Electric Guitars: Creating Music The Techie Way

Article by Quinlan Murray









Electric guitars strike the perfect balance between skill and technology. An electric guitar uses pickup attachments to convert vibrations of the steel cored strings into electrical current, which is made louder with the help of an amplifier and a speaker. The sound produced may also be altered with electronic effects, such as, reverb, and distortion. This causes a lot of classical guitar players to scoff at electric guitars, calling them instruments of the amateurs. But truth be told, learning how to play guitar is a lot better with electric guitars. Besides, most electric guitars will also come bundled with electronic tuners to help new players with the tuning.

An electric guitar usually has a solid body, with steel strings. The body is usually solid and made of wood or metal. This makes an electric guitar a lot heavier than its acoustic counterpart. Electric guitars typically have six strings, but variations are not hard to come by either. The variations include 1-string, 4-string, 7-string or even 12-string guitars. The one string guitar is extremely rare and is used by some singers of blues genre of music. The 4-string variant, also known as the ?tenor guitar? is used by some rock and blues singers. The seven string guitar finds use in progressive rock and alternative music. The eight and nine-string variants are often used by musicians of alternative rock or jazz. 12 or 14-string guitars are used by heavy metal band guitarists. There are also 3rd bridge guitar, used by some progressive rock musicians. These are tough to master, but can produce a wide variety of notes. Bass guitarists sometimes use double-neck guitars, but its heavy weight makes it cumbersome to carry around.

Electric guitars can be harsh on the new player?s fingers. The steel strings will make the fingers sore after long hours of practice. However, with time, the player will develop protective calluses on fingers that will prevent further injury. Unlike acoustic guitars, electric guitars with nylon wires are not commercially available.

Electric guitars come with a lot of additional equipments. A speaker and amplifier must be attached with the guitar in order to obtain sufficient amplification in the sound produced by plucking the strings. These additional equipments may cost more than the guitar itself at times. But in order to comfortably learn how to play guitar, electric guitar is certainly the best investment a person can make.



About the Author

At World Music Supply, we offer acoustic guitars in all your favorite models and styles. From Strats (Stratocasters) to Teles (Telecasters), jazzy arch-tops to cool signatures, metal guitars, and even smaller sized guitars for those just beginning, we’ve got something for everyone, in top brands like Fender, ESP, B.C. Rich, and Jackson.