Prologue

In this section we will analyze and observe the various models and types of guitars.
This because its fundamental to know both the anatomy of the instrument and its more important variations.
The anatomy is important because the instrument that we play is not simply a "piece of wood", but something something much more than that...
The term "variations" indicates the fact that there are innumerable types of instruments, both acoustic and electric. Just think of how many companies, guitar makers, craftsman and individuals who have made instruments in the past century.
It's therefore impossible to know all the models, names, series, etc. In this section we will try to be as updated as possible, regarding the production of both new and existing models.
Here is the list of subjects that you will find in this section.

Anatomy of the acoustic guitar Structure of the classical guitar Structure of the folk guitar Variations of the instrument

Construction techniques of the acoustic guitar Woods The body of the guitar The neck The fretboard The bridge The headstock The diapason

Anatomy of the electric guitar Analysis of the electric guitar Structure of the folk guitar

Construction techniques of the electric guitar The body of the guitar The neck The pick-up: the voice of the instrument The single-coil pick-up The humbucking pick-up Il pick-up splittabile The passive pick-up The active pick-up Volume and Tone The fixed bridge The tremolo bridge

Who has never seen a guitar? Probably nobody, because its surely the most famous and most played instrument, without underestimating the value of any other type of musical instrument. For those who want to learn how to use it, its reccommended that they know the aesthetics, at least of the primary parts. There are three fundamental models: the Classical Guitar, Folk Guitar and the Electric Guitar.
The Classic Guitar is the instrument best suited for those who are at the beginning. Aesthetically, its composed of two main elements: the body and the neck. The body is divided into three parts: two panels combined to a lateral strip. The top panel has an opening, called the soundhole, which serves to vent for the amplification of the vibration of the moving strings. The quality of the resulting sound comes from the wood: the better the wood of the body, the better the sound. The size of the body defines the tone of the instrument as well as the acoustic volume. The neck is the part that projects from the body and is also divided into three parts: the neck itself, the fretboard (glued to the neck and is usually made of darker wood), and the headstock where the tuners are anchored. The fretboard is divided into sections called frets. The frets define the notes according to very precise rules, which we will see shortly. There are six strings, three nylon and three metal: however these materials can vary depending on the model. The neck is normally glued to the body of the instrument through an extension. The strings are fixed to the saddle (glued to the top panel of the resonance chamber), resting on the bone of the bridge and the capo at the top of the fretboard, and are then inserted into the tuners on the headstock. The reason why its best for beginners to use the classical guitar is very simple: having nylon strings, its very soft to the touch of the fingers, seeing they have to get used to the pressure of the strings themselves. With time callus' will form on the finger tips.
The Folk Guitar, which to many is also called the Acoustic Guitar, has a much bigger and wider body than the Classical Guitar (even if lately there are models with smaller resonance chambers) and above all the strings are metal. The fretboard is usually more narrow. The sound of this instrument is more brilliant and voluminous with respect to its classical cousin. I would like to clarify that usually the term "acoustic" is used for the folk guitar, even if the classical guitar is also an acoustic instrument: this term means that the guitar is able to amplify sound waves naturally, without the help of artificial materials.
The Electric Guitar instead has a solid wood body, reduced dimensions with respect to acoustic guitars, and above all amplifies the sound using particular magnetic microphones (pick-up's) that send the sound to the amplifier. The possibilities of this type of instrument are many, also due to the various combinations between guitars, amplifiers and effects. The fact remains that the classical and acoustic guitars can be amplified with the help of particular magnets (piezoelectric pick-up's).
Variations are added to these three basic models (Classical, Acoustic and Electric), like for example the semiacoustic guitar (also called the jazz guitar), which has an empty resonance chamber and is amplified using normal pick-up's.