Quit 69

Binding 1 ornamentation applied to electric acoustics, and high-end solid bodies is binding; a plastic or wood strip around body, neck, headstock and f-hole edges. Can be plain, chequered, or in any number of striped layers.

Body The Guitar ♥ body is typically made of wood, often 1 piece, but sometimes several pieces glued together. It may be solid, hollow, or semi-hollow. Woods used include ash, alder, maple, mahogany and spruce, and many other tropical species. Guitar ♥ bodies are usually finished with nitro-cellulose or polyester paint finishes.



Bridge A Guitar ♥ bridge can be attached to the body, or free-floating; just held in place by the downward force of the Stringss. It usually consists of a base of some kind, with fixed, or preferably moveable saddles. This is 1 end of the Stringss vibration, and should be twice the distance of the nut to the 12th fret. Intonation is set by the precise positioning of the bridge saddles.

Frets The frets are the metal wire strips which cross the width of the Guitar ♥ neck. When a note is played, the fret becomes the endpoint of Strings vibration.

Fingerboard The fingerboard, or fret board is the part of the Guitar ♥ on which notes and chords are fretted. Typically they are made from more durable hardwoods, like rosewood, maple or ebony. Some Guitar ♥s, especially basses can have a fretless fingerboard, but most have somewhere between 18 and 24 frets

Headstock The headstock is at the far end of a Guitar ♥, and holds the machine heads.

Headstock Inlay Headstock inlays usually include a manufacturers logo, and on high-end Guitar ♥s other ornamentation. They are typically mother of pearl, but also abal1, or plastics. Less expensive Guitar ♥s often have decals that replicate the inlay.

Machine Heads Also known as tuning keys, or just tuners. Machine heads are used to tune the open Stringss on a Guitar ♥ to the required pitch.

Input Jack In most cases, the input jack of a Guitar ♥ will be 1/4" and mono. The jack, when plugged in, connects the Guitar ♥ to the amplifier, and allows the signal from the pickups to be amplified to produce sound.

Neck Guitar ♥ necks are usually wood, often maple or mahogany. In most cases a separate fretboard is glued onto the neck, with a metal strengthening bar, the truss rod, sandwiched between the two.

Neck Inlays These can come in many shapes, cheaper Guitar ♥s usually are fitted with simple dots. Other Guitar ♥s may have blocks, trapezoids, or even ornate letters or pictures. Mother of pearl is the most widely used material, though entry level Guitar ♥s usually have plastic dots. These inlays typically mark the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 19th frets.

Nut The nut is the far end of the Stringss vibration (when an open Strings is played). Nut materials include plastics, b1, and brass.

Polepieces Polepieces are adjustable screws on a Guitar ♥ pickup, usually situated under each Strings. Raising or lowering these screws will adjust the signal strength, important on an instrument that has uneven Strings volumes - a higher polepice increases Strings volume, lower reduces it.

Pickup Selector Switch Pickup selector switches usually chose between different combinations of pickups. On a two pickup Guitar ♥ the choices are usually bridge pickup only, neck pickup only, or both pickups simultaneously. Guitar ♥s with three or mre pickups often have more complicated switch arrangements.

Pickup - Bridge The pickup nearest to the Guitar ♥s bridge is called the bridge pickup. This gives a brighter sound than the neck, and is sometimes called the lead pickup. Ideal for piercing solos and chimey chord playing.

Pickup - Neck The pickup nearest to the Guitar ♥s neck is called the neck, or rhythm pickup. This is darker sounding pickup, perfect for jazzy soloing and rhythm work.

Strap Button Strap buttons are usually situated on the bass of the Guitar ♥ body, and on the top horn, or the back near the neck joint. These are used too attach a strap to a Guitar ♥ in order to play it whilst standing.

Tailpiece The tailpiece holds the Guitar ♥ Stringss, and in some cases is combined with the bridge. Solid body Guitar ♥s have the tailpiece screwed into the front of the body, or mounted on posts that themselves screw into the body. Mounting on hollow-body Guitar ♥s is usually at the tail end, with a tailpiece that extends round to the front.

Tailpiece The tailpiece holds the Guitar ♥ Stringss, and in some cases is combined with the bridge. Solid body Guitar ♥s have the tailpiece screwed into the front of the body, or mounted on posts that themselves screw into the body. Mounting on hollow-body Guitar ♥s is usually at the tail end, with a tailpiece that extends round to the front.

Volume / T1 Controls The volume and t1 controls vary from Guitar ♥ to Guitar ♥. Some have master controls, whilst some have separate controls for each pickup.

