Leo Fender designed the Stratocaster in 1954 and it has been used by many famous guitarists ever since. Players such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Hank Marvin, Jeff Beck, stevie Ray Vaughan are all ‘Strat’ players. The guitar is used in many styles of music from blues to heavy rock.

The Les Paul was released in 1952. This guitar is as iconic as some of the famous players who use it. Jimmy Page and Slash are two of the biggest names who are synonymous with a Les Paul. Other well known players include Gary Moore, Joe Perry, and Joe Bonamassa.

This next guitar is a PRS. This particular guitar is a custom 24 and was one of the first models Paul reed Smith made back when he founded the company in 1985. Since then PRS have become a very well known and respected name. They are high quality guitars which have become as well known for their appearance as for their brilliant playability. We’ll use this guitar to show you the parts that make up a guitar.

The Fender Stratocaster is a legendary guitar. It has been a mainstay of guitarists the world over since its introduction in the 1950’s. Its also been a favourite of renowned guitar players such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Jimi Hendrix. A big part of the ‘strats’ character is due to its single coil pickups which produce a clear pristine sound.

The Les Paul is iconic and another guitar designed in the 50’s. This guitar is mainly used by Rock Guitarists as it produces a strong and powerful sound due to its twin humbucker pickups. The list of famous Les Paul users include Jimmy Page, Slash, Gary Moore, Billy Gibbons, Zack Wylde, Joe Perry, Mark Knopfler plus many, many more.

The ‘Tele’ is yet another guitar designed in the 50’s. The guitar is famous for its bright twangy sound and therefore used by many country players, including Mearle Haggard and Brad Paisley. The guitar can also sound warm and bluesy and is the first choice guitar for Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen among countless others.

This time we have a guitar designed in the 1960’s. The SG made its debut in 1961 and is the guitar used by Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi who is seen by many to be the inventor of heavy metal. The SG is also used by another Rock legend Angus Young of AC/DC. The guitar has humbucker pickups which are perfect for churning out power chords at high volumes.

PRS guitars are top quality instruments which are highly regarded by many guitarists. The company was set up in 1985 by founder Paul Reed Smith. Two of the trademarks of PRS are the bird inlays on the fretboard and exotic woods used in their construction. One of the first well known guitarist to play these guitars was Carlos Santana with many others following his example.

The Jaguar was introduced by Fender in 1962 and was taken out of production in 1975. It enjoyed a resurgence by punk and alternative rock guitarists before Fender brought it back into production in Japan in the mid 1980’s with the American version appearing in 1999. Famous users of the Jaguar include Kurt Cobain, Johnny Marr and John Frusciante.

The Flying V made its debut back in 1958. The guitar was originally made from Korina with later models using mahogany. The design was ground breaking at the time due to its unconventional shape. The flying V is particularly popular with heavy metal players such as Michael Schenker from UFO and KK Downing from Judas Priest. Jimi Hendrix also sometimes played a flying V as well as Blues Guitarist Albert King.

A super strats name is derived from the fact that its shape is reminiscent of a Stratocaster although with higher output pickups and a two octave (24 fret fretboard). These kind of guitars also have a locking tremolo system which is very often a Floyd Rose. Jackson are just one manufacturer that produce super strats such as their Soloist model. Other notable companies include Ibanez, Schecter, and ESP.

BC Rich are synonymous with outrageous shaped guitars. They were founded in 1969 by Bernado Chavez Rico. Because of their aggressive shapes they are played by mainly metal guitarists. The Warlock model is often used by Kerry King from Slayer. Other famous BC Rich players include Slash who sometimes uses the Mockingbird model when not playing his Gibson Les Pauls.

The 335 was another guitar released in the 1950’s The ES (Electric Spanish) 335 is a semi acoustic electric guitar. The guitar consists of a solid maple block of wood running through the centre of the guitar with f holes over the two hollow cutaways. The semi hollow body design of the 335 makes it a very versatile guitar being used by Blues, Jazz and Rock musicians including Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Eric Clapton and Noel Gallagher.

The Gibson ES 175 made its debut way back in 1949 and has been in continuous production ever since. This type of guitar is referred to as an arch top due to its curved body shape which is based on the shape of a violin. Its renowned for its warm, clear tone and is used by many Jazz guitarists including the legendary Joe Pass, Steve Howe from the band Yes and Scotty Moore who was Elvis’ guitarist although he used a variation called the ES 295.

