My Guitar Notes

Glossary

371 terms.

Definitions written for this site — what a thing is, not what it sells for.

Amplification

Amp in a box — A pedal designed to reproduce the sound of a complete amplifier and cabinet, often used at the end of a pedalboard or as a recording device.

Amp stand — A tilted stand that raises and angles an amplifier so it points at the player's ears rather than their ankles.

Attenuator — A device placed between an amplifier and its speaker that absorbs power so the amplifier can be driven hard at a lower listening volume.

Bias — The steady direct-current condition set for an amplifier's output valves, which determines how they idle and how they distort. Bias can be fixed or cathode-biased.

Cabinet — A speaker enclosure, usually housing one or more drivers in a wooden box with a baffle. Cabinet size, construction and speaker type shape the sound as much as the amplifier does.

Clean tone — An amplifier setting or design point at which the signal is amplified without intentional distortion, preserving the character of the guitar and pickups.

Combo — An amplifier with its speaker built into the same cabinet, convenient for practice and small gigs.

Distortion — Deliberate hard clipping of the signal, adding strong odd and even harmonics and compressing dynamics. It is central to rock and metal guitar tone.

Effects loop — A send-and-return path that places pedals after the preamp and before the power amp, so time-based effects are not distorted by the preamp.

Fuzz — A distortion character produced by very hard, often asymmetric clipping, giving a thick, buzzy, sustaining tone. Classic circuits use germanium or silicon transistors.

Gain — The amount of amplification applied in the preamp. Higher gain drives later stages into distortion, so gain doubles as a distortion control.

Head — An amplifier without its own speaker, designed to drive a separate speaker cabinet.

Headroom — The amount of amplification available before the circuit begins to distort. High-headroom amplifiers stay clean at loud volumes; low-headroom designs break up early.

Hybrid amp — An amplifier combining a valve and a solid-state stage, for example a valve preamp with a transistor power section.

Impulse response — A mathematical capture of a system's response to a brief input, used by digital modelers to reproduce the sound of a specific speaker cabinet and microphone placement.

Load box — A resistive or reactive dummy load that replaces the speaker, allowing an amplifier to run without producing sound so its output can be recorded or attenuated.

Master volume — A control that sets the overall level after the preamp, letting the preamp be driven for distortion while keeping listening volume low.

Microphonic valve — A valve whose internal elements vibrate mechanically, injecting ringing or handling noise into the signal path.

Modeling — Digital reproduction of the character of specific amplifiers, cabinets, microphones and effects by processing the signal with algorithms rather than analogue circuitry.

Ohms — The unit of impedance. Amplifiers and cabinets must be matched in impedance, commonly 4, 8 or 16 ohms, or the amplifier may overheat or be damaged.

Overdrive — Gentle, progressive clipping that adds harmonics and compression without the aggressive edge of heavy distortion. Often produced by driving a valve or a pedal emulating one.

Power amp — The final stage that raises the signal to the level needed to drive the speakers.

Preamp — The first stage of an amplifier, which sets the gain, tone and much of the character before the signal reaches the power stage.

Profiling — A modelling approach that analyses an existing physical rig and builds a digital replica of its response, rather than simulating a known circuit design.

Reverb — Simulated or mechanical ambience, produced by springs, plates, digital algorithms or a room. The springs in classic guitar amplifiers give a distinctive boingy character.

Reverb tank — The spring assembly used to create spring reverb, in which a signal is sent through coiled springs and picked up by a transducer at the far end.

Solid state — An amplifier built from transistors rather than valves. It is lighter, cooler, more consistent and needs no warm-up, and its distortion character differs from a valve amplifier.

Speaker — The electro-mechanical driver converting amplifier output into sound. Guitar speakers are typically 8 to 12 inches in diameter with power ratings from around 15 to over 100 watts.

Speaker simulation — Hardware or software that models the frequency response of a speaker and cabinet, used when recording an amplifier's output directly.

Standby switch — A switch that holds an amplifier between off and fully on, usually used to keep the valves warm and to mute the output during breaks.

Valve — A thermionic vacuum tube that amplifies the signal. Valve amplifiers are valued for the way they compress and distort as they are driven, and they require periodic replacement of the tubes.

Wattage — The power rating of an amplifier or speaker. Guitar amplifiers are often rated well below their audible loudness because valve output clips gracefully rather than cutting out.

Effects & Pedals

Auto-wah — A filter effect whose cutoff moves in response to the player's picking dynamics instead of a treadle.

Boost — A pedal that raises the signal level, either as a clean volume lift or as a treble or midrange emphasis to push an amplifier harder.

Buffer vs true bypass — The trade-off between keeping a low-noise, low-impedance signal path with an always-on buffer and keeping the shortest possible path at the cost of cable loading.

Buffered bypass — A bypass arrangement that keeps an active buffer in the signal path even when the effect is off, preserving signal strength through long chains.

Chain order — The sequence in which effects are connected. It matters because each effect processes the output of the one before it, so gain, dynamics and time-based effects interact strongly.

Chorus — A modulation effect that mixes the dry signal with one or more slightly delayed, pitch-modulated copies, producing a widening, shimmering sound.

Compressor — A dynamics processor that reduces the difference between loud and quiet passages above a threshold, adding sustain and evenness. Guitar compressors are usually placed early in the chain.

Daisy chain — A single power output feeding several pedals in parallel, which is cheap but can cause noise and insufficient current.

Delay — An effect that repeats the input signal after a set time, with controls for delay time, feedback and mix. Analogue, tape, digital and modelled varieties differ audibly.

Distortion pedal — A pedal producing harder clipping than an overdrive, with its own gain structure and often a separate tone control.

Dynamics — The variation in loudness within a performance. Effects can preserve, reduce or deliberately exaggerate dynamics.

Envelope filter — A filter whose cutoff frequency follows the amplitude envelope of the input signal, giving a quacky, funk-oriented sound controlled by attack strength.

EQ pedal — A pedal providing tone shaping independent of the amplifier, commonly with graphic bands or parametric controls.

Expander — A dynamics processor that increases the difference between quiet and loud signals, the opposite of a compressor.

