Guitar

Instruments like the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years; murals in Egypt show women playing instruments like the guitar from the time of the Pharaohs, but the name "guitar" appears first in Spain in the 13th century. It has probably originated from a Persian word "Gui-Tar" meaning a half sphere and strings. It might, as well, be a derivation of the Arabic word qitara, the name of an instrument that was brought into Spain by the Moors after the 10th Century. It also may have been derived from the sitar, a similar centuries-old musical instrument and musical symbol of Hindu Goddess Saraswati. The Spanish vihuela appears to be an intermediate form, with lute-style tuning and a small guitar-style body, but it is not clear whether this represents a transitional form or simply a design that combined features from the two families of instruments.
The Electric Guitar was invented by Adolf Rickenbacker, along with the help of George Beauchamp and Paul Berth, in 1931. He was the inventor of the horeshoe-magnet pickup. However, it was Danelectro that first produced electric guitars for the wide public. Danelectro also pioneered Tube Amp technology.

Parts of the guitar

Headstock

The headstock of a Hyburn electric guitar.

The headstock is located at the end of the guitar neck. The headstock usually consists of machine heads (used for tuning), a nut (marking the end of the playable section of the strings) and a logo identifying the maker or model of the guitar. Some guitars lack headstocks, either for decreased size or for aesthetic purposes.

Machine heads or tuners or tuning keys

Machine heads are designed to adjust the tension of each individual string, raising or lowering their pitch to tune the instrument. While machine heads are typically screwed into the headstock and designed with gears to allow finer tuning, some simpler designs simply involve wooden pegs held in place by friction. There are three types of machine head on modern steel-strung guitars:

• Open Back (where the gear itself is exposed);
• Closed back (where the gear is covered and the occasional lubrication of the gear can be done through a small hole in the cover);
• Sealed (closed back, but permanently and completely sealed and prelubricated eliminating any maintenance).

These may be arranged on the headstock either in two rows of three like on the Gibson Les Paul and the majority of acoustic guitars, or six in-line like on the Fender Stratocaster.
Nearly all modern nylon stringed (or Classical) guitars use open geared machine heads.

Nut

The nut is a small strip of ivory, plastic, graphite, or other medium-hard material that braces the strings at the joint where the headstock meets the fretboard. It is grooved to hold the strings in place, and it is one of the endpoints of the strings' tension (the other being the saddle of the bridge. It also helps determine the action--the distance between the fretboard and the strings.

Frets

Frets are metal (usually nickel alloy) strips embedded at specific points along the fretboard. When strings are pressed down behind them, frets shorten the strings' vibrating lengths to produce different pitches. For more on fret spacing, see the Strings and Tuning section below. Frets are usually the first part to wear out on a heavily played guitar. They can be re-shaped to a certain extent, and eventually replaced. Frets also indicate fractions of the length of a string (i.e. the string midpoint is at the 12th fret; one-third the length of the string reaches from the nut to the 7th fret, the 7th fret to the 19th, and the 19th to the saddle; one-fourth reaches from nut to fifth to twelfth to twenty-fourth to saddle). This feature is important in playing harmonics.

Fretboard

Alternately called the fingerboard, the fretboard is a long plank 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. Pinching a string against the fretboard effectively shortens the vibrating length of the string, producing a higher tone (a string, unfingered, will vibrate from the saddle to the nut; once fingered, it will vibrate only along the distance between the saddle and the fret directly before the finger). Fretboards are most commonly made of rosewood, ebony, and maple.

Truss rod

The truss rod is an adjustable metal rod that runs along the inside of the neck, adjusted by an allen-key bolt usually located either at the headstock (under a cover) or just inside the body of the guitar, underneath the fretboard (accessible through the sound hole). The immense amount of tension that the strings place on the neck can sometimes bend it forward; changes in humidity, too, can warp the wood slightly. The truss rod allows the neck to be adjusted to accommodate these changes--tightening it will curve the neck back, and loosening it will return it forward. Some truss rod systems, called "double action" truss systems, will tighten both ways, allowing the neck to be pushed both forward and backwards (most truss rods can only be loosened so much, beyond which the bolt will just come loose, and the neck will no longer curve forward).