This Gibson Les Paul studio, like other Les Paul’s has a mahogany body with a maple top. The grain of the wood can be seen clearly. The guitar is hand finished in nitrocellulose with the last coat being hand flattened by hand to give the guitar a satin texture.

The Telecaster shown here has an ash body. Fenders also use alder on their guitars. These woods produce a lighter sound than Mahogany which creates a more heavier and deeper sound.

The PRS shown below has a Mahogany body.

These two pieces of maple glued to the top of the guitars mahogany body is called a ‘maple top’. Maple is used due to its attractive flame or quilted look. You can see the attractive appearance of the ‘top’ on this guitar. PRS refer to their better quality maple tops as ’10 Tops’ their artist pack and private stock are even more luxurious. The use of a maple top can also brighten the tone of otherwise darker sounding mahogany bodied guitars.

As already mentioned many different woods are used in the construction of guitars. There are also various lacquers used to finish of the construction of a guitar. The lacquers job is to protect the finish and adds to the overall look of the guitar. There have been various lacquers used since the 1950’s. An often used lacquer is Nitrocellulose which has been used by many guitar manufacturers including Gibson and Fender.

Fender used nitrocellulose (often abbreviated to ‘nitro’) in their first guitars in the 1950’s and 1960’s and is the lacquer Gibson often use for their guitars. One drawback of ‘nitro’ is that it is prone to crack and turn yellow over time. Hairline cracks are also common due to changes in temperature or just over time. However these things are the main appeal so some people who prefer the look of aged instruments over the look of a pristine instruments.

Another common lacquer is Polyurethane. This lacquer is often called urethane and is very versatile. There are different variants of urethane such as gloss urethane and satin urethane (often used on necks). This lacquer offers a more even and glossier finish by only using two layers of urethane rather than the multiple coats that is used by nitro. Fender American standard and Deluxe guitars along with Gibson, PRS and Jackson guitars use polyurethane.

A third lacquer is Polyester. This lacquer has sometimes been used by Fender since the 1970’s. Polyester is often used by companies including Ibanez, Polyester ages well, is very durable and adds very good protection to a guitar being difficult to scratch and damage.

Fender guitars are made with 6 tuning pegs in a row like the Stratocaster headstock shown here

This Gibson Les Paul has 3 tuners per side. Most Gibson guitars have this tuner configuration

This Jackson guitar features 6 tuners in a row on a reverse headstock.

Occasionally a manufacturer tries something different with 4 tuners on one side and 2 on the other

The tuning pegs are turned which either tighten or loosen the strings therefore allowing the guitar to be tuned

The strings slot into grooves which keep the strings in place. The nut can be made of plastic, metal, graphite amongst others

Guitars which feature the Floyd Rose tremolo systems are equipped with a locking nut. This is where the strings are clamped down with 3 bolts via an allen key. Read our guide on Tremelo’s and bridges for more information

Some guitars have metal nuts called roller nuts. These are often found on higher end guitars. This kind of nut is used as it helps with tuning stability

This Fender stratocaster has locking tuners. With this system the string isn’t wound around the tuning peg. Instead, it is fed through a hole which is clamped down thus holding the string in place securely. The remaining parts of string is then cut off making string changes much simpler and improving tuning stability

This Stratocaster tremolo has appeared on Strats since the guitars introduction in the 1950’s. It features 6 saddles which are adjusted in height via allen keys. The guitars intonation is adjusted via screws located at the back of the bridge.

The strings are threaded through holes in the guitars back plate. The strings themselves are kept in place via strings balls which are attached at the end of the string.

The tension of the bridge on a guitar featuring a tremolo is kept in place via springs, as seen in the picture below. The springs are moved via the guitarist using the tremolo arm. This is how the pitch of the notes are changed and how the vibrato effect is created.

The telecaster has a fixed bridge. The original bridge had a metal cover which resembles an ashtray and was appropriately nicknamed the ashtray bridge. These covers completely restrict the ability to palm mute the strings which is very limiting therefore haven’t been used for a long time. Vintage and certain reissue telecasters have 3 saddles (as shown below) for pairs of strings. More modern telecasters use 6 individual saddles (same as a stratocaster) one for each string therefore allowing more accurate adjustments to the guitars setup.