Expression pedal — A pedal with a rocking treadle that varies a parameter continuously, commonly volume, wah, or a modulation control such as delay time or reverb mix.

Flanger — A modulation effect using a very short, swept delay mixed with the dry signal. Comb filtering produces the characteristic jet-plane sweep.

Fuzz pedal — A pedal producing hard, asymmetric clipping, from the germanium two-transistor designs of the 1960s to modern silicon versions.

Harmoniser — A pitch shifter that adds intervals chosen by key or scale rather than a fixed interval.

Level — The output amplitude of an effect. Setting it correctly, rather than leaving it at a nominal value, is what keeps a chain from gaining or losing volume.

Loop — A repeating recorded passage, created either by a dedicated looper pedal or as part of a multi-effects unit.

Mix — The balance between the processed and unprocessed signal within an effect, often called blend or wet/dry.

Multi-effects — A single unit containing many effect types with digital signal processing, presets and often amp modelling.

Noise gate — A processor that mutes or attenuates the signal below a threshold, removing hum and hiss, especially with high-gain tones.

Octave pedal — A pedal that generates a pitch one or two octaves below or above the input, either as a clean analogue divider or by digital tracking. Some types respond only to the neck pickup and a rolled-off volume.

Overdrive pedal — A pedal that emulates the soft clipping of a driven valve amplifier, often used to push an already clean or already distorting amp harder.

Pedal — A foot-operated effects unit, usually housed in a metal enclosure with a switch, one or more controls and jacks for input, output and power.

Pedalboard — A board or case that mounts pedals in a fixed order with a shared power supply and cabling, making a consistent rig portable.

Phaser — A modulation effect that shifts the phase of part of the signal and mixes it back, creating moving notches in the frequency response without the metallic quality of a flanger.

Pitch shifter — A pedal that transposes the input signal in real time, used for harmonising, octave effects and drop tunings.

Power supply — The unit providing direct current to pedals. Isolated outputs prevent digital pedals from injecting noise into analogue ones.

Sustain — The duration for which a note remains audible. Compression, feedback and instrument construction all affect it.

Tap tempo — Setting a time-based effect's delay or modulation rate by tapping a switch in time with the music, rather than dialling in a number.

Tap tempo switch — A dedicated footswitch for setting effect timing by tapping, common on delay and modulation pedals.

Tremolo effect — Amplitude modulation that varies the volume of the signal periodically. It is distinct from vibrato, which varies pitch.

Vibrato — Periodic variation of pitch, produced by the player's fingers or by a modulation circuit or bridge mechanism.

Wah — A filter pedal whose sweep moves a resonant peak up and down the spectrum to create a vocal, talking effect. It exists in inductor and inductorless designs.

Hardware & Construction

Action — The height of the strings above the frets, measured at a given fret. Low action is easier to play but buzzes more readily; high action resists buzz and suits heavy picking.

Archtop — A guitar with a carved or pressed domed top, typically strung with heavier strings and used for jazz. The top is braced to resist string tension and often carries a floating pickup.

B-Bender — A mechanical device, usually strap-operated, that raises the pitch of the B string by a whole tone, imitating pedal steel bends.

Baritone guitar — A guitar with a scale length longer than standard and often tuned lower, typically to B or A standard, so it sounds below a conventional guitar without excessive string looseness.

Body — The main structural mass of the instrument, which carries the bridge, pickups and controls and shapes its acoustic behaviour and weight.

Bolt-on neck — A neck attached with screws through a neck plate or ferrules into the neck heel, allowing replacement and simple shimming. It is characteristic of many production electrics.

Break angle — The angle at which a string leaves a contact point such as the nut or saddle; a steeper angle increases downward pressure and can improve sustain but also friction.

Bridge — The assembly that anchors the strings at the body end and, on most designs, transfers their vibration into the top or body. Fixed and floating designs differ in how they are adjusted.

Chambered body — A body routed with internal hollows before a top is glued on, reducing weight while retaining the outline of a solid-body design.

Compound radius — A fretboard whose curvature flattens gradually from the nut to the heel, combining comfortable chording near the headstock with easier bending higher up the neck.

Control cavity — The hollowed section of the body housing the potentiometers, switch and wiring, usually closed by a plastic or wooden cover plate.

Ferrule — A metal insert in the body that accepts a neck screw or a string-through-body string end.

Floating bridge — A bridge balanced on springs so it can move in both directions, allowing pitch to be raised as well as lowered. It is common on archtop guitars and vibrato-equipped solid bodies.

Floating pickup — A pickup mounted on the pickguard or a bracket rather than cut into the top of an archtop guitar, leaving the soundboard uncut and free to vibrate.

Floyd Rose — A double-locking tremolo system with a clamping nut and bridge saddles that lock the strings at both ends, allowing extreme pitch changes while holding tune.

Fret — A raised metal strip set into the fretboard, dividing the string length into semitone positions. Stopping the string against a fret is what defines pitch.

Fret levelling — The process of grinding the tops of the frets flat and true with a levelling beam, then re-crowning and polishing them, so the neck can be set up with low action and no buzzing.

Fret radius — The curvature of the fretboard across its width, quoted as the radius of the circle it forms. A smaller radius such as 7.25 inches is more curved and comfortable for chords; a larger radius such as 16 inches is flatter and suits low action and bending.

Fretboard — The flat surface, usually a separate piece of wood, into which the frets are pressed. On many instruments it is rosewood, maple or ebony.

Fretless — An instrument with no metal frets, where pitch is set by the player's finger position. It is found on basses and some guitars and gives a smooth, gliding voice.

Hardtail — A bridge with no moving tremolo mechanism, so the string anchor is rigidly fixed to the body. It offers stable tuning and efficient transfer of string vibration.

Headstock — The section at the far end of the neck that carries the tuning machines and, on most instruments, the break angle of the strings over the nut.

Heel — The part of the neck where it meets and joins the body. A slimmer heel improves access to the highest frets.

Hollow body — A guitar whose body is built as an acoustic box, usually with f-holes. It resonates strongly and can feed back at high amplification levels.

Intonation — The accuracy with which fretted notes match their intended pitches along the neck. It is adjusted at each saddle so the twelfth-fret harmonic and the fretted twelfth-fret note agree.

