Welcome to our guide dedicated to the electric guitar. You probably already know that the history of contemporary music is full of songs with unforgettable riffs: Paranoid of the Black Sabbath, Satisfaction of the Rolling Stones, or Smells Like Teen Spirit, of Nirvana, are just some examples.
All these masterpieces and their riffs that made history were possible thanks to the extraordinary talent of some musicians struggling with their electric guitar.
The electric guitar is one of the most popular instruments. It is a critical element in many musical styles, such as rock, pop, punk, or blues. There are, however, so many models that choosing one, in particular, will largely depend on your tastes.
Here we had selected some of the best and advanced models of electric guitars that are present below.
Electric Guitars Buyer Guide
The Electric Guitar Is a Very Versatile Instrument. Depending on The Materials with Which the Neck or Body Are Manufactured, Its Pickups and Its Circuits, It Can Create Very Different Sounds.
When You Pair It with An Amplifier or A Pedal for Sound Effects, the Possibilities Triple, but First, There Are a Few Things to Be Clear About.
How Many Types of Electric Guitar Are There?
Since the Appearance of The First Electric Guitars, Towards the First Half of The 20th Century, This Instrument Has Evolved a Great Deal. Over Time, Many Models and Types of The Guitar Have Appeared, so It Is Tough to Talk About It Exhaustively.
Nonetheless, Below We Show You a List with Some of The Most Popular Types of The Electric Guitar Today.
- Stratocaster: Although Many Brands Try to Imitate This Model, the Original Stratocaster Guitar Was Designed by The Fender Company.
- Les Paul: This Is a Type of Guitar with A Massive Body, Created in 1952 and Made by Gibson. For the Strato, Other Brands Produce Imitations of This Model.
- Telecaster: this Guitar Is an Evolution of The Squire Model, Created by Leo Fender. Many Companies Imitate This Model, but Again, the Original Is of The Fender Brand.
- Super Strat: Although the Body of This Model Has Some Similarities with The Stratocaster, This Guitar Is Suitable for Styles with Multiple Distortions, Such as Heavy Metal or Hard Rock. Some Famous Manufacturers of This Type of Instrument Are Jackson and Ibanez.
- Sg: This Guitar Appeared in The 1960s as The Lightest and Thinnest “sister” of Les Paul. the Meaning of Sg Is “Solid Guitar,” I.E., Solid Guitar, and Was Made by Gibson.
- Flying V: This Is the Classic V-Body or Arrow-Shaped Guitar. Although the First Model Was Launched on The Market by Gibson, Many Brands Make This Type of Guitar, Often with Variations and Under Different Names.
- Semi-Empty Body (semi-Acoustic Guitar): the Models We Have Talked About so Far Are Full-Body Guitars. There Are, However, Also with The Semi-Empty Body, Better Known as Semi-Acoustic Guitars. Gretsch or Epiphone Are Just Some of The Many Brands that Produce This Type of Instrument.
- Empty Body: unlike the Previous Model, These Guitars Have a Hollow Body And, in General, a More Significant Case. a Wide Range of Brands Produces This Specific Type of Guitar.
What Are the Parts that Make up An Electric Guitar?
As We Said Earlier, There Are Many Types and Models of The Electric Guitar. Some of Its Components, Therefore, Can Vary from One to The Other. Nonetheless, Some Elements Are Common to Most Electric Guitars Available on The Market Today. Here Is a Few:
Handle
It Is Composed of One or More Pieces of Wood. Here the Fingers of The Left Hand Are Positioned, for The Right-Handed, or Of the Right, in The Case of Left-Handers, to Press on The Strings. These Are the Parts that Make It Up:
- Paletta: Is the Part Where the Keys Are Located.
- Keys: They Are Used to Hold the Strings, Tighten and Loosen Them During the Tuning.
- Nut: Located at The Point Where the Keyboard Is Connected to The Rest of The Neck. It Is the Point on Which All the Ropes Rest.
- Keys: These Are the Small Crossbars on The Neck, Parallel to Each Other. Depending on The Keys on Which We Will Place Our Fingers, We Will Play One Note Rather than The Other.
- Truss Rod: Is a Metal Bar Located Inside, Along with The Handle. It Has the Function of Keeping It Straight, Contrasting the Tension Produced by The Strings.
- Tuning Fork: The Wooden Part, Along the Neck, on Which the Keys Are Positioned, Where the Fingers Rest While Playing.
Body
Usually, in Most Cases, It Is Made of Wood and Defines the Shape of The Guitar. Inside It Contains the Circuits Necessary to Collect the Sound. It Can Be Full, Empty, or Half-Empty, and The Following Components Are Located:
- Pickups: Obtain the Sound Produced by The Vibration of The Strings when They Are Played.
- Circuits: Are Those that Send the Sound Produced by The Strings, and Captured by The Pickups, to The Amplifier.
- Controller: Also Called Potentiometers. They Have the Function of Adjusting the Volume and Tone. the Number of Potentiometers Can Vary from One Model to Another.
- Bridge: It Is the Exact Opposite of The Headstock, and Holds the Ropes. Usually, in This Part, the Strings Are Fixed, but In Some Models, It Is Possible to Tune the Instrument from The Bridge Instead of From the Headstock. There Are Two Types: Fixed and Mobile. the Furniture, in Turn, Can Be Floating or Semi-Floating. This Type of Bridge Allows You to Vary the Tension of The Strings, Creating the So-Called Vibrato Effect.
- Tremolo Lever: Not All Guitars Have This Element: It Depends on The Bridge. This Lever, if The Deck Is Mobile, We Can Move It by Tending or Loosening the Ropes. Releasing the Gear, the Bridge Returns to Its Place and The Strings to The Starting Tuning.
- Jack Connection: Here, You Connect the Cable Necessary to Transmit the Sound to The Amplifier. It Can Connect Directly to It, but Also Many Other Pedals.
What Are So-Called Signature Electric Guitars?
The Signature Electric Guitars Are, Put, Guitars Customized by Renowned Musicians. Sometimes Some Guitarists, in Collaboration with Certain Brands, Make Changes on Specific Guitar Models. These Changes Are Made to Produce a Personalized Sound, Characteristic of That Particular Artist.
Many of These Models Are Sold to Allow His Fans to Play the Guitar of Their Dreams. Unfortunately, These Models Are Always Much More Expensive than Normal Ones, and The Debate Often Turns on Whether Such a Significant Investment Is Worthwhile.
Do I Need an Amplifier to Play the Electric Guitar?
Certainly Not. to Play the Electric Guitar, the Amplifier Is Not Necessary. You Won’t Get the Same Sound. the Electric Guitar Is Designed in Such a Way that The Pickups Collect the Sound Produced by The Vibration of The Strings.
The Amplifier Has the Function, Forgive Us the Repetition, to Amplify This Sound. You Can Still Play Your Electric Guitar, Especially for Practice, without Having to Be Connected to An Amplifier, Even if The Music Will Have a Much Lower Volume.
If you are worried about annoying the neighbors, however, you can use headphones connected to the amplifier, so that you are the only one to listen to what you play. An alternative to the speaker, if you don’t have one, is to connect the guitar to a computer.
An electric guitasr is a guitar that uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of strings into electrical signal. These can play all type of music.
