an electric guitar

Rock Star Romance, book three in The Rock Star’s Wife series, introduces us to Dramatic Sneezer, the metal band fronted by Nat Hardwick.  He also is the band’s lead guitarist.  His twin sister, Nicole, plays rhythm guitar while Jerome Williams plays bass.  Kaleb Wood rounds the band out on drums.  Guitars are essential for any rock band, but have you given them much thought?  Here’s a short introduction in the anatomy of guitars.

Types of Guitars

pexels alina vilchenko 4122135

Electric guitar (left). Acoustic guitar (right)

Guitars fall into two categories, acoustic and electric, and there are different types of each.

Acoustic guitars are hollow.  When the strings are plucked, resonance produces sound.

Electric guitars use magnetic pickups underneath the strings to produce sound.  The pickups send electric signals to an amplifier that projects the sound.  Pedals can be attached to change the sound.

There also is a combination, acoustic-electric, which is an acoustic guitar with a pickup clamped on it.

Rhythm guitars come in four, five, six, eight or 12 strings.

Bass guitars, like rhythm guitars, can be either acoustic or electric.  They are an octave lower and have a slightly different shape.  They come in four, five or six strings.

Professional musicians tend to use guitars manufactured by Fender, Les Paul, and Paul Reed Smith.  Although there are numerous manufacturers, these are considered top of the line.

The Parts of a Guitar

The Anatomy of a Guitars

The anatomy of a guitars

Both acoustic and electric guitars have the same basic design.  The parts are:

  • Head (also called headstock): Supports the tuning pegs.
  • Tuning pegs (also called a machine head or a tuning machine): Used to tune the strings.
  • Nuts: Controls the spacing of the strings
  • Neck: Attaches the head to the body.
  • Fretboard (also called the fingerboard): Glued to the head.  The strings are pressed into it.  Thin metal strips called fret-wires run across it.
  • Frets: The space between fret-wires.  Used to alter the length of a string.
  • Strings: Come in different thicknesses.
  • Body: Contains an acoustic’s guitar’s sound box or an electric guitar’s pickup combinations.

Electric guitars also have electrical components.

Here’s the 4-1-1

This blog is a companion piece to Rock Star Romance available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  A college grad still reeling from an amicable breakup falls for a rock star who’s given up on love in this contemporary, second-chance romance.  Buy now.

To listen to the songs mentioned in Rock Star Romance, follow The Rock Star’s Wife on Spotify.

For more information on the licenses mentioned on this page, visit https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/.

Categories:

Comments are closed