Jack plate — The metal or plastic plate on the body that holds the output socket, protecting the wood from wear as cables are plugged and unplugged.

Kahler — A cam-operated tremolo bridge design, an alternative to the spring-and-pivot approach, known for a smooth feel and stable return to pitch.

Locking nut — A nut fitted with clamps that grip the strings behind the nut, holding tuning steady during heavy tremolo use. It requires fine tuners at the bridge to adjust pitch.

Locking strap — A strap whose ends clip or clamp onto the guitar's strap buttons to prevent accidental detachment.

Locking tuner — A machine head whose post clamps the string, removing the need for multiple wraps and improving tuning stability.

Multi-scale — A design in which each string has a different scale length, with longer low strings and shorter high strings, so the frets form a fan pattern rather than a straight line.

Neck — The long part of the instrument carrying the fretboard, frets and nut, and joining the body at the heel. Its profile, or carve, determines how it sits in the hand.

Neck plate — A metal or plastic plate on the back of the body that spreads the load of the neck screws.

Neck pocket — The routed recess in the body into which a bolt-on neck is fitted; its depth and angle set the neck alignment and therefore the action.

Neck profile — The cross-sectional shape and thickness of the back of the neck, described with terms such as C, D, V and U profile, plus a thickness measurement at the first and twelfth frets.

Neck-through — Construction in which a single piece of wood runs the full length of the instrument and the body wings are glued to its sides. It gives a continuous structural path from headstock to tailpiece.

Nut — The slotted block at the headstock end of the neck that spaces the strings and sets their height above the first fret. It strongly affects action, intonation and tuning stability.

Pickguard — A protective plate fixed to the top of the body to shield the finish from pick contact. On many electrics it also carries the pickups and controls.

Pickguard-mounted pickup — A pickup fixed to the pickguard rather than directly to the body, common on archtops and on some solid bodies.

Pickup cavity — The routed recess in the body that houses a pickup; its depth sets the range of pickup height adjustment.

Pickup ring — The plastic surround that trims the gap between a humbucker or P90 and the body cavity.

Re-crown — Restoring the rounded profile of a fret after levelling has flattened its top, usually with a crowning file before polishing.

Relief — The slight forward bow deliberately set into a neck so that the middle of the string length clears the frets. It is usually measured at the eighth fret with a feeler gauge or by sighting down the neck.

Roller nut — A nut fitted with small rollers for each string, which reduces friction and helps tuning stability with a tremolo.

Saddle — The individual block under each string on an electric bridge, or the single slotted strip on an acoustic bridge. Adjusting its position sets intonation and its height sets action.

Scale length — The theoretical vibrating length of the strings, measured from the nut to the centre of the twelfth fret and doubled. It is set per instrument, and the fret positions and string tension follow from it.

Semi-hollow — A guitar with a hollow or partly hollow body containing a solid centre block, which supports the pickups and bridge and limits feedback.

Set neck — A neck joined to the body with adhesive, giving continuous wood contact across the joint. It is typical of many classic solid bodies and offers strong sustain.

Seven-string guitar — A guitar with an extra lower string, usually tuned to B, extending the range below the standard six strings and used heavily in metal and some jazz.

Shim — A thin piece of material placed in the neck pocket to change the neck angle, most often to correct action when a truss rod adjustment alone is insufficient.

Strap button — A small projecting post, screwed into the body, that retains a guitar strap.

String gauge — The diameter of guitar strings, expressed in thousandths of an inch, for example 0.010 to 0.046. Heavier gauges need more tension and give more output and stability; lighter gauges bend more easily.

String retainer bar — A bar fitted behind a locking nut to hold the strings down at the correct angle.

String tension — The force each string exerts at pitch, determined by its mass, vibrating length and tuning. Total tension is what the neck and truss rod must resist.

String tree — A small guide fitted to a headstock to increase the break angle over the nut for the highest strings.

String-through body — A bridge design in which strings pass through the body and anchor at the back, increasing the break angle and contact with the body.

Top-loading bridge — A bridge in which strings anchor at the rear of the bridge itself rather than passing through the body.

Tremolo — A spring-loaded bridge mechanism that varies string tension to bend pitch. Despite the name it changes pitch rather than volume; a synchronised tremolo floats above the body.

Truss rod — An adjustable metal rod set inside the neck that counteracts string tension. Tightening it bows the neck backward and loosening it lets string tension pull the neck forward, so relief can be set precisely.

Tuner — The geared mechanism at the headstock that adjusts string tension. Common designs are sealed die-cast, open-gear vintage and locking types.

Twelve-string guitar — A guitar whose six courses each carry two strings, most often tuned in octaves for the lower four courses and in unison for the top two. The paired strings beat against each other to give a chiming sound.

Whammy bar — The arm attached to a tremolo unit that the player uses to move the bridge. Also called a tremolo arm or vibrato bar.

Winding — The wire wrapped around a string core. Round-wound strings are bright and noisy under the fingers; flat-wound strings are smooth, darker and quieter, and are common on jazz guitars.

Wound third string — A wound G string rather than a plain one, giving a fuller, more even tone at the cost of harder bending. Common on acoustic and jazz sets.

Zero fret — An extra fret immediately in front of the nut, so open strings sound from a metal contact rather than the nut slot. This equalises tone between open and fretted notes.

Zero nut — A nut whose slots are cut so the strings sit exactly at the first-fret height, giving the same feel as a zero fret design.

Instruments & Types

Accessory — Any add-on used with a guitar such as a capo, slide, strap, stand or pick holder.

Acoustic guitar — A guitar whose sound is produced by a vibrating soundboard and a resonating body rather than by amplification. Steel-string and classical types differ in bracing, strings and neck.

Acoustic-electric — An acoustic guitar fitted with an onboard pickup and preamp so it can be plugged into a PA or amplifier.

Alternate tuning — Any tuning other than standard, used to enable particular voicings, ranges or techniques.

Banjo — A four-, five- or six-string instrument with a drum-like membrane head that gives a loud, percussive attack.