The Tune-a-matic/Stopbar bridge is standard on most Gibson guitars. In this system the strings are threaded through the back of the Stopbar. The strings are then placed onto the saddles of the bridge which have grooves for each string. The bridge part of this setup is called the Tune-a-matic. The height of the bridge can be adjusted via two thumb wheels. The intonation can be adjusted via screws which are located on each saddle. There is another method for Tune-a-matics where the Stopbar isn’t used and the strings are strung through the guitars body.

The Bigbsy was the the first tremolo system to be installed on an electric guitar back in the early 1950’s. The Bigsby features an arm that is spring loaded and also has a pivoting metal bar. The strings are wrapped around the pivoting bar, when the tremolo arm is depressed or raised the string tension changes therefore changing the pitch of the strings. This Gretsch shown below has a rocking bar bridge which can me moved to adjust the guitars intonation.

The kind of bridges on all archtop Jazz style guitars are quite simple. This particular guitar is a Gibson ES175 which has a ‘Zig Zag’ tail piece and a movable rosewood bridge. The strings are strung through the tail piece and the bridge is moved by hand to achieve the best intonation. The height of the strings can be raised by the thumb wheels on the bridge.

The Floyd Rose was designed in 1977 and is a double locking tremolo system. The strings are clamped down at the nut as shown in the picture below. These locking nuts make the tuning peg/machine heads unavailable for tuning whilst the nuts are locked down so fine tuners located on the bridge are used to tune the guitar. The ball end of the strings are locked in place via the saddle blocks. This kind of bridge is a floating tremelo with the ‘whammy bar’ capable of large changes of pitch with the bar moved either upwards or downwards. The Floyd Rose like all bridges has various pros and cons. One of the main benefits is the double locking system helps with the guitar tuning stability and as mentioned the large changes of pitch available when using the tremolo arm. As the Floyd Rose is a full floating unit with springs keeping the tension of the strings in place a string break changes the balance of the bridge and therefore makes the guitar out of tune. Floating tremolo bridges also make alternate tunings very difficult. These are obviously a few negative characteristics but for many players the pros out weigh the cons.

The guitar on the left is a Telecaster with a rosewood neck. The ‘Tele’ on the right has a maple neck. In this case a birdseye maple.

The woods used for the neck of a guitar are usually maple and mahogany. Although, woods such as ebony, Koa and Bubinga can also be used. Mahogany necks are glued in to position and maple necks are bolted on. Heres a quick breakdown of some characteristics of maple and mahogany necks.

Mahogany – set neck
A wood used by PRS and Gibson amongst many others. Many people believe that mahogany gives the guitar a warmer sound. This can be attributed to the neck being glued in rather than bolted on therefore transferring the sound more directly.

Maple – bolt on neck
Bolt on necks are the favoured option of company’s such as Fender and Ibanez. This method is cheaper to make than set necks as it’s easier to bolt on a neck with 4 bolts/screws than it is to glue one in position. The tone of bolt on necks can be viewed as less smooth. This is because bolt on necks are less directly connected to the guitars body than set necks.

A bolt on neck joint from a Fender Mustang style guitar

The glued in neck joint of a Les Paul

These can also be called neck thru or thru necks. These kinds of necks use one piece of wood which run through the whole length or the guitars body. The is called the ‘stick’. The side parts of the guitar are called the ‘wings’ which are glued onto the ‘Stick’. Some guitarists believe this method of construction increases the sustain over bolt on or glued necks. Thru necks also allow easier access to the higher frets as they don’t have a heel. One disadvantage of a thru neck over other necks such as a bolt is the difficulty in repairing the neck if it gets damaged.

There are 4 parts that define the feel and shape of the guitar neck. They are depth, width, radius (curvature of the fretboard) and profile. The profile is the shape of the neck. The profiles are named after the letters C, D, U and V due to the shapes of the necks resembling these letters. The shapes can often have variations such as ‘Hard V’ or ‘soft V’. The C shape is the most common neck shape and is found on most Fenders. Gibson guitars usually have D shape necks whilst guitarists looking for a fast neck for ‘shredding’ will be better off with a U shape neck. V shape necks are more suitable for guitarists that usually play with their thumb over the neck.

