Guitar

Guitar is a stringed instrument made out of wood. Guitars are part of the chordphone family of instruments. (See more about chordphone instruments here) Guitars use strings, sound hole, and the body to create the sound heard from the guitar.

There are many different kinds of guitars, from classical guitars, to acoustic guitars to electric guitars. Classical and acoustic guitar, like all acoustic instruments, resonate the sound itself. And for guitars, the sound hole is what causes that. While an electric relies on an electrical signal and magnets to generate sound.

History
The guitar originated in the 12th century, with the classical guitar. Although, the classical guitar is categorized as a latin instrument, the modern guitar's origination is credited to Rome.

The 1800's is where the acoustic guitar began to see the most growth. The acoustic guitar we know today really was formed then, and kept being improved. Martin, an acoustic guitar manufacturer builder is what pioneered acoustic guitars. Martin mass-produced the dreadnought guitar and made the guitar a more usable, versitle instrument.

In the 1930's, the electric guitar was introduced. However, it was when Leo Fender began to make electric guitars and bass's that the world of electric instruments began to flourish. Leo Fender in 1951, introduced his "Telecaster" (Or Tele). The guitar with its great quality, affordable price, made the instrument popular and started the electric guitar revolution.

The guitar sparked many styles of music, notably Rock'n' Roll. The guitar is also a big playe r

Parts and Components
Headstock-The headstock is the uppermost part of the guitar, farthest away from the body. The headstock is what holds the tuning machines.

Nut-The grooves of the nut guide the strings onto the fretboard, giving consistent lateral string placement. The nut is typically made of plastic, bone, brass, and other hard materials.

Fretboard-Frets are metal or plastic strips (usually nickel alloy or stainless steel) embedded along the fretboard and located at exact points that divide the scale length in accordance with a specific mathematical formula. 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 to 24 frets, although guitars have been made with as many as 27 frets.

Truss Rod-The truss rod is a metal rod located in the neck of a guitar. The truss rod is used for many things, such as raising or lowering action of a guitar neck. The truss rod is usually located at the lowest point of a headstock.

Inlays-Inlays are usually small dots or other shapes on the fretboard. They can also be located around the sound hole of an acoustic guitar. Common shapes for inlays are dots, diamonds, and, in PRS guitars, birds.

Neck-The neck of the guitar is the part where the headstock, fretboard, body, tuners, and truss rod are connected by a piece of wood. The neck of the guitar can come in many different shapes. Electric guitars' necks are designed for easier lead playing, while acoustics' necks are designed for more rythm.

Strings-Strings are a vibrating element that creates the sound of the guitar. Most guitar's have six strings. But some guitars have 7 through 12 strings. Some guitars even have 4 guitar strings. A Bass is known for its four strings.

Body-The body of a guitar is different ranging from the type of guitar. An acoustic guitar's body, or "sound box", is much bigger than an electric's body. Acoustic guitars body usually are a dreadnought body shape, or a single cut-a-way design.

While electric guitar's bodys' are more streamlined, and less thick. They do not need to be as thick because electric guitars do not rely on a soundhole to resonate the sound.

Pickups-Pickups are a technology found in mainly electric guitars that convert the vibrations of the strings into an electric signal that is then, fed into the amp and converted into sound. Pickups are usually "single-coil" or "double-coil" (Humbucker) pickups. Single coil pickups are known for their more treble sound, while double coils are more bass and distorted.

Bridge/Saddle-The main purpose of the bridge on an acoustic guitar is to transfer the vibration from the strings to the soundboard, which vibrates in the air inside of the guitar, thereby amplifying the sound produced by the strings.

On all electric, acoustic and original guitars, the bridge holds the strings in place on the body. There are many varied bridge designs. There may be some mechanism for raising or lowering the bridge saddles to adjust the distance between the strings and the fretboard (action), or fine-tuning the intonation of the instrument. Some are spring-loaded and feature a "Tremelo" a removable arm that lets the player modulate the pitch by changing the tension on the strings. The whammy bar is sometimes also referred to as a "tremolo bar" (see Tremolo for further discussion of this term—the effect of rapidly changing pitch produced by a whammy bar is more correctly called "vibrato"). Some bridges also allow for alternate tunings at the touch of a button.

The saddle is located on the bridge, which is what holds the strings in place.