Bass guitar — A low-register, usually four-string instrument with a long scale length, plucked rather than strummed.

Classical guitar — An acoustic guitar strung with nylon, with a wider neck, flat fretboard and traditionally fan-braced soundboard.

Dreadnought — A large-bodied steel-string acoustic shape with a wide waist and deep body, known for volume and strong bass.

Drop tuning — A tuning in which the lowest string is lowered by a whole tone, so a single finger can bar the lowest three strings as a power chord.

Electric bass — A bass guitar using magnetic pickups, usually with a scale length around 34 inches for a four-string instrument.

Electric guitar — A guitar whose strings are amplified by magnetic pickups. Its acoustic output is minimal and its voice depends on pickups, electronics and amplifier.

Fan fret — A multi-scale design whose frets are progressively angled, so each string has the scale length best suited to its pitch range.

Fingerstyle — Playing with the fingers rather than a pick, which allows independent bass, chord and melody lines and a wider range of articulation.

Guitar synthesizer — A system that converts guitar performance into control signals for a synthesizer, or an instrument with synthesis built in. It tracks pitch and dynamics from the strings.

Harp guitar — A guitar with additional unstopped bass strings extending from the body, plucked separately from the fretted strings.

Headless guitar — A design with tuning mechanisms at the bridge and no headstock, reducing weight and changing the instrument's balance.

Jumbo — A very large acoustic body shape, larger than a dreadnought, with a big, balanced voice and strong projection.

Lap steel — A steel guitar played horizontally on the player's lap, with the strings stopped by a steel bar rather than by fingers.

Left-handed guitar — An instrument strung and built, or converted, for playing with the opposite handedness. True left-handed builds mirror the body and nut rather than simply restringing.

Mandolin — A short-scale eight-string instrument in four courses, tuned in fifths and usually played with a plectrum.

MIDI — A digital protocol for sending performance data such as note, velocity and controller messages between equipment. A guitar can drive it via a hex pickup and converter.

Open tuning — A tuning in which the open strings sound a complete chord, allowing barre shapes to move that chord up and down the neck.

Orchestra model — An acoustic body shape smaller and narrower-waisted than a dreadnought, favouring balance and fingerstyle playing over raw bass.

Parlour guitar — A small-bodied acoustic guitar, generally under a full size, comfortable to hold and typically midrange-focused.

Parlour size — A small acoustic body size, traditionally around twelve inches across the lower bout, suited to fingerstyle and light strings.

Pedal steel guitar — A steel guitar whose pitch changes are made by foot pedals and knee levers acting on the strings through a mechanical linkage.

Pick — A small plectrum of plastic, nylon, tortex, wood or metal used to strike the strings. Thickness and material change attack, tone and control.

Resonator guitar — A guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones rather than a wooden soundboard, giving a loud, metallic voice. Played with a slide in several styles.

Semi-acoustic guitar — A broad term covering both semi-hollow electrics and acoustic guitars fitted with pickups; when used precisely it describes a guitar bridging the acoustic and electric families.

Slide guitar — A technique using a hard, smooth object — a bottleneck, glass or metal bar — on the strings to produce gliding pitch changes. It is common to resonator and lap steel instruments.

Solid body — An electric guitar whose body is a single mass of wood with no acoustic chamber, which limits feedback and sustains evenly across the range.

Steel-string guitar — An acoustic guitar designed for metal strings, braced to take higher tension and usually louder and brighter than a classical instrument.

Tenor guitar — A four-string guitar, often tuned in fifths, historically used in jazz and folk rhythm playing.

Tuning — The pitches to which the open strings are set. Standard tuning for a six-string guitar is E-A-D-G-B-E from lowest to highest.

Ukulele — A small four-string instrument of the guitar family, usually tuned to re-entrant G-C-E-A and played with the fingers.

Pickups & Electronics

Active pickup — A pickup containing a preamplifier powered by a battery, usually 9 volts. The onboard circuit buffers the signal, giving high output, low noise and a consistent tone that is largely independent of cable capacitance.

Alnico — A family of magnetic alloys of aluminium, nickel and cobalt used for pickup magnets. Grades such as Alnico 2, 3 and 5 differ in strength and in the character they lend.

Blade pickup — A pickup using a single steel blade instead of individual pole pieces, which makes string spacing less critical.

Blend control — A control that mixes two pickup sources continuously — for example a magnetic pickup and a piezo bridge — instead of switching between them.

Bridge pickup — The pickup closest to the bridge, sensing a smaller string excursion and producing a brighter, tighter, more biting tone.

Buffer — A unity-gain circuit that presents a high input impedance and a low output impedance, isolating the guitar from the capacitance and loading of long cable runs and pedal chains.

Buzz — High-frequency noise or an intermittent rasp, often caused by a poor solder joint, a loose jack, a failing ground connection or grounding problems rather than by radiated interference.

Capacitor — A component that stores charge and passes high frequencies preferentially. In a guitar it sets the cutoff of the tone control: typical values are 0.022 µF for humbuckers and 0.047 µF for single coils.

Ceramic magnet — A strong, inexpensive ferrite magnet used in many high-output pickups, typically associated with a tighter low end and more aggressive top end.

Coil split — A wiring option that electrically disconnects one coil of a humbucker, leaving a single-coil signal. It produces a brighter, thinner and hum-prone tone rather than a true single-coil sound, because the remaining coil still has the humbucker geometry.

Coil tap — A connection to a point partway along a pickup coil, so only part of the winding is used. It reduces output and shifts the resonant peak upward; it is different from a coil split, which disables a whole coil.

Coil-swap — A modification that repositions or replaces one coil of a pickup, altering its voicing; also used loosely for changing pickups entirely.

DC resistance — A pickup's direct-current resistance, commonly used as a rough indicator of output and winding turns. It does not by itself determine tone.

Four-conductor wiring — A humbucker supplied with both coil leads separate plus a shield, which is what makes coil splitting and series-parallel switching possible.

Ground — The common reference node of a guitar circuit, connected to the sleeve of the output jack, the back of the pots and the bridge or tailpiece. It provides the return path for the signal and also grounds the player through the strings.