The string length measurement is taken from the edge of the nut to the bridge. The scale length is the measurement taken from the nut to the 12th fret which is then doubled. This Jackson shown below has a scale length of 25 1/2” which incidentally is one of the most common scale lengths and also found on the Fender Stratocaster. Other popular scale lengths are 24 3/4“ found on the Gibson Les Paul) and 25” found on PRS’. Heavier strings are often put on shorter scale length necks by guitarists because there is less tension than the longer scale lengths. With this in mind a Les Paul with 0.10 gauge strings would feel similar in regards to string tension than a Stratocaster with 0.9’s due to the scale lengths.

The purpose of inlays is to help you navigate around the fretboard. One of the most common form of inlays are dots as seen on this stratocaster shown below. Gibson often have trapezoids as seen on the Les Paul. One of PRS’ trademarks is the bird inlays that their guitars usually come with. Note that electric guitars usually come with either 21, 22 or 24 frets.

Some guitars don’t appear to have any fretboard markers although all electric guitars have markers which are visible from the player’s point of view.

A skunk stripe is a walnut piece of wood found on the back of a guitar neck. Its purpose is to cover up the cavity created when the truss rod is installed in the neck of a guitar. Fender started this technique in the 1950’s. A truss rod is a metal rod that runs through the neck and can be adjusted to straighten the neck if required.

The frets on a guitar are metal strips that run across the width of the fretboard and divide the fretboard into sections. The act of pressing down on a fret effectively reduces the size of the string and its this that changes the pitch of the note. The shorter the length of the string the higher the pitch. Frets can be made of stainless steel or an alloy of mainly nickel and copper. Frets also come in different sizes including ‘tall and narrow’ ‘medium jumbo’ and ‘jumbo’.

Fanned frets look like a modern addition to the world of guitars but they actually appear on stringed instruments from over 150 years ago. The offset frets are used to create a multi scale fretboard. The benefit of doing this increases the tension of the bass strings allowing heavier strings to be used if you prefer a heavier tone. The tension of the lighter strings are reduced therefore making it easier to bend strings. Fanned frets are also considered to improve the guitars intonation.

The single coil pickup was designed by Leo Fender and are the pickup types found on a Stratocaster and many other guitars. The single coil consists of 6 magnetic poles each wrapped with copper wire thousands of turns. There are 6 individual pole pieces instead of a bar magnet as this method allows each ‘pole’ to be adjusted in height individually therefore equalising the volume for all 6 pickups. The single coil pickup sounds clear and they have an emphasis on the treble frequencies. Originally one drawback with the single coil pickup was the amount of interference or background noise the single coil produced when used with an amplifier dialled up with high gain (distortion/overdrive).

As mentioned a disadvantage of single coil pickup was the amount of unwanted noise or ‘hum’ it produced. This problem was resolved by Seth Lover whilst working for Gibson in 1955. He designed the Humbucker to have two coils which are wired in series so the electric current flows through one and then through the other but they are out of phase of one another. This cancels out any noises or ‘hum’ the single coil pickups suffer with hence the name ‘Humbucker’. The humbucker has less of a response to higher frequencies than the single coil but has a punchier fatter sound more suited to power chords and rock music.

As already mentioned, the main problem of single coil pickups is they tend to produce unwanted noises. The hum produced in single coils tend to be caused by the magnetic fields of electrical equipment. They also suffer buzz which sounds a little like static and is actually radio frequency noise. Kinman pickups were one of the early pioneers in noiseless single coil technology patenting their first designs in the mid 1990’s. Other companies that have developed these type of pickups include Fender, DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan.

The lipstick pickup is a type of single coil pickup. The name is derived due to the pickups being originally manufactured using lipstick tubes. The electronics of the pickups are incased in a chrome metal tube and were first designed by Danelectro. They have a sound which can be describes as ‘jangly’ and are often used in ‘Surf’ and ‘Rockabilly’ music.

These are basically humbuckers without the chrome or nickel covers. Some people believe there are no difference between the tone produced by uncovered and covered pickups. Other people are of the opinion that on the plus side covered pickups may reduce hum yet also reduce the brightness of the pickups. All of this is a little subjective with the difference being fairly minimal.

Zebra pickups obviously get their name from the combination of the black and cream plastic. The origin of these pickups date back to 1959 and 1960. Gibson had a shortage of black plastic used in the production of their pickups but as the pickups were covered by a nickel plate this didn’t effect the overall look of the guitar. Some guitarists started to take a look under the cover to see whether they had the standard black or Zebra pickups. Believe it or not some players were convinced that the Zebra configuration actually made the guitars sound better. Soon after pickup manufactures began making these pickups to satisfy the demand.