Inlays

These dots, diamond shapes, or letters and numbers are set into the fretboard of the guitar, between frets. They are often done in plastic on guitars of recent vintage, but many older and newer, high-end instruments have inlays made of mother of pearl, abalone, ivory, or any number of exotic materials. On some low end guitars, they're just painted. There are single inlays on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 17th, 19th and 21st frets, and double inlays on the 12th, sometimes 7th, and (if present) 24th frets.

Neck

A guitar's frets, fretboard, tuners, headstock, and truss rod, all attached to a long wooden extension, D-shaped in cross-section, collectively comprise its neck. The wood used to make the fretboard will usually differ 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 Strings and 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. This rigidity of the neck with respect to the body of the guitar is one determinant of a good instrument versus a poor one. Conversely, the ability to change the pitch of the note slightly by deliberately bending the neck forcibly with the fretting arm is a technique sometimes used, particularly in the 'blues' genre and those derived from it, such as rock and roll.

Neck Joint

This is the point at which the neck is either bolted or glued to the body of the guitar. Some very high-end instruments may not have a neck joint at all, having the neck and sides built as one piece and the body built around it.

Body (Acoustic)

The body of the instrument is a major determination of the overall sound for acoustic guitars. Often made of spruce, cedar or mahogany, the acoustic guitar top, or soundboard, is a finely crafted and engineered element. This thin (often 2 or 3 mm. thick) piece of wood, strengthened by different types of internal bracing, It is also considered to be the most prominent factor in determining the sound quality of a guitar. The majority of the sound you hear is actually the top of the guitar's vibration as the energy of the vibrating strings is transferred to it. Different patterns of wood bracing have been used through the years by luthiers; to not only strengthen the top against collapsing under the tremendous stress exerted by the tensioned strings (Torres, Hauser, Ramirez, Fleta being among the most influential designers of their time), but also to affect the resonation of the top. The back and sides are made out of a variety of woods (mahogany, Indian rosewood, highly regarded Brazilian rosewood (dalbergia nigra), etc. Each one is chosen for their aesthetic effect and structural strength, and can also play a significant role in determining the instruments timbre. These are also strengthened with internal bracing, decorated with inlays and purfling, and subjected to a lot of abuse.

Body (Electric)

Most electric guitar bodies are made of wood. This wood is rarely one solid piece, as laminating hardwoods in the proper way can produce a body of exceptional strength and superior tone. The most common woods used for electric guitar body construction include maple, ash, poplar, alder, and mahogany. Many bodies will consist of good sounding but inexpensive woods, like ash, with a "top", or thin layer of another, more attractive wood (such as maple with a natural "flame" pattern) glued to the top of the basic wood. Guitars constructed like this are often called "flame tops". The body is usually carved or routed to accept the other elements, such as the bridge, pickup, neck, and other electronic components.

Resonating Chamber

Usually on acoustics, the resonating chamber, or sound hole, allows the acoustic guitar to be played without amplification. It is normally a round hole in the top of the guitar, though some may have different shapes or multiple holes. This allows the vibrations from the back and sides of the guitar to be pushed forward, toward the listener.

Pickups

Usually, the electric guitar, when played without an amplifier, is not very loud. The pickups allow the vibrations of the string to be amplified. Some acoustic guitars have microphones or pickups built into them as well for stage work. See pickups for a full explanation. These work using a principle similar to the generator, in that the vibration of the strings causes a small current to be created in the coils surrounding the magnets. This signal is later amplified by an amplifier. However, a new type of pickup called Q-Tuner (http://www.q-tuner.com/) pickups, have just been developed that measure the Magnetic Flux Density of multiple magnets located in the pickup. These produce a better tone, and pickup harmonic frequencies better that standard pickups, but seem to cost more, and are more difficult to wire.