Ground loop — A fault in which two separate paths to earth allow current to circulate, producing continuous hum. It usually appears when multiple mains-powered devices are connected together.

Hot pickup — A pickup wound to higher output, usually with more turns of thinner wire, which emphasises midrange and drives an amplifier harder.

Hum — Low-frequency noise, usually at mains frequency or its harmonics, induced in a pickup or unbalanced cable. Common causes are fluorescent lighting, dimmers, transformers and inadequate shielding.

Humbucker — A two-coil magnetic pickup wired so that the noise each coil induces is largely cancelled. Coils sit with opposite magnetic polarity and reverse winding, so hum cancels while the string signal adds. Invented to remove the hum of single-coil pickups, it produces a thicker, higher-output sound with less high-frequency extension.

Inductance — A pickup coil's property of opposing changes in current, measured in henries. Together with circuit capacitance it sets the resonant peak.

Jack — The output socket of a guitar, almost always a quarter-inch mono or TRS type, through which the signal leaves the instrument.

Kill switch — A momentary switch that breaks the hot signal path, producing an abrupt staccato effect. It is a performance device rather than a tone control.

Magnetic pickup — A transducer in which a magnetised pole piece or bar creates a field around the strings, and the moving steel string induces a small current in the surrounding coil. It is the standard electric guitar pickup principle.

Middle pickup — The pickup between neck and bridge on a three-pickup instrument, used alone or in combination for quackier, out-of-phase-like tones.

Neck pickup — The pickup closest to the neck, which senses a wider string movement and sounds fuller, warmer and louder than the bridge pickup.

Neodymium magnet — A very strong rare-earth magnet used where high output and low weight are wanted; it produces a strong field per unit of mass.

No-load tone pot — A tone potentiometer that physically disconnects at maximum, removing the capacitor and resistance from the circuit entirely so the pickup is heard unloaded.

Onboard preamp — A small powered circuit inside the instrument that buffers or equalises the pickup signal before it leaves the guitar. It is standard on most acoustic-electric guitars and on active electrics.

Out of phase — A wiring state in which two pickups are connected with reversed polarity, so shared frequencies cancel. The result is a thin, hollow, nasal tone; it is a deliberate option on some instruments and a fault on others.

P90 — A single-coil pickup with a wide, flat coil and two bar magnets beneath the pole pieces. It sits between a traditional single coil and a humbucker in output and thickness, and it hums because it has only one coil.

Parallel wiring — Connecting two coils side by side so their signals add without passing through each other. It is brighter and lower in output than series wiring while retaining hum cancellation.

Passive pickup — A pickup with no onboard power, outputting the signal generated directly by the vibrating string in its magnetic field. It is the classic design, and its tone changes audibly with cable length and volume-pot loading.

Pickup cover — A metal or plastic cover over a pickup. Metal covers can slightly reduce high frequencies by adding eddy-current losses.

Pickup height — The distance between the top of a pickup pole piece and the underside of the string with the string held at the last fret. Closer generally means louder with more attack and less sustain; too close can cause wolf tones, string pull and false overtones.

Pickup selector — A switch that routes one or more pickups to the output, offering combinations such as neck, both, or bridge. Common types are the three-way blade, five-way blade and three-way toggle.

Piezo pickup — A transducer using a piezoelectric crystal or film that generates voltage when flexed by vibration. Used under saddles or bridges it captures body and string vibration, which suits acoustic-style amplification and hybrid electric designs.

Polarity — The magnetic orientation of a pickup or the electrical polarity of its wiring; pickups combined in a set must be matched to stay in phase and hum-cancelling.

Pole piece — The individual magnetic stud beneath each string on many pickups. Adjustable pole pieces let the player balance the output of each string individually.

Potentiometer — A variable resistor used as a volume or tone control. Guitars typically use 250 kΩ, 500 kΩ or 1 MΩ resistance, and audio-taper pots change level along a roughly logarithmic curve.

Push-pull pot — A potentiometer with a switch stacked on its shaft, letting a single hole host both a control and a switching function, most often coil splitting.

Resonant peak — The frequency at which a pickup's inductance and the circuit capacitance resonate, producing an emphasis in the upper midrange that largely defines pickup tone.

RWRP — Reverse wound, reverse polarity: a middle single-coil built so that combining it with the neck or bridge pickup cancels hum.

Scatter winding — Winding a coil with uneven, hand-guided turns, which changes the coil capacitance and its resonant behaviour compared with a machine-wound coil.

Series wiring — Connecting two coils so the signal passes through one then the other, summing their voltages. It yields the higher output and fuller midrange of a humbucker.

Shielding — Conductive material — foil tape, paint or a foil-lined pickguard — applied inside the control and pickup cavities and connected to ground, so it intercepts radiated noise before it reaches the signal path.

Single coil — A pickup built around one coil of wire wound around magnetic pole pieces. It is the older and simpler design, with a bright, clear voice, but it is susceptible to induced hum from mains wiring, transformers and lighting.

String ground — A wire connecting the bridge or tailpiece to circuit ground, which is why touching the strings reduces hum on a passive guitar.

Tone control — A capacitor-and-potentiometer low-pass network that shunts high frequencies to ground. Turning it down progressively removes treble rather than boosting bass.

Treble bleed — A small capacitor, with or without a resistor, wired across the two live lugs of the volume pot so that high frequencies are preserved as the volume is turned down. Without it, lowering the volume makes a passive guitar sound darker.

TRS jack — A tip-ring-sleeve connector carrying two signal paths plus ground, used for stereo outputs, onboard preamps and some expression pedal connections.

True bypass — A pedal switching arrangement that connects input directly to output with no electronics in the signal path when the effect is off. It avoids tone loss from unbuffered bypass circuits but can cause popping and long cable runs still load the pickups.

Under-saddle pickup — A flat piezo strip fitted in the slot beneath an acoustic guitar saddle, sensing the pressure changes of the strings on the bridge. It gives a consistent amplified signal but needs a preamp to match impedance.

Varitone — A rotary switch selecting among several fixed capacitor and inductor combinations, offering preset tone colours rather than a continuous treble roll-off.

Vintage-output pickup — A lower-output, brighter pickup designed to reproduce the specifications of earlier designs, favouring dynamics and clean headroom.

