Knowing your Guitar

1. Headstock. The mechanical function of the headstock is to act as a platform to hold the machine heads securely in position. Strings go from the bridge, across the nut and are finally fixed on machine heads or tuning machines. Headstocks also have a design purpose. Guitar makers display their logos on their distinctive headstock designs.
2. Machine Heads. The machine heads, located on the headstock, keep the strings of the guitar tensioned/stretched at the correct pitch. They allow the musician to alter the pitch by turning the tuning peg. Each string has its own machine head.
3. Nut. This is a small strip of slotted hard plastic/bone which guides and supports the strings where the headstock and fretboard meet.
4. Fretboard. The fretboard is a piece of wood with 20 to 24 inserted metal frets . It is flat on classical guitars and slightly curved across its width on acoustic and electric guitars. Fretboards are made of maple, rosewood or ebony.
On fretless instruments the fretboard is more correctly known as the fingerboard.
5. Frets. Usually made of a nickel alloy or sometimes stainless steel, frets are inserted along the fretboard. They are placed precisely along the length of string to divide it mathematically. Different pitches of a string are achieved when strings are pressed down behind the frets. This process shortens the string's vibrating length to produce a range of pitches- each one is spaced a half-step apart on the 12 tone scale.
The first fret is the one nearest the nut.
6. Neck. The fretboard, frets, machine heads and headstock make up the neck. They are all fastened to a long wooden extension which is either glued (set neck) or bolted on to the body. Set necks are typical on acoustic guitars. Bolt-on necks are typical on electric guitars.
When the guitar is tuned there is a lot of tension on the neck. This is especially true with heavy gauge strings. A well constructed neck will resist bending under tension. The stiffness of the guitar’s neck is a key quality feature of a guitar.
7. Body. In the acoustic guitar the body is a resonating cavity projecting the vibrations of the body in the form of sound waves through the sound hole. This magnification of the vibrations allows the acoustic guitar to be heard without amplification.
The maximum sound volume of an acoustic guitar is proportional to the volume of air it can move. Hence large body size acoustics (eg Dreadnought) is a popular choice with acoustic professional performers.
8. Pickups. This is what amplifies the strings' sound. Most electric guitars have between one and three pickups. The type of pickup influences the particular sound you want.
9. Pickguard or scratchplate is a profiled plastic sheet positioned at the sound hole to protect the guitar’s top from damage by the downward movement of the guitar pick.
10. Bridge. Acoustic guitars have a bridge and saddle arrangement, located between the soundhole and the bottom of the guitar. The strings are generally held in position in the bridge by pins( bridgepins). The strings pass over the hard plastic/bone saddle The purpose of the bridge on an acoustic guitar is to transmit the vibration of the strings to the soundboard which in turn produces sound waves inside the guitar. This magnifies the sound created by the strings.