Guitar Anatomy: Understanding the Parts of a Guitar

Guitars are made up of tone-woods, strings, hardware (metal and plastic), and electronics. These all work together to create a unique musical instrument. When shopping for a new acoustic or electric guitar, you’re going to hear technical jargon. If you don’t know what some guitar parts are called, it will be tricky to pick the right one. By the end of this guide, you will be able to understand the parts of a guitar and make an informed decision.

While guitars have different shapes, designs, and features, the three main parts of all guitars are the same: body, neck, and head. Strings come stretched across these three sections, tying the whole instrument together. We will dig deeper into each part later on. The main point to remember is that all guitars start with these three main parts.

Three Main Parts of a Guitar

Body

The large curvy acoustic body is what most visualize when they think of a guitar. This sizable wood body acts as a resonant sound chamber that naturally amplifies the strings’ vibration. A round sound-hole often appears on the front body center. This is where the music emanates from. The two most common types of acoustics are Dreadnoughts (large body and wide waist) and the Concert Acoustic (small waist, lighter frame). Because of the classical design of the acoustic, an amplifier or any electrical attachments are not necessary for volume.

The electric guitar body comes in a myriad of shapes and lively colors. In contrast to the acoustic, the electric guitar’s body does not create much of a sound on its own. Instead, an electric guitar requires magnetic pickups to reproduce and amplify sound. The pickups convert the string vibrations into electrical signals. Therefore, electric guitars are designed to sound best when plugged into an amplifier. Like many acoustics, electrics often have a cutaway or a portion of the upper body removed to access the upper frets better.

Neck

The neck is the long part of the guitar that connects the strings between the head and the body. People often mix up the terms “neck” and “fretboard,” but the fretboard is solely the front part of the neck. Guitars can have differently designed necks. Many are made by solid pieces of wood or by laminating multiple pieces of wood together —such as maple, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, and walnut — with different finishes for levels of grip and smoothness.

Head

With the exception of “headless” guitars, all guitars have a head or “headstock.” This part of the guitar is where the strings firmly connect to and twist around the tuning pegs. Headstock shapes vary. The two most common headstock layouts are 3+3 style (where there are three tuners per side) and 6 in line (which has all six tuners on one side).  Guitar headstocks feature a nut (plastic, bone, or synthetic) which keeps the strings spaced correctly, elevates them above the fretboard and defines one end of the vibrating length of the open strings. The other end is determined by the bridge, helping to support the strings further and transmit the vibration of the strings to the body of the guitar all while helping the tuning heads keep the strings in proper tension.

Now that we understand the three main parts of a guitar, let’s examine what is specific to an acoustic and an electric guitar.

Acoustics

Acoustics produce sound that can be twangy or more full and round, depending on whether you’re strumming chords with a pick, playing a riff, or fingerpicking. The woods used in acoustics vary in density and grain, allowing individual guitars to have a unique warmth or brightness.

Some acoustics even come with internal pickups designed for live performance. These guitars are called acoustic-electrics and look just like regular acoustic guitars, except that they have an input jack for amplification.

The acoustic is the most ubiquitous, often seen and idealized as the “beginner” guitar, but this is not true for everybody. The guitar you choose depends on your specific goals and the musical styles you’d like to play.

Electrics

The body of an electric guitar contains several additional parts that an acoustic guitar does not: pickups, the pickup selector switch, volume/tone knobs, and an input jack.

• Pickups are boxy magnetic devices that sit under the strings in electric guitars. They convert the vibration into electrical signals, then route out into an amplifier. They are commonly designed as “single coils” or “humbuckers.”
• The pickup selector switch chooses between the pickups. The toggle switch gives the guitar player the ability to select various combinations of pickups at any given time. There are numerous types of selector pickup selector switches on different electric guitars. Although, the two most common types are “3-way” and “5-way” pickups. Which selector position should you use? It’s up to you! It’s a matter of personal interpretation.
• If you’ve seen or played an electric guitar before, you’ve noticed the volume or tone control knobs on the lower front body. These are often not labeled, and historically takes some experimentation to hear the differences between them. The volume knob increases or decreases the output level of your guitar. The tone control knobs allow you to filter high or low frequencies in or out of your guitar tone.
• The input jack is where you plug your cable into an amplifier. Often this is in the front or off to the bottom, hidden from view. All electric guitars have these.

Remember, acoustic and electric guitars are identical in form and function. The only difference is how the sounds are amplified. You can apply whatever you learn directly from one type of guitar to the other — same fretboards and tuning options, same chords, notes, and theory.

When you’re shopping for the perfect guitar — whether you’re considering volume, tone, comfort, or any other feature — there are a few details you will want to inquire about. Although, this article offers the foundation you’ll need whether you’re a beginner or veteran player.