Electronics

These components and the wires that connect them allow the player to control some aspects of the sound like volume or tone. These at their simplest consist of passive components such as potentiometers and capacitors, but may also include specialized integrated circuits or other active components requiring batteries for power, for preamplification and signal processing, or even for assistance in tuning. In many cases the electronics have some sort of magnetic shielding to prevent pickup of external interference and noise.

Purfling

This is the decorative edge found around the body of an acoustic guitar. Its purpose is not merely decorative, however. Because of the construction methods, the edges of the body are typically the weakest point of the acoustic guitar. There is not much wood there, as the sides have to be thin to allow for bending, and the top and back have to be thin to allow the string vibrations to resonate. Trying to connect two thin pieces of wood at a 90 degree angle is an engineering challenge. So to help, the purfling is used. The corners are overbuilt, using a triangular piece of scored wood (called a kerfed lining) on the interior of the instrument to allow it to follow the contours, and is glued in place. During final construction, a small section of the outside corners is carved or routed out and then filled in with the purfling material. Today, it is almost exclusively high quality plastic. Once the purfling is glued in place, it is an intregal part of the guitar, and contributes greatly to its durability, since plastic tends not to split as wood does when impacted.

Bridge

The main purpose of the bridge is to hold the other end of the string. From there, the variations are astounding. There may be some method of adjusting the height of the string, and/or fine-tuning the intonation of the instrument. Some allow for different tunings, some are springloaded with an arm which allows the player to modulate the pitch by pulling the strings completely slack, then back up (also known as tremolo, or a 'whammy bar'), and some allow for alternate tunings at the touch of a button. But at its basic, it holds the other end of the string.

Pickguard

Often a piece of plastic or other laminated material that protects the finish of the top of the guitar. In some electric guitars, the pickups and most of the electronics are mounted on the pickguard itself.

Strings and tuning

Guitars have frets on the fingerboard to fix the positions of notes and scales, which gives them equal temperament. Consequently, the ratio of the widths of two consecutive frets is <math>\sqrt[12]{2}<math>, whose numeric value is 1.059463. The twelfth fret divides the string in two exact halves and the 24th fret (if present) divides the string in half yet again. Every twelve frets represents one octave.
Guitars usually have six strings, although there are variations on this, the most common being a twelve-string guitar, the seven string guitar, the ukulele, which has four strings, and the bass guitar, which usually has four strings but also exists in five, six, eight, and twelve-string versions. There are also more exotic models involving multiple necks and pickups. The vihuela was a guitar variation with six double strings made of gut, which emerged in 16th century Spain.

A string winder can be used to turn the machine heads and help to string a guitar more quickly

The weight of a string is determined by its diameter and is normally measured in thousandths of an inch. The larger the diameter the heavier the string is (with thinner strings being lighter). Heavier strings require more tension for the same pitch and are consequently harder to hold on to the fretboard. Heavier strings will also produce a louder note and for this reason steel-strung acoustic guitars will normally be strung heavier than electric guitars.
A variety of different tunings are used. The most common by far, known as "standard tuning", is as follows:

• sixth (lowest) string: E (below middle C)
• fifth string: A (below middle C)
• fourth string: d (above middle C)
• third string: g (above middle C)
• second string: b (above middle C)
• first (highest) string: e' (the E which lies a major tenth above middle C)

Acoustic and electric guitar

Broadly speaking, guitars can be divided into 2 categories: 

• Acoustic guitars : Unlike the electric guitar, the traditional guitar is not dependent on any external device for amplification. However, the unamplified guitar is not a loud instrument, that is, it cannot "compete" with other instruments commonly found in bands and orchestras, in terms of sheer audible volume. Many acoustic guitars are available today with built-in electronics to enable amplification. There are several subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars, both of which use nylon and composite strings, and steel string guitars, which includes the flat top, or "folk" guitar, the closely related twelve string guitar, and the arch top guitar. A recent arrival in the acoustic guitar group is the acoustic bass guitar, similar in tuning to the electric bass.

