Before making any repairs or changes to a guitar, you should understand the essential parts of a guitar. Here we will review all of the major parts of Acoustic Guitars and Electric Guitars.
The sound and tone of Acoustic and Electric Guitars is affected by a multitude of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: Materials (type and density of woods), Construction Methods, and Craftsmanship (quality of construction).
Acoustic Guitar Parts
Acoustic Guitars are made out of solid woods and have a completely hollow body. Acoustic Guitars consist of three major components; the Body, Neck, and Head Stock.
- Head Stock: This is the top of the guitar where the Tuners are located.
- Tuners: Also known as Machine Heads, Tuning Keys, Tuning Machines, or Pegheads, these are what you adjust when you are tuning the guitar.
- Nut: One of the most important parts of any guitar. This is the part that guides the strings from the Fretboard to the Tuners.
- Fretboard: The playing surface of a guitar. The Fretboard includes the Frets and generally has some form of basic or decorative inlay to identify several important frets and serve as landmarks when playing.
- Neck: The neck is perhaps the most important part of any guitar. It is one of the single biggest factors on the playability of a guitar.
- Sound Hole: This is the opening where the sound that Acoustic Guitars make is released from the body of the guitar. They are usually round, but can be any number of shapes or places on the body of the Acoustic Guitar.
- Pickguard: Pickguards are designed to protect the surface of the body from scratches or unnecessary wear from guitar picks.
- Saddle: The Saddle is just as important as the Nut. An Acoustic Guitar Saddle plays a big role in the tone of the instrument. The Saddle is a hard material that transfers the vibrations of the strings to the Body of the guitar.
- Bridge: An Acoustic Guitar Bridge is a reinforced part of the Body that holds the Saddle and the String Pegs.
- String Pegs: String Pegs hold the ends of the strings in place on Acoustic Guitars.
- Body: The Body of an Acoustic Guitar is the largest part of the instrument and serves as the base from which the rest of the guitar is constructed.
Electric Guitar Parts
Electric Guitars are made out of solid woods and consist of the same three major components as Acoustic Guitars; the Body, Neck, and Head Stock. Electric Guitars come in one of three major categories; Solid-Body (the Body is constructed from a solid piece of wood), Semi-Hollow Body (the body is generally hollowed out in areas of the body then covered with a decorative top), or Hollow Body (the body is completely hollowed out and/or constructed similar to an Acoustic Guitar but much thinner).
- Head Stock: This is the top of the guitar where the Tuners are located.
- Tuners: Also known as Machine Heads, Tuning Keys, Tuning Machines, or Pegheads, these are what you adjust when you are tuning the guitar.
- Nut: One of the most important parts of any guitar. This is the part that guides the strings from the Fretboard to the Tuners.
- Fretboard: The playing surface of a guitar. The Fretboard includes the Frets and generally has some form of basic or decorative inlay to identify several important frets and serve as landmarks when playing.
- Neck: The neck is perhaps the most important part of any guitar. It is one of the single biggest factors on the playability of a guitar.
- Pickups: The Pickups on an Electric Guitar are what actually create the electronic signal that is sent to the Electric Guitar Amplifier.
- Pickup Selector: This can be any type of combination of switches that allows the Guitarist to select which pickups and combinations of pickups to use.
- Volume & Tone Knobs: The Volume and Tone knobs allow the Guitarist to make quick adjustments to the guitar Volume and Tone.
- Pickguard: Pickguards are designed to protect the surface of the body from scratches or unnecessary wear from guitar picks.
- Saddle: The Saddle is just as important as the Nut. An Acoustic Guitar Saddle plays a big role in the tone of the instrument. The Saddle is a hard material that transfers the vibrations of the strings to the Body of the guitar.
- Bridge: An Acoustic Guitar Bridge is a reinforced part of the Body that holds the Saddle and the String Pegs.
- String Pegs: String Pegs hold the ends of the strings in place on Acoustic Guitars.
- Body: The Body of an Acoustic Guitar is the largest part of the instrument and serves as the base from which the rest of the guitar is constructed.