Pickups are either active or passive. So far every other pickup mentioned in this guide is passive. Active pickups are pretty much the same as passive pickups but with a preamp built in which is powered by a battery. The preamp works in a similar way to an amplifiers preamp and basically adds extra tone shaping and more EQ possibilities than passive pickups can provide. Extra voltage gain in the guitar signal makes it more powerful and allows pickup manufactures to tune specific frequencies of the guitars output. This therefore makes active pickups popular with rock and metal guitar players.

The P90 pickup was designed by Gibson way back in 1946. There are 3 different types of these pickups – The P90 with a humbucker type casing is slightly smaller than a standard humbucker in width but bigger than a single coil. The P90 dog ear has extensions on either side of the pickup which resembles dog ears. The last version is the P90 soap bar which is shown below. This version, as I’m sure you can guess gets its name due to its obvious resemblance to a bar of soap. P90’s are actually single coil pickups but use bar magnets in the same way as humbuckers as opposed to the pole magnets found in single coils. This results in a pickup that sounds like a single coil in some aspects but also has sounds associated with a humbucker due to the similar magnet layout.

For guitarists wanting to ‘beef’ up the sound of their single coil equipped guitars they have the option of dropping in a humbucker into a single coil size pickup cavity. These types of pickups are called stacked humbuckers. The coils in these pickups, as the name suggests are stacked vertically rather than side by side which is how standard humbuckers are configured. Another type of pickup is the rail humbucker. The coil windings of these pickups are wound around two pole pieces which look like rails, hence the name. The Stratocaster shown below is retro fitted with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail humbucker.

Narrowfield pickups are a PRS design and have shared characteristics as their full size 57/08 humbucker pickup. The narrowfield was designed due to PRS’ desire to create a pickup that doesn’t produce any hum and has characteristics of humbuckers, single coils and P90’s. This creates a very versatile pickup.

Guitars that have humbuckers can also be fitted with coil splits. A coil split is when one of the two coils of the humbucker is bypassed. It is subjective whether a coil split humbucker sounds the same as a real single coil but effectively this is what it has become. The coil splitting is achieved with an extra switch on the guitar or via a push pull volume or tone control. Some guitars can be bought with coil splits but any guitar with a humbucker can be retro fitted to do this as well. Coil Splits are frequently wrongly called coil taps. A coil tap is when the pickup can be ‘tapped into’ at a lower number of windings than the pickup might have. For example a pickup may have 10,000 windings of wire in total but the ‘coil tap’ is made at 8000 windings. This produces lower output of the pickup therefore changing the sound produced.

Piezo pickups work differently to magnetic pickups as they don’t use the interaction of a string and magnetic field to create the sound. Instead the pressure of a string vibrating is measured and this is what causes an electric current. The vibrations of the string and the tonal qualities of the wood and the bridge all come together to produce an accurate representation of how the guitar actually sounds. This is one reason why electric guitars sound similar to acoustic guitars which also use piezo pickups. Unlike magnetic pickups which are clearly visible underneath the strings piezo pickups aren’t. This is because they are actually contained within the guitars bridge. A really nice feature of electric guitars fitted with magnetic and piezo pickups are the ability to select which pickup type can be used. The two pickups can also be blended together. Therefore, an electric guitar fitted with piezo’s can increase the versatility of the guitar with the increased amount of sounds which are available to a guitarist.

MIDI is an acronym meaning Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI controllers are usually keyboards which are used to to connect to computer based sequencers and can control multiple instruments/synthesizers and sound modules. MIDI makes playing everything from a trumpet to a cello on a keyboard possible. A guitar MIDI pickup converts the guitars analogue signal into a digital one. This gives guitarists the ability to use their instrument to sound like they are playing other instruments in the same way keyboard players are able to.

Guitars come in a variety of volume and tone configurations. The Fender Stratocaster below has one volume and two tone knobs. Stratocasters can be wired in different ways. A common set up is for the first tone to be wired to the neck pickup with the 2nd tone wired to the middle pickup. The bridge pickup often doesn’t have a tone wired up to it.

This switch selects which pickup is being used. On most Stratocaster guitars there are five positions that can be selected.

