic guitars. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was also the first instrument to feature a hand-operated vibrato as a standard arrangement, a device called the "Vibrola", invented by Doc Kauffman . It is estimated that fewer than 50 Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts were constructed between 1933 and 1937; fewer than 10 are known to survive today. The solid-body electric guitar
20536-430: The top of the guitar under the strings. The air inside the body vibrates as the guitar top and body is vibrated by the strings, and the response of the air cavity at different frequencies is characterized, like the rest of the guitar body, by a number of resonance modes at which it responds more strongly. The top, back and ribs of an acoustic guitar body are very thin (1–2 mm), so a flexible piece of wood called lining
20687-550: The tuning machines are located elsewhere, either on the body or the bridge. The nut is a small strip of bone , plastic , brass , corian , graphite , stainless steel , or other medium-hard material, at the joint where the headstock meets the fretboard. Its grooves guide the strings onto the fretboard, giving consistent lateral string placement. It is one of the endpoints of the strings' vibrating length. It must be accurately cut, or it can contribute to tuning problems due to string slippage or string buzz. To reduce string friction in
20838-400: The two or three sections of the back. Binding and purfling materials are generally made of either wood or plastic. Body size, shape and style have changed over time. 19th-century guitars, now known as salon guitars, were smaller than modern instruments. Differing patterns of internal bracing have been used over time by luthiers. Torres, Hauser, Ramirez, Fleta, and C. F. Martin were among
20989-476: The type of neck construction (for example, the neck may be glued in or bolted on), and the shape (profile) of the back of the neck. Other types of material used to make guitar necks are graphite ( Steinberger guitars), aluminum ( Kramer Guitars , Travis Bean and Veleno guitars ), or carbon fiber ( Modulus Guitars and ThreeGuitars ). Double neck electric guitars have two necks, allowing the musician to quickly switch between guitar sounds. The neck joint or heel
21140-453: The vertex of the cone (Nationals), or a "spider" bridge, made of metal and mounted around the rim of the (inverted) cone (Dobros). Three-cone resonators always use a specialized metal bridge. The type of resonator guitar with a neck with a square cross-section—called "square neck" or "Hawaiian"—is usually played face up, on the lap of the seated player, and often with a metal or glass slide . The round neck resonator guitars are normally played in
21291-453: The vibration of the steel strings into signals , which are fed to an amplifier through a patch cable or radio transmitter . The sound is frequently modified by other electronic devices ( effects units ) or the natural distortion of valves ( vacuum tubes ) or the pre-amp in the amplifier. There are two main types of magnetic pickups, single - and double-coil (or humbucker ), each of which can be passive or active . The electric guitar
21442-693: The vibrations of the guitar strings into electrical signals, which could then be amplified. Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (Elect ro - Pat ent- In strument Company), in Los Angeles, a partnership of Beauchamp, Adolph Rickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth. In 1934, the company was renamed the Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company. In that year Beauchamp applied for
21593-465: The volume and tone controls mounted on a separate metal plate. Pickup selection was moved above the pickups on both the Duo-Sonic and the Mustang and utilized two 3-position on-off-on switches that allowed for in and out-of-phase sounds. The pickups were also reverse-wound/reverse-polarity, which made them into a functional humbucker when both pickups were used simultaneously. Also added in this redesign
21744-505: Was a cast aluminium lap steel guitar nicknamed the "Frying Pan" designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp , the general manager of the National Stringed Instrument Corporation , with Paul Barth, who was vice president. George Beauchamp, along with Adolph Rickenbacker , invented the electromagnetic pickups. Coils that were wrapped around a magnet would create an electromagnetic field that converted
21895-470: Was also repeated by Nicolas Doizi de Velasco in 1640, however this claim has been contested by others who state that Espinel's birth year (1550) make it impossible for him to be responsible for the tradition. He believed that the tuning was the reason the instrument became known as the Spanish guitar in Italy. Even later, in the same century, Gaspar Sanz wrote that other nations such as Italy or France added to
22046-479: Was designed by Walt Fuller. It became known as the " Charlie Christian " pickup (named for the jazz guitarist who was among the first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). The ES-150 achieved some popularity but suffered from unequal loudness across the six strings. A functioning solid-body electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by Les Paul from an Epiphone acoustic archtop as an experiment. His " log guitar " —
22197-402: Was re-released by Fender's Squier brand in the 'Classic Vibe' series of guitars from 2008 to 2011. It was intended to be closely modeled on the original guitar released in the 1950s and looked very similar, with a maple fretboard, gold anodized pickguard and 'Desert Sand' finish. The new model differed from the original version of the Duo-Sonic in a number of ways: basswood was used for the body,
22348-743: Was the Ibanez Jem (1987) which featured "24 frets", an impossibly thin neck" and was "designed to be the ultimate shredder machine". Numerous other important electric guitars are on the list, including Gibson ES-150 (1936), Fender Telecaster (1951), Gibson Les Paul (1952), Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet (1953), Fender Stratocaster (1954), Rickenbacker 360/12 (1964), Van Halen Frankenstrat (1975), Paul Reed Smith Custom (1985) many of these guitars were "successors" to earlier designs. Electric guitar designs eventually became culturally important and visually iconic, with various model companies selling miniature model versions of particularly famous electric guitars, for example,
22499-582: Was the option of a 24-inch scale neck in addition to the 22.5 inch scale. This re-designed model was renamed Duo-Sonic II although decals with and without the II designation were used occasionally. In addition to white, Daphne Blue and Dakota Red colors were added. The Duo-Sonic lasted until 1969 when it was dropped most likely because the Mustang with its tremolo tail piece was far more popular. The Duo-Sonic I and II are both considered rare and have displayed growing collector value. The Duo-Sonic II in particular
22650-435: Was tuned by placing a finger on the second fret of the thinnest string and tuning the guitar bottom to top. The strings were a whole octave apart from one another, which is the reason for the different method of tuning. Because it was so different, there was major controversy as to who created the five course guitar. A literary source, Lope de Vega's Dorotea, gives the credit to the poet and musician Vicente Espinel . This claim
22801-553: Was unable to sell the idea behind his "App" guitar to either company. In 1946, Merle Travis commissioned steel guitar builder Paul Bigsby to build him a solid-body Spanish-style electric. Bigsby delivered the guitar in 1948. The first mass-produced solid-body guitar was Fender Esquire and Fender Broadcaster (later to become the Fender Telecaster ), first made in 1950, five years after Les Paul made his prototype . The Gibson Les Paul appeared soon after to compete with
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