Electric Guitar

Description of Mechanism: Writing Activity #2

An electric guitar is a stringed musical instrument played with fingers or a

plectrum (pick). It consists of a body, a neck and a headstock to which
usually six steel strings are attached. The magnetic pickups transform the
vibrations of the steel strings into audio signals that are driven through an
amplifier. Thus, the amplifier is also essential part of the electric guitar. It
was the need of amplified sound in musical instruments that started guitar
manufacturers to innovate the electric guitar at the beginning of the
twentieth century. Since then, the instrument has become very important in
popular music and a major factor in the growth of rock and roll.

The Headstock is the top part of the guitar where its main purpose is to
hold the strings. The six metal string go through a thin metallic strip
called the nut and are fixed to the machine heads. The machine heads
are simple worm gears that players rotate in order to tune the strings
thus getting the desired tone. Usually, the neck and the headstock of a
guitar are made from a single piece of wood but some headstock may
be constructed separately and glued to the neck.

The Neck is the longest part of the instrument which is around 25

inches in length, right under the headstock. It is the base of the fret
board where the player places his fingers in order to the stop the
strings at the desired note. The necks stability and rigidity is an
important aspect of the instrument for determining its quality. The
neck is fixed to the guitars body, and can be glued or bolted at the
neck joint.

The Body is the bottom part of the guitar which can be made of wood,
plastic or cardboard, and its shape and size depend on the
manufacturers style: the average body is 14 inch wide, 21 inch long
and 1.75 inch thick. The body of an electric guitar has many functions
since it has a large number of subparts attached to it. First of all, we
have the tailpiece, a component that holds the opposite end of the
strings, and right above it, is a device that supports them called the
bridge. Attached to the bridge or tailpiece is a tremolo arm that can

change the pitch by temporarily tightening the strings. Secondly, we

have the pickups, a component made of bar magnets covered with
very fine wire that transforms the vibrations of the steel string into
audio signals that are driven through an amplifier. And lastly is the
output jack, a small hole at the bottom of the guitar that connects the
electric guitar to the amplifier with the use of a cable.
The Amplifier is a sound device that boosts an audio signal. Because
the signals from the electric guitar are weak, the amplifiers job is to
increase those signals, making them audible.

An electric guitar is a stringed musical instrument which is played with

fingers or a plectrum. It consists of a headstock, a neck and a body. Six steel
strings are attached to the machine heads of the headstock and to the
tailpiece of the body. A musician can change the pitch of a string by placing
his fingers on the necks fret board. When a string is plucked, its vibration is
converted by the bodys magnetic pickups into weak audio signals. The
signals are then driven through an amplifier that increases their power
making them audible. Thus, the amplifier is an essential part of the electric
guitar. Today, the electric guitar is the most important instrument not just in
rock and roll but the whole music industry as a whole.