The Fretboard (fr??tb??rd), also known as a fingerboard, is the part of the guitar used to change the tones made by plucked or strummed strings. Located on the front of a guitar’s neck, fretboards are generally made of rosewood but can be made from a variety of other woods.
As the length (and thickness) of the string is what determines its tone, pressing a vibrating string against the frets laid into the fretboard changes the effective length of the string being played. This is how the tone of a string is changed.
A fretboard is common to almost all stringed instruments, not all of which are fretted. Most guitars, both electric and acoustic, have at least twenty two frets on their fretboard. Only twelve frets are actually needed at a minimum, because that is the number needed to produce one full octave per string.
The Neck (n??k) of a guitar is the piece of wood that extends from the guitar body and ends with the headstock. Most necks have small dots on the fretboard to signify the fret number. On custom guitars the fret markers will often be pictures or different shapes depending on the theme. Some necks are bolted on to the main body of the guitar, while others are part of the body itself. The neck is where the frets and fretboard are glued to the guitar. Attached to the headstock are the tuning machines and truss rod. The frets are the small ridges down the neck against which the strings are pushed to form notes.
The Pickguard (pickguard) is a heavily customizable piece of protective material that is placed beneath the strings of a guitar. It helps prevent a guitarist from damaging the body of his guitar with the pick. The pickguard is generally shaped much like the guitar itself, but many companies manufacture specialized pickguards that come in shapes ranging from circles to diamonds.
The pickguard also comes in a variety of patterns and colors and can be used to give a guitar a very unique appearance. Many guitarists switch pick guards periodically, in order to give their instruments a fresh and more trendy appearance.
Bridge Pins are the pegs that fasten the strings of the guitar into the bridge. They generally have a grove on one side, which is used to secure the ball end of the string against the inside of the bridge. Bridge pins are generally only found on acoustic guitars and can be made of a variety of different types of materials, such as plastic, bone, ebony, ivory
Out of all the rock songs in the world, Twice as Hard by the Black Crowes is the one that gets me the most excited about playing the guitar. I love the opening riff, how the nitty and gritty tone of the lead guitar is a perfect complement to the lead singer’s iconic vocal timber and the general IN-YOUR-FACE-ROCK feel.
The Saddle (s?d?l) is the part on the body of the guitar that stops a plucked string from vibrating. On most guitars, the saddle is laid into the bridge and is used to change the angle of the string. On acoustic guitars, the saddle can be made of a single piece of bone, plastic, or artificial materials, like Micarta or Tusq. On most archtop guitars, the saddle is made either of wood or metal, such as brass. Modern electric guitars will usually sport individual steel, aluminum, or brass saddles.
Some guitars come with a 2-part or “split saddle”, which means that there are an extended break points carved into the saddle for the 1st and 2nd strings. This allows for using a variety of light or heavy string gauges to be used without concerns that the guitar will not play in tune higher up the neck.
The Bridge is the part if the guitar where the strings are attached to the body of the guitar. On acoustic guitars, the bridge tends to be made of woods, and on electric guitars the bridge tends to made from metals.
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