Tapping (t?p??) is a term that describes a specific playing technique, where instead of strumming, players use the pressure from their right hand to push down on the strings that they want to sound. Tapping is accomplished easiest by performing a hammer-on with the fretting hand, and one additional hammer-on with the strumming hand. Therefore, tapping is usually just two hammer-ons performed simultaneously. Most players use their strumming hand’s index finger, but some players find it comfortable to use their middle finger.
Tambour (tambour) is a technique used heavily in Latin and classical guitar, where the guitarist rapidly beats the strings of the chord, generally located immediately inside the bridge, with the flat side of the right hand. The desired effect of this technique is to produce percussive sounds, similar to a snare drum, which permits the strings to vibrate. While using tambour, a range of tones can be created by striking varied distances from the bridge with distinct parts of the right hand or thumb. Performed incorrectly, the tambour technique can instead cause the sound of the strings to be dampened.
A Stomp Box (st??mp b??ks), also commonly referred to as a “foot pedal”, is an electronic device used by electric guitar players to modify their instrument’s sound. As stomp boxes are equipped with foot-activated switches, their name refers to the practice of putting the device on the floor and using a foot to turn it on and off.
As with all pedals, guitarists plug their instruments into a stomp box and then plug that device into an amplifiers. Guitarists who wish to use several stomp boxes often mount them on pedalboards, which are designed to accommodate provide power to a number of pedals. Most pedals will also run on batteries (usually 9v). Most pedals have several other controls to tweak their characteristics, such as gain, volume, or tone knobs. Certain pedals such as volume pedals and wahs can be manipulated with a foot as the guitarist plays.
A Stack (stak) is a term that refers to an amplifier mounted on top of two 4″ x 12″ speaker cabinets. The term is originally credited to Peter Townshend of The Who, who was one of Marshall Amplifiers’ first celebrity clients. After his roadies threatened a mutiny against moving a gigantic 8×12 cabinet, Marshall divided the speaker array into a pair of more manageable 4×12 cabinets that could be stacked on top of each other. The huge sound, volume, and striking visual image soon became a rock standard.
Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are just a few of the influential Marshall stack players in rock guitar history.
Single Coil Pickups (s???g?l k??yl p??k??ps) are a set of magnets that are wound with copper wire to act as transducers of sound that feed a guitar’s signal to an amplifier. Different than double coil pickups, which which have two coils with opposite polarities to reduce electrical and are known as “humbuckers”, single coil pickups are known for their bright and clean tones.
The first pickups were added to steel string guitars were single coil pickups. Known as the Gibson “Charlie Christian” pickup, the Gibson P-90 pickup was a fat sounding single coil that could simultaneously deliver clear highs.
The sound of single coil pickups are most epitomized by the more modern Fender guitars. From the bell like bite of the Telecaster, the smoother and more versatile Stratocaster to the mellower Jazzmaster Leo Fender’s single coil pickup design is the most popular single coil pickup for the modern guitar player.
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