In positions 2 and 4 two single coils are working together in a similar way to a humbucker therefore reducing the hum usually associated with single coils.

This switch selects which pickup is being used. On Les Paul style guitars, there are 3 positions that can be selected. The neck pickup is labelled ‘Rhythm’ and the bridge pickup is labelled ‘Treble’

The jack sockets are located in different locations depending on the guitar.

Acoustic guitars are similar to electric guitars in many respects, they have a body, neck, fretboard, bridge and tuners. However they generate volume via a sound hole rather than pickups found on an electric guitar. Acoustic guitars also strung with heavier gauge to help generate louder volumes due to the lack of pickups and therefore no amplifier helping to produce volume.

Classical guitars are different to steel string acoustics in a few ways. The low E, A and D are wound metal strings with the G, B and high E string made out of nylon. Classical guitars also have different fretboard scale lengths and radius’ to their steel string counterparts. Classical guitars are also called Spanish guitars and are the instruments used by flamenco guitarists as well as classical musicians.

Both Steel strung and classical acoustic guitars can be fitted with a pickup. Acoustic guitars can have a magnetic pickup which are the same pickup types found on electric guitars. However, the most common pickup on an electro acoustic is called a piezoelectric. The piezo is placed under the bridge inside the guitar. This type of pickup doesn’t work in the same way as magnetic pickups. Rather than use magnets and copper wire the Piezo consists of metal and ceramic parts. Wires are attached to both parts and an electrical signal is created when there are changes in pressure due to the strings being played.

All electro acoustic guitars have a preamp. The preamp amplify’s the electrical signal created by the piezo pickup before it reaches the guitar amplifier. Preamps have tone controls and equalisers giving the guitarist the ability to shape the sound of the guitar. They often also feature a guitar tuner and sometimes effects such as reverb.

Bass guitars are most commonly either 4, 5 string instruments. The 4 string Bass is tuned in the same way as a double bass (low to high) E, A, D, G. These notes are one octave lower than the same notes on a standard guitar, the 6 string guitar also having high B and E strings. The 5 string Bass has an additional string, usually a low B string making the tuning B, E, A, D, G. Other variations of the Bass are the fretless and the 6 string Bass. The tuning for the 6 string Bass is the same as the 5 string with an additional high C string. The Bass guitar provides the low end frequencies in a band and appears in virtually all styles of music.

The ukulele originated in Hawaii and is basically a small 4 string guitar. There are four main kinds of ukulele – soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. The strings are made of nylon and the most common tuning is (low to high) – G C E A.

The 12 string guitar consists of 6 pairs of strings. The low E, A D and G are paired with strings an octave apart. The B and High E string are paired with duplicates of the same string. The picture below shows the standard 12 string tuning. The notes shown in larger fonts are an octave lower than the smaller fonts.

7 and 8 string guitars with are used by classical, Jazz and more frequently progressive metal players. 7 string guitars have an extra low B string, 8 string guitars have the B with the 8th string being an F#. These strings are often lowered to create an even heavier sound. There are even 9 and 10 strings available for guitarists looking for even more tonal range.

Guitar strings are measured in fractions of an inch. The two most common string gauges for electric guitars are 9’s which are considered ‘light’ and 10’s which are ‘medium’. These numbers refer to the high E string (thinnest string) so if you hear someone say they use 9’s or 10’s this is what they are referring too. A set of 9’s start at 0.009 inches from the high E string to 0.042 inches to the low E string. Size 10’s are 0.010 for the high E to 0.046 for the low E

There are pro’s and cons for the different string sizes. The thinner the string the less stable they are for tuning and intonation so size 8’s would be easy to play but not so good for keeping in tune. A good thing to remember is thicker gauge strings produce a more powerful tone but are harder to play compared to lighter strings. The heaviest size strings guitarists use for electric guitars can even be as high as 13’s. The great blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan famously used 13’s but you won’t find many players using such a heavy gauge as this on electric guitars.

A fairly new development is coated strings. Strings wear out due to sweat and dirt built up over time. Coated strings are designed to prolong there lifespan. Hybrid strings are another option available to guitar players. These can consist of heavier gauge strings for the bass strings and lighter strings for the top strings but there are various custom sizes available.

