Posted on

Parts of the Electric Guitar

In this guitar lesson, we discuss the parts of the Electric guitar. I show you each and every part of a Fender Stratocaster, and I discuss what each part does. It is important to know what the parts of your guitar are called so that you can communicate properly with other guitar players.

We discuss the head, tuners, neck, and fretboard of the guitar more in-depth in the Parts of the Acoustic Guitar lesson.

The electric guitar body is different from an acoustic because it is just one slab of wood without all the individual components. An acoustic has a top, back, sides, and bracing, but an electric guitar just has a body.

The bridge of an electric guitar has adjustable saddles, and on this Stratocaster, there is a tremolo block, springs, and a tremolo claw.

The electronics consist of guitar pickups which pick up the vibrations of the strings and use electromagnetic fields to convert the sound into AC electricity. This goes through wires to the volume and tone controls, and then out to the output jack.

Posted on

The Parts of an Acoustic Guitar

In this lesson we discuss the parts of an acoustic guitar. When you are starting out it’s good to learn what everything is called so that you can talk about your guitar with other guitar players or know what to search for if you want to look something up online.

From top to bottom, we have the headstock. This is where your guitar’s logo will be, and this is where the strings connect to the tuners.

The tuners are how you add or release tension to your strings when you tune your guitar.

The guitar nut has slots to keep the strings in place, and it also determines the height of the strings at the top end of the neck.

The neck has a metal rod inside of it called a truss rod and the top part of the neck where the frets are at is called the fingerboard. The thicker part of the neck that connects to the body is called the heel.

The body has a back, sides, and a top or soundboard. The soundboard of an acoustic guitar determines the tone. The soundhole projects the sound outward, and the decorative circle around it is called the rosette.

The bridge on your acoustic guitar is where the strings connect to the body. They are held in with bridge pins and the go across the saddle, which determines string height at the body end of the guitar.

There is bracing on the inside to add stability and there is usually a strap button at the bottom end of the acoustic guitar’s body.

Posted on

I Bought an Eastman AR503CE Archtop!

I was sure that I needed and archtop, and I was right. It has been so inspiring to have a guitar with “the sound”.

I guess it’s sort of like when you want to play like Hendrix you get a Strat. Well, when you want to sound like jazz guitar, you get a jazz guitar.

I was really impressed with the quality. I did my research and everything pointed to these guitars being well made, good sounding archtops, but when you order a guitar without trying it at the store, it’s always a risk.

It came with a good setup. The frets were perfect which is always a concern. A lot of times when you get a new guitar it needs to have fretwork before it will play optimally, but with this Eastman archtop that was not the case. I did do some minor adjustments to get it exactly how I like it by adding a little bit of tension to the neck and lowering the action.

I went with the Eastman 503CE because it has the solid carved top, but laminate back and sides. I play quite a few gigs with a full volume drummer and electric bass player, so I wanted something that wouldn’t have feedback issues, so the laminate back and sides help with that.

Eastman AR503CE on amazon: https://amzn.to/3i8lTuf

Posted on

Tortex Pitch Black Jazz III vs Dunlop Flex vs Classic Jazz III guitar picks

My search for a Jazz III that sounds like an orange Tortex has ended. The Tortex Pitch Black Jazz IIIs are exactly what I was looking for.

There is something about the clicky sound of a medium pick against the strings of an acoustic guitar that I love, and the Pitch Black Jazz III picks get it just right.

In this video, I compare the Pitch Black to classic Jazz III, as well as the Dunlop Flex Jazz III. Out of all of them, I felt like the Pitch Black had more of the “jangly” acoustic guitar sound that I was listening for.

Pitch Black Jazz III 60mm: https://amzn.to/337WatZ
Dunlop Flex Jazz III: https://amzn.to/2NqjfRW
Classic Dunlop Jazz III Picks: https://amzn.to/339qjJk

Posted on

Why I Thought I Needed an Archtop Guitar

Before I got my archtop I was convinced that I needed and archtop to get the jazz guitar voice that I have in my head. With a lot of gear and guitars, it’s more about wanting something than needing something. I was sure that an archtop was something that I needed.

It’s true that you can play jazz on just about any guitar, and there have been some great players that used a Telecaster and even a Stratocaster, but most of my favorite guitarists played an archtop.

After I made this video I did get an archtop guitar, and I can say with confidence that it does have the voice, it has been inspiring, and I did need an archtop.