1. Renaissance and Baroque guitars: These are the gracile ancestors of the modern classical guitar. They are substantially smaller and more delicate than the classical guitar, and generate a much quieter sound. The strings are paired in courses as in a modern 12 string guitar, but they only have four or five courses of strings rather than six. 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' Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española of 1674 constitutes the majority of the surviving solo corpus for the era.) Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily distinguished because the Renaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornate, with inlays all over the neck and body, and a paper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" inside the hole.
2. Classical guitars: These are typically strung with nylon or gut, and amplification is provided by the resonant hollow body, and the vibration of the thin, pliant top. In all acoustic guitars, the strings, though vibrating with sufficient energy to produce a strong sound, can not do so by themselves because they are too small and thin: air merely slips around them rather than being projected outward. The joining of the strings to a large membrane, the top, which they pull back and forth where they connect to it at the bridge, creates an effective air-moving system because the top is large enough that the air can not readily side step its motion. Sound only travels at 330 meters per second -- somewhat quickly, perhaps -- but if we recall that a guitar string typically switches from backward motion to forward motion every 1/600th of a second, we see that the air only has a chance to go about 1/2 meter , and the approximately 1/2 meter dimensions of a guitar top are enough to thwart its attempted evasive rush.
   These guitars are normally played in a seated position and used to play classical music. Flamenco guitars are almost equal in construction, have a sharper sound, and are used in flamenco. In Mexico, the popular mariachi band includes a range of guitars, from the tiny requinto to the guitarron, a guitar larger than a cello, which is tuned in the bass register.The father of the modern classical guitar was Antonio Torres Jurado.
3. Flat top guitars: Similar to the Classical guitar, but with a narrower, reinforced neck and stronger structural design, to sustain the extra tension of steel strings which produce a louder and brighter tone, the acoustic guitar is a staple in folk, Old-time music, traditional and blues music.
4. Resonator, resophonic or dobro guitars: Similar to the flat top guitar in appearance, but with sound produced by a metal resonator mounted in the middle of the top rather than an open sound hole, so that the physical principle of the guitar is actually more similar to the banjo. The purpose of the resonator is to amplify the sound of the guitar; this purpose has been largely superseded by electrical amplification, but the resonator is still played by those desiring its distinctive sound. This type of guitar is more commonly played face up, on the lap of the seated player, and often with a metal or glass slide.
5. 12 string guitars usually have steel strings and are widely used in folk music and rock and roll. Rather than having only six strings, the 12-string guitar has pairs, like a mandolin. Each pair of strings is tuned either in unison (the two highest) or an octave apart (the others). They are made both in acoustic and electric forms.
6. Archtop guitars are steel string, acoustic instruments which feature a violin-inspired design in which the top and back of the instrument are carved in a curved rather than a flat shape. Lloyd Loar of the Gibson company invented this variation of guitar after designing a style of mandolin of the same type. They were immediately adopted by both jazz and country musicians, but fell out of style when rock and roll grew popular since their design is not capable of extreme amplification.
7. Acoustic bass guitars also have steel strings, and match the tuning of the electric bass, which is likewise similar to the traditional double bass viol, the "big bass", a staple of string orchestras and bluegrass bands alike.  

• Electric guitars: Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow or hollow bodies, and produce little or very low sound without amplification. Electromagnetic pickups convert the vibration of the steel strings into electric signals which are fed to an amplifier through a cable or radio device. The sound is frequently modified by other electronic devices or natural distortion of valves (vacuum tubes) in the amplifier. The electric guitar is used extensively in blues and rock and roll, and was commercialized by Gibson together with Les Paul and independently by Leo Fender. The lower fretboard action (the height of the strings from the fingerboard) and its electrical amplification lend the electric guitar to some techniques which are harder (or impossible) to execute on acoustic guitars. These techniques include tapping, extensive use of legato through pull offs and hammer ons, pinch harmonics, volume swells and use of a Tremolo arm or effects pedals.  The electric bass is similar in tuning to the traditional double bass viol. Hybrids of acoustic and electric guitars are also common. There are also more exotic varieties, such as double-necked guitars, all manner of alternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards (almost always reserved for bass guitars, meant to emulate the sound of a stand-up bass), and such. 9P6BHW3ZNK9G

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