Guitar Parts And Accessories

Parts of an Electric Guitar

The two main parts of the guitar are the body and neck. The body connects to the neck. Here is where the pickups and bridge are located.

The bridge is an area on the guitar’s face where the strings are connected to the face. The vertical metal wires on the guitar neck are called frets. The neck is the long narrow part of the guitar where the frets – usually 21 or 24 - are located. The part of the guitar at the end of the neck where the strings are tuned is the headstock. There’s a point on the guitar neck where the strings touch the neck and join the headstock – this part is called the nut. The tuning pegs are located at the headstock and help in tuning the guitar.

The body of the guitar has a pickup switch that is used to select pickups for different tones and sounds. Pickups are magnets wound with wires that sit on the face of the electric guitar under the strings. These can be of two types – single coil and dual coil or hum bucking. These minimize the noise when different tones are created. There’s a bar that’s connected to the guitar’s bridge called the tremolo or whammy bar that changes the pitch when moved up or down the bridge. The control knobs used to adjust guitar volume and tone are on the body of the guitar.

Guitar Accessories

Almost all serious guitar players use the following:

• Gigbags and Cases: the most important accessory if you intend keeping your guitar working fine for a long time and if you travel or gig a lot. Otherwise, a well-padded gig bag could be ideal. You would need sturdy guitar straps to carry your guitar.
• Guitar Strings: Electric, bass and acoustic guitars use steel strings while classical, Spanish or flamenco guitars use nylon strings.
• Guitar Stands: the standard is most popular. The universal stand, auto grab stand, the double and triple guitar stand, and the wall mounted are also available.
• Picks: Classical Spanish or Flamenco guitars use thin guitar picks, and electric and acoustic guitars use medium picks. Bass guitars use the thickest ones.
• Guitar Leads/Cables: available in lengths of 15 feet/4.5 meter leads.
• Guitar Capos: clamps used on different frets of the guitar to change the pitch of the open strings.