Volume pot — The potentiometer that controls output level by shunting signal to ground. Its resistance loads the pickup and changes the resonant peak, which is why swapping pot values alters tone as well as level.

Wax pot — A pickup treated with wax potting to suppress microphonic vibration.

Wax potting — Vacuum-impregnating a pickup coil with wax so its windings cannot vibrate, which reduces microphonic squeal at high gain or volume.

Recording & Live Sound

Amp mic placement — The position of a microphone relative to a speaker cone. Distance from the centre cap changes the balance of brightness and body captured.

Balanced signal — A signal carried on two conductors with opposite polarity plus a shield, so noise picked up along the cable cancels at the destination. Used for microphone and line runs and for DI outputs.

Cardioid — A directional microphone pattern that rejects sound from behind the microphone while accepting it from the front.

Close miking — Placing a microphone within a few centimetres of the source. It captures a direct sound with less room influence and allows control over bleed.

Condenser microphone — A microphone using a capacitor element needing power, offering higher sensitivity and detail than a dynamic type. It is common for acoustic guitar and room capture.

DI box — A direct injection box that converts an unbalanced high-impedance instrument signal to a balanced low-impedance output suitable for a mixing desk or long cable runs.

Dynamic microphone — A rugged microphone that converts sound to signal using a moving coil in a magnetic field. It is the standard choice for close-miking guitar cabinets.

Feedback — A loop in which loudspeaker output re-enters a microphone or the guitar's pickups and is amplified again, producing a howl. It is controlled by placement, EQ and gain structure.

Impulse response reverb — Reverb created by convolving a signal with a recorded or modelled impulse response of a real space, reproducing its specific character.

Instrument level — The low-level, high-impedance unbalanced signal a guitar produces, which must be buffered or amplified before it can travel far without picking up noise.

IR loader — A device or plugin that applies impulse responses to a signal, letting a preamp or amp output be heard through a modelled cabinet without a speaker.

Line level — A nominal signal level around 0.3 to 1.2 volts, used between mixers, effects and amplifiers. Instrument level is much lower and needs a preamp or DI.

Microphone — A transducer converting acoustic energy to an electrical signal. Dynamic and condenser types differ in sensitivity, durability and how much detail they capture.

Monitor — A loudspeaker facing the performer so they can hear themselves, or a flat-response speaker used for mixing. Stage monitors usually need precise EQ to avoid feedback.

PA — Public address: the sound reinforcement system carrying vocals and instruments to the audience, usually comprising mixer, amplifiers and loudspeakers.

Pedalboard cable — A short patch cable joining pedals. Solderless or moulded designs trade durability and noise resistance against convenience.

Phantom power — A method of sending direct current along a balanced microphone cable, usually 48 volts, to power a condenser microphone or active DI.

Polar pattern — The directional sensitivity of a microphone: omnidirectional, cardioid, figure-of-eight or a variant. It determines how much of the room and how much bleed the microphone captures.

Re-amping — Taking a recorded dry guitar track and feeding it back through an amplifier and microphone so the tone can be changed after the performance.

Ribbon microphone — A microphone using a thin metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field. It has a figure-of-eight pattern and a smooth top end, and vintage types can be damaged by phantom power.

Stomp box — An informal name for a guitar effects pedal, from the foot switch used to engage it.

XLR — A three-pin balanced audio connector standard on microphones, DI outputs and mixing desks.

XLR output — A balanced output fitted to some acoustic and bass instruments so they can connect directly to a mixing desk without a DI box.

Setup & Maintenance

Action gauge — A graduated metal rule used to read string height and relief accurately.

Aged finish — A deliberately aged or artificially reliced surface treatment imitating the wear of decades of use.

Back bow — A neck that curves backwards, often from over-tightening a truss rod or from excess fret slot pressure, causing buzzing in the middle of the neck.

Binding — A protective and decorative strip of wood or plastic along the edges of a body, neck or headstock, which also seals the end grain and hides the top-to-side joint.

Capo — A clamp fitted across the fretboard to raise the pitch of all strings uniformly, letting a player use open-position shapes in another key.

Crowning file — A file with a concave cutting face that restores the rounded top of a fret after levelling.

Dead spot — A note or position where sustain and response drop noticeably, caused by a resonance of the neck or body absorbing the string energy.

Feeler gauge — A set of thin metal blades of known thickness, used to measure relief and action precisely rather than by eye.

Finish checking — Fine cracks in a lacquer finish caused by rapid temperature change or long-term shrinkage of the coating. It is usually cosmetic rather than structural.

Fret buzz — String contact with a fret that is too high relative to its neighbours, or with the board itself when action is set too low. It can be local or uniform along the neck.

Fret end dressing — Rounding and polishing the ends of the frets so the neck edge feels smooth to the hand.

Fret file — A shaped abrasive file used to round and dress fret ends and crowns.

Fret hammer — A brass-faced hammer used to seat frets, historically the standard method before fret presses were common.

Fret level — The relative height of each fret crown; uneven fret levels are the usual cause of localised fret buzz.

Fret polish — Removing tarnish and roughness from the fret crowns with fine abrasives, which reduces string wear and playing friction.

Fret press — A tool that presses frets into their slots with controlled force, often with a caul that matches the fretboard radius.

Fret slot — The saw-cut groove in the fretboard into which a fret tang is pressed or glued.

Fret sprout — The condition in which a dry fretboard shrinks across its width so that the fret ends protrude beyond the wood, making the neck edges sharp to the hand.

Fret tang — The part of a fret that projects below the crown and is embedded in the fretboard, often with barbs to grip the slot.

Humidity — The moisture content of the air, which directly changes the moisture content of wood. Acoustic instruments are usually happiest between roughly 45 and 55 per cent relative humidity.

Inlay — Decorative material such as mother-of-pearl, abalone or plastic set into the fretboard and headstock as markers and ornament.

Intonation drift — A gradual loss of intonation accuracy caused by worn strings, a shifting saddle or a swollen bridge, rather than by the original setup.

