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28 Part I: You Got a Right to Play the Blues TEAM LinG
Even though electric guitars are more complicated from a technological
standpoint, making an acoustic guitar is harder than making an electric
guitar. That’s why, pound for pound, a quality acoustic guitar will cost just as
much or more than its electric counterpart.
But both types follow the same basic approach to neck function and string tension.
That’s why acoustic and electric guitars have very similar constructions,
despite a sometimes radical difference in tone production. Figures 2-3 and 2-4
show the various parts of an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar.
Nut
Headstock
Tuning machines
Neck
Fingerboard
Frets
Figure 2-3:
A typical
acoustic
guitar with
its major
parts
labeled.
Sound hole
Top (sounding board)
Pick guard
Bridge
Body
End pin
The following list tells you the functions of the primary parts of a guitar:
Back (acoustic only): The part of the body that holds the sides in place;
made of two or three pieces of wood.
Bar (electric only): A metal rod attached to the bridge that varies the
string tension by tilting the bridge back and forth. Also called the
tremolo bar, whammy bar, vibrato bar, and wang bar.