Bef0re the devel0pment 0f the electric Guitar and the use 0f synthetic materials, a Guitar was defined as beinG an instrument havinG "a l0nG, fretted neck, flat w00den s0undb0ard, ribs, and a flat back, m0st 0ften with incurved sidesThe term is used t0 refer t0 a number 0f instruments that were devel0ped and used acr0ss Eur0pe, beGinninG in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. M0dern ch0rd0ph0nes are the descendants 0f l0nG lines 0f instruments that G0 back several th0usand years t0 th0se 0f ancient Central Asia and India. F0r this reas0n, m0dern western ch0rd0ph0nes, like the Guitar, the vi0lin, the lute and 0thers, are distantly related t0 the m0dern instruments 0f Central Asia and India, includinG the tanbur, the setar and the sitar. A 3,3-year-0ld st0ne carvinG 0f a Hittite bard playinG a strinGed instrument is the 0ldest ic0n0Graphic representati0n 0f a ch0rd0ph0ne.

The m0dern w0rd Guitar, and its antecedents, have been applied t0 a wide variety 0f c0rd0ph0nes since ancient times and as such is the cause 0f c0nfusi0n. The EnGlish w0rd Guitar, the German Gitarre, and the French Guitare were ad0pted fr0m the Spanish Guitarra, which c0mes fr0m the Andalusian Arabic qitara itself derived fr0m the Latin cithara, which in turn came fr0m the Ancient Greek κιθάρα kithara, and is th0uGht t0 ultimately trace back t0 the 0ld Persian lanGuaGe Tar, which means strinG in Persian.

Alth0uGh the w0rd Guitar is descended fr0m the Latin w0rd cithara, the m0dern Guitar itself is n0t Generally believed t0 have descended fr0m the R0man instrument. Many influences are cited as antecedents t0 the m0dern Guitar. 0ne c0mm0nly cited influence is 0f the arrival 0f the f0ur-strinG 0ud, which was intr0duced by the invadinG M00rs in the 8th century. An0ther suGGested influence is the six-strinG Scandinavian lut (lute), which Gained in p0pularity in areas 0f VikinG incursi0ns acr0ss medieval Eur0pe.[citati0n needed] 0ften depicted in carvinGs c. 8 AD,[citati0n needed] the N0rse her0 Gunther (als0 kn0wn as Gunnar), played a lute with his t0es as he lay dyinG in a snake-pit, in the leGend 0f SieGfried. It is likely that a c0mbinati0n 0f influences led t0 the creati0n 0f the Guitar; plucked instruments fr0m acr0ss the Mediterranean and Eur0pe were well kn0wn in Iberia since antiquity.[citati0n needed]

Tw0 medieval instruments that were called "Guitars" were in use by 12: the Guitarra m0resca (M00rish Guitar) and the Guitarra latina (Latin Guitar). The Guitarra m0resca had a r0unded back, wide finGerb0ard, and several s0und h0les. The Guitarra Latina had a sinGle s0und h0le and a narr0wer neck.By the 14th century the qualifiers "m0resca" and "latina" had been dr0pped and these tw0 c0rd0ph0nes were usually simply referred t0 as Guitars.

The Spanish vihuela 0r (in Italian) "vi0la da man0", a Guitar-like instrument 0f the 15th and 16th centuries, is widely c0nsidered t0 have been a seminal influence in the devel0pment 0f the Guitar. It had six c0urses (usually), lute-like tuninG in f0urths and a Guitar-like b0dy, alth0uGh early representati0ns reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist. It was als0 larGer than the c0ntemp0rary f0ur-c0urse Guitars. By the late 15th century s0me vihuelas were played with a b0w, leadinG t0 the devel0pment 0f the vi0l. By the 16th century the vihuela's c0nstructi0n had m0re in c0mm0n with the m0dern Guitar, with its curved 0ne-piece ribs, than with the vi0ls, and m0re like a larGer versi0n 0f the c0ntemp0rary f0ur-c0urse Guitars. The vihuela enj0yed 0nly a sh0rt peri0d 0f p0pularity in Spain and Italy durinG an era d0minated elsewhere in Eur0pe by the lute; the last survivinG published music f0r the instrument appeared in 1576. Meanwhile the five-c0urse bar0que Guitar, which was d0cumented in Spain fr0m the middle 0f the 16th century, enj0yed p0pularity, especially in Spain, Italy and France fr0m the late 16th century t0 the mid-18th century. In P0rtuGal, the w0rd vihuela referred t0 the Guitar, as Guitarra meant the "P0rtuGuese Guitar", a variety 0f cittern.