Lemon oil — A lightly scented oil, traditionally containing petroleum distillate rather than lemon juice, used sparingly to clean unfinished fretboards such as rosewood and ebony.

Loose fret — A fret whose tang no longer grips its slot, causing buzz that changes when the fret is pressed.

Nitrocellulose lacquer — A solvent-based finish that dries by evaporation, ages by checking and yellowing, and can be re-amalgamated for repair. It is traditional on vintage-style instruments.

Nodding head — A scarf joint that has begun to open, letting the headstock tilt forward under string tension. It requires structural repair.

Notched straightedge — A straightedge notched to clear the frets so it can rest on the fretboard itself, allowing the board's straightness to be checked separately from the fret heights.

Nut file — A thin abrasive file matched to a string gauge, used to cut or deepen nut slots accurately.

Nut slot depth — The height of the string above the first fret as set by the nut slot. Too high makes low-position playing hard; too low causes open-string buzz.

Plek machine — A computer-controlled fret-levelling machine that measures each fret's height and mills them level in one pass, producing a consistent crown and polish.

Polyurethane finish — A durable synthetic coating resistant to moisture and chemicals, widely used on modern production instruments and harder to repair invisibly.

Radius gauge — A set of curved gauges used to check or match the fretboard radius when setting saddle and pickup heights.

Setup — The coordinated adjustment of truss rod, action, intonation, nut slots and pickup height so that an instrument plays comfortably and in tune.

Shimming — Adding a thin spacer to correct a neck angle, a bridge height or the fit of a component such as a pickup.

Side dots — Small markers on the edge of the fretboard, visible to the player and used to find positions without looking at the face of the board.

String gauge change — Replacing strings with a heavier or lighter set, which alters tension and normally requires truss rod, action and intonation adjustment.

String height — The distance from the top of a fret to the underside of a string, usually measured at the twelfth fret or at the last fret. On electrics it is commonly measured in sixty-fourths of an inch.

Truss rod adjustment — The process of tightening or loosening a truss rod nut to set the neck relief within a target range, usually checked with a feeler gauge at the eighth fret.

Truss rod cover — The small plate, usually plastic, that conceals the truss rod access on the headstock.

Truss rod wrench — The correct-size socket or spanner for turning a truss rod nut without damaging it.

Tuning stability — The degree to which an instrument holds pitch through playing, temperature change and tremolo use. It depends on the nut, tuners, string seating and the bridge.

Twist — A neck whose curvature differs from one side to the other, so one side can be set up well only at the expense of the other.

Up bow — A neck that curves forward beyond the intended relief, raising the action in the middle of the neck and making low-position playing hard.

Warp — Permanent distortion of a neck or top caused by uneven moisture loss or gain, excess heat or long-term string tension. It may need heat treatment, planing or replacement.

Wolf tone — A strong, unstable resonance heard when a body or neck resonance coincides with a played note, producing a beating or howling quality.

Terminology & Playing

Action height — A synonym for string height at a given fret; on electric guitars it is commonly quoted at the twelfth fret and on acoustics at the twelfth fret measured to the string bottom.

Alternate picking — Picking each successive note with an opposite stroke, down then up, which allows faster and more even lines.

Amp modeler — A digital device or plugin reproducing amplifier and cabinet behaviour, often including effects and impulse responses.

Arpeggio — A chord whose notes are played one after another rather than together.

Articulation — The way individual notes are connected, accented or separated through technique.

Attack — The initial transient of a note, which carries much of the information the ear uses to identify an instrument and a playing technique.

Barre chord — A chord played with one finger pressing across several strings, which lets movable shapes act as a capo-like mechanism up the neck.

Bedroom level — A playing volume low enough for home use. It matters because valve amplifiers often sound best only when loud, which is why attenuators and modelling exist.

Bend — Raising the pitch of a fretted note by pushing or pulling the string sideways across the fret, or by using a tremolo bar.

Case — A rigid protective shell for an instrument, often with a fitted interior and a humidification compartment for acoustics.

Chord — Three or more pitches sounded together. Guitar chords are commonly voiced over four to six strings with doublings and omissions.

Economy picking — A picking approach that reuses a stroke direction when moving between adjacent strings, reducing wasted motion.

Envelope — The way a sound's amplitude changes over time, conventionally described as attack, decay, sustain and release.

Fret buzz diagnosis — The systematic process of finding why a string rattles: isolating the position, checking relief and action, inspecting a single high fret, then nut slots and saddle height.

Fret hand — The hand that stops the strings against the frets. On a conventionally strung instrument this is the fretting hand.

Fret wrap — A soft fabric or elastic wrap fitted around the neck behind the fretting hand to damp open strings and reduce ringing.

Gig bag — A padded soft case for carrying an instrument, lighter and cheaper than a hard case but offering less protection from impact and humidity change.

Hammer-on — Producing a note by striking the string onto a fret with the fretting hand instead of picking it.

Harmonic — An overtone produced by lightly touching a string at a nodal point while it is plucked. Natural harmonics occur at fixed positions; artificial ones are produced by fretting and touching higher up.

Hybrid picking — Combining a pick with the fingers, so the pick handles the bass or melody while fingers add other notes.

Interval — The distance in pitch between two notes, named by the number of letter-name steps involved plus a quality such as major, minor or perfect.

Legato — Playing with smooth connection between notes, mostly by hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides rather than by picking each note.

Muting — Controlling unwanted string vibration, either with the palm, the fretting hand, a fret wrap or a string damper.

Open chord — A chord using one or more open strings, which ring freely and sustain differently from fretted notes.

Overtone — A frequency component above the fundamental of a note, which is what gives an instrument its timbre.

Palm mute — Resting the edge of the picking hand on the strings near the bridge to damp them, producing a tight, percussive sound.

Picking hand — The hand that strikes or plucks the strings, whether with a pick or the fingers.

Pinch harmonic — An artificial harmonic sounded by letting the pick or thumb graze the string immediately after it is picked, common in high-gain lead playing.

Playability — The combined practical quality of an instrument: action, neck profile, fret condition, balance, weight and string tension as experienced by the player.

Played in — The commonly reported sense that a solid-wood acoustic guitar opens up and becomes more responsive with years of playing. Measurements show small changes in the top's stiffness over time.

