Knowing the actual parts of the guitar and their definitions is essential to expanding your knowledge of this instrument. Below is an interactive diagram of the parts of an electric guitar. The main parts include the Head, Tuning Peg, Nut, Neck, Fretboard, Frets, Fret Markers, Body, Pickups, Pickup Selector, Pick Guard, Tremelo, Bridge, Volume And Controls and Input Jack.
- Head – The Head or Headstock is the top part of the electric guitar that holds the Tuning Pegs. In addition, the size of the Head will affect vibration of the strings.
- Tuning Peg – Tuning Pegs also known as Machine Heads and Tuning Knobs are a vital part of the electric guitar that allow you to tighten and loosen the guitar strings.
- Nut – The Nut is a very important electric guitar part between the Neck and the Head where the strings rest. It is usually white and made of a very hard substance such as bone or plastic.
- Neck – The Neck is the long thin part of the electric guitar that connects to the Head and the Body. In addition, the neck is where you will find the Fretboard, Frets and Fret Markers.
- Fretboard – The Fretboard is the electric guitar part that goes over the Neck and is segmented to contain the Frets and Fret Markers.
- Frets – Frets are located on the Neck of the electric guitar and are segmented rectangles. The strings hover above the Frets and when you press down the string over a fret you can change the pitch of the sound you are playing.
- Fret Markers – Fret Markers or Position Markers are located on the Fretboard and are guides that can help you locate certain notes easily. They are usually designed as circles, but some guitars can have very elaborate Fret Markers.
- Body – The Body is the main part of an electric guitar that holds the pickups, volume and tone controls, bridge, pickup selector and the input jack. Different types of wood that create the Body will give different sounds.
- Pickups – The Pickups are the part of the electric guitar that are located on the main body and underneath the strings. They work with magnets and when the strings are vibrated it will send the impulse frequency to an amplifier. This is how sound is created with the electric guitar.
- Pickup Selector – The Pickup Selector does exactly what its name says – It lets you toggle what pickups you want to use. With the selector, you can turn off certain pickups or combine them. Different guitars have different pickup settings to choose from.
- Pick Guard – The Pick Guard is usually a piece of flat plastic that is a protection piece to stop you from scratching the wood of the guitar when you strum it.
- Tremelo – The Tremelo also known as a “Whammy Bar” is a metal bar connected to the bridge of the guitar. While playing, you can move the bar up or down which will move the bridge and change the pitch. You can get some really unique sounds with a Tremelo Bar.
- Bridge – The Bridge is located on the Body of the guitar and it is a small piece of wood that holds the bottom parts of the strings in place.
- Volume And Controls – The Volume and Tone Controls are knobs that let you increase or decrease the volume and to change the tone to what you want.
- Input Jack – The Input Jack is the part of an electric guitar where you insert a guitar cord to connect to an amplifier.
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