The standard guitar strings on an acoustic guitar are 12’s. Acoustic guitars need heavier strings as they have to generate more volume than electric guitars due to the absence of pickups (unless you’re playing an electro acoustic)

Acoustic guitars can fall into two main categories – Steel strung and nylon strung. Steel strung acoustics obviously have steel strings. Nylon strung guitars which are also know as classical or Spanish guitars use nylon for the treble strings – G B E (the 3 thinnest strings). The Low E A and D (3 thickest strings) have a threaded nylon core and with bronze or silver plated copper wire wound around them.

Playing in tune is obviously vital. Luckily there are multiple options to ensure you’re always in tune.

The old fashioned way is to use pitch pipes. These work by blowing into the appropriate pipe for each string. You then use your ear to tune your guitar until the pitch matches the one produced by the tuning pipe. One advantage is that it improves your ability to hear pitches accurately. The disadvantage is that it may initially take longer to tune than other methods.

Another method is to use a guitar tuner. There are various versions of these. The picture below shows a standard guitar tuner. These work by plugging your guitar lead into the input. The needle on the screen moves from left to right when the string is plucked. If the needle is to the left the string is too low (flat) and needs to be raised in pitch. If the needle is to the right the string is too high (sharp). Once the needle is in the middle the string is in tune

These tuners clip on to the headstock of the guitar. They work via a sensor sensing the vibrations of the string rather than using a microphone. The big advantage of this tuner is the ability to tune in a noisy environment

Foot pedals are used by guitarists to create different sounds. A foot pedal tuner can be placed alongside other pedals in a guitarists pedal board. These tuners also have a mute function meaning a player can tune in silence between songs. For more information about pedals see the FX guide

Plectrums or picks are used to pluck or strum the guitar strings and can come in all sorts of shapes although they are usually triangular. The most common sizes shown in millimetres are:

Light picks have a softer sound so the heavier the pick the more volume is generated. Picks can be made of metal or wood but most commonly plastic. These different materials all produce a different sound so like many aspects of the guitar personal preference will dictate which pick is best for you. Some of the picks shown here also have grips helping the guitarist keep hold of it whilst playing.

The guitar lead plays an important role of a guitarists setup as it joins two key elements together – the guitar and amplifier. Many guitar and amp manufacturers provide free guitar leads with their equipment. These usually aren’t the best quality so we recommend buying the best cable you can afford.

A metronome is a practice tool for musicians. It produces a click or sometimes bleep, depending on the type of metronome. The tempo or beats per minutes (BPM) can be adjusted to increase or decrease. More modern or advanced metronomes can also select various time signatures. Metronomes are great for helping guitarists to learn to play in time and can help chart a players technical progress.

This kind of metronome originates from the 1800’s. It works by using a pendulum with an adjustable weight which slides up and down to increase or decrease the tempo.

Electronic metronomes use quartz crystals In the same manner as wrist watches do to keep accurate time. These kinds of tuners can produce bleeps or clicks for the pulse of the beat. Some of them can also have controls for volume and can produce tuning reference notes and place emphasis on different beats.

As with tuners there are various metronome apps for phones and tablets. The metronome shown here is the free app from our website. Notice the options for time signatures, BPM and volume.

A capo is used to raise the pitches of the notes played on the guitar. They are often used by guitarists who want to play a song in a different key but use the same chord shapes as the original song. They can be also used to create interesting chords that otherwise would be impossible to play. Capo’s can be made of metal or plastic and can be strapped or screwed to the neck. The capo below is a spring clamp capo, otherwise known as a trigger capo.

A guitarist has a few options for keeping their guitar safe when not in use. A traditional stand like the one shown here is a good choice. Some players prefer to keep their guitars on display by hanging them on wall hangers. Portable stands are a good idea, handy when rehearsing or when playing live.

Slides are cylinders that are usually made of metal, glass or ceramic. that are placed over the finger of a guitarist and allows the guitarist to create smooth glissando (slide) effects. Slide guitar which is also referred
to as bottleneck is predominantly used in blues and country music.

A good case is a must to protect your guitar. A hard case provides very good protection although is heavy to carry around. Soft cases can come with padding with the obvious advantage of being lighter than hard cases but provide less protection.

The guitar strap you choose should be based on your personal taste but also comfort. As some guitars can weigh up to 4 kilos its also important your strap can support the weight of your guitar. Straps can be made of various materials. Cheaper straps are usually nylon with the most common straps being made of leather. Some straps can also
have strap pin locks which help secure the strap to the guitar.