Power chord — A chord built from a root and its fifth, with no third, so it is neither major nor minor. Heavily emphasised by distortion because the interval produces little intermodulation.

Practice amp — A small, low-wattage amplifier intended for home practice, often with a headphone output and built-in effects.

Projection — An acoustic instrument's ability to be heard at a distance, which depends on the efficiency of the top and the way it directs sound rather than on sheer volume at the player's ear.

Pull-off — Producing a note by releasing a fretted finger so a lower note sounds, either on an open string or on a held finger.

Responsiveness — How readily an instrument converts a light touch into sound, often associated with light bracing, low mass and a lively top.

Signal chain — The complete path a guitar signal takes, from strings and pickups through pedals and amplifier stages to the speaker or recorder.

Slide technique — Moving a fretted note to another fret without re-picking, so the pitches between are heard briefly.

String damper — A device fitted behind the nut or over the strings to stop open strings ringing sympathetically.

Sweep picking — Playing a series of notes on adjacent strings with a single continuous stroke in one direction, producing arpeggios at high speed.

Tapping — Producing notes by hammering fingers of the picking hand onto the fretboard, which extends the range playable in one position.

Timbre — The quality of a sound that distinguishes instruments and settings playing the same pitch at the same loudness, determined largely by the overtone content and its evolution over time.

Tone — In everyday guitar use, the character of a sound as shaped by instrument, pickups, strings, effects, amplifier and playing. It is a perceptual description rather than a single measurable quantity.

Tone stack — The bass, middle and treble network in an amplifier. Its design fixes how the controls interact and how much midrange scoop or boost is available.

Triad — A three-note chord built by stacking two thirds, which forms the basis of most larger chords.

Vibrato technique — Using small, controlled pitch oscillations from the fretting hand to add expression to sustained notes.

Wet/dry — A rig or recording setup that keeps the processed (wet) and unprocessed (dry) signals on separate paths, preserving clarity and allowing independent control.

Tonewoods & Materials

Alder — A light, even-grained hardwood widely used for solid bodies. It is stable, easy to work and commonly described as balanced, with a slightly scooped midrange.

Basswood — A very light, soft hardwood used for solid bodies, particularly where weight matters. It is generally characterised as midrange-focused and neutral.

Bracing — The pattern of thin wooden struts glued to the inside of a soundboard to resist string tension while shaping how the top vibrates. Common patterns include X-bracing and ladder bracing.

Carbon fibre — A composite of carbon filaments in a resin matrix, used for necks, reinforcement rods and complete instruments. It is valued for stiffness and insensitivity to humidity.

Cedar — A softer soundboard wood than spruce, described as warm and quick to respond, and widely used for classical and fingerstyle guitars.

CITES — The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which regulates cross-border trade in listed timbers and animal products, including many rosewoods and some mahoganies.

Density — Mass per unit volume. In instrument woods, higher density usually means greater stiffness and more mass, both of which shape how a body or top responds.

Ebony — An extremely dense, fine-grained black wood used for high-grade fretboards, described as bright and glassy with a crisp attack.

Figured wood — Wood with a decorative grain anomaly such as flame, quilt, birdseye or spalt. Figure is an aesthetic grade and does not by itself make a board stronger.

Flat sawn — Wood cut with the growth rings roughly parallel to the face, producing a broader cathedral grain pattern and more movement with humidity.

Grain — The direction and pattern of the wood fibres, which affects stiffness, appearance and how the timber works under tools.

Janka hardness — A standard measure of the force needed to embed a steel ball into wood, used to compare resistance to denting. Higher values mean harder, more dent-resistant timber.

Koa — A Hawaiian hardwood used for premium acoustic backs and sides, generally described as mahogany-warm with a brighter sparkle.

Korina — A trade name for limba, a West African hardwood used on some 1950s instruments and often described as mahogany-like with a brighter edge.

Laminate — A top, back or side built from layers of wood glued together, which is dimensionally stable and inexpensive but generally less resonant than solid wood.

Mahogany — A dense tropical hardwood used for bodies, necks and acoustic backs and sides, associated with warm lows and a smooth top end. Trade in several species is regulated under CITES.

Maple — A hard, dense wood used for necks, fretboards and capped tops. It is generally described as bright and articulate, with a fast attack.

Okoume — A light, stable African hardwood used in body cores and laminates, generally characterised as balanced with less midrange density than mahogany.

Open grain — A wood whose pores are large enough to need filling before a smooth finish, as with ash, mahogany and rosewood.

Pau ferro — A dense hardwood used as a rosewood substitute for fretboards and bridges, typically described as warm with a brighter top end.

Plywood — A manufactured panel of cross-laid veneers glued under pressure, used for budget instrument bodies and laminates.

Quartersawn — Wood sawn so that the growth rings run at about ninety degrees to the face, giving greater stability and a straighter, tighter grain figure.

Rosewood — A dense, oily tropical hardwood used for fretboards and acoustic backs and sides, most often described as warm and complex. Several species are CITES-regulated.

Sapele — An African hardwood used as a mahogany substitute, typically described as similar but slightly brighter with a tighter low end.

Seasoning — Controlled drying of timber so that its moisture content reaches equilibrium with the workshop environment before it is used, reducing later movement and cracking.

Solid top — A soundboard made from a single thickness of solid wood rather than laminated plies, which improves resonance and tends to improve as it is played in.

Soundboard — The top plate of an acoustic instrument, which converts string vibration into air movement and is by far the largest contributor to its voice.

Spruce — The standard soundboard wood for acoustic guitars, valued for stiffness relative to weight, which is what makes it loud and responsive.

Swamp ash — A market grade of ash grown in wet lowland conditions, prized for light weight and a pronounced grain figure. Tonally it is usually described as bright with a lively low end.

Tone wood — A wood chosen for its effect on an instrument's sound. The term is contested in degree but not in kind: density, stiffness and damping differ measurably between species and between individual pieces.

Walnut — A domestic hardwood used for acoustic backs and sides and occasionally body tops, described as warm and dry with clear note separation.

Further reading

A cross-section of the archive — sampled across the catalogue