(guitar playing)
- Hi everybody my name is Mike.
I'm here with Fender
and today I'd like to talk to you about guitar anatomy.
Now it doesn't matter how long you've been playing,
sometimes you're just not sure what to call
all of the bits and pieces
that make your guitar your guitar.
But don't worry we're here to tell you all about it.
Before we get into it, I wanna mention
that I've got a Player Series Stratocaster here
and I'm plugged into a Mustang LT50.
Let's start with the headstock.
Now the headstock is where you're going to find the tuners,
the string tree, and the logo.
The tuners work like this,
counter clockwise to tighten (guitar string playing)
and clockwise to loosen (guitar string playing)
Perfect pitch every time.
The string tree puts a little bit
of extra pressure on the E and B strings here.
That keeps them secure in the nut
and keeps them from popping out.
It also reduces string noise
that you might have behind the nut.
Next is the nut.
The nut is a string guide that dictates
the spacing of your strings as well as
how high they are off of the first fret.
Now if it's too high,
it'll be a little bit difficult to play.
If it's too low strings will rattle.
Next let's talk about the neck.
Now the neck has a few different components
that are worth mentioning including the fretboard.
Now the fretboard is where you press down
to choose what notes you're going to play.
As you move up the pitch gets higher
(guitar playing)
and as you move down the pitch gets lower.
(guitar playing)
And if you weren't sure,
these vertical metal lines, those are the frets.
To help you find your way around the fretboard
we have position markers.
Now these little dot in-lanes show you where you are
as you're shredding up the neck.
They are at the third fret, the fifth fret,
the seventh fret, the ninth, and the 12th.
Now you'll notice that at the 12th fret
there are two dot markers here.
Now that's just to help you visually differentiate
between say the ninth and the 12th.
At the twelfth fret we have a full octave.
What that means is that the note you play at the nut,
(guitar playing)
E in this case, is the same as the note
that you play at the 12th fret,
(guitar playing) just an octave higher.
Moving onto the body, what I've got here is a Stratocaster
and that's what that shape looks like.
But you may be familiar with other entries
into the Fender catalogs.
Such as the Telecaster, the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar,
the Jazz Bass, and the Precision Bass.
The neck joins the body at the heel
and on the back of the guitar
you can see the four bolt neck plate.
On the body we have a pickguard.
Now the pick guard keeps your body safe from pick scratches
while strumming et cetera et cetera.
The pickguard, on the case of the Stratocaster,
holds the electronics, including the pickups,
which sense the strings vibration,
the controls including the volume and tone
for adjusting how loud you are or how bright you are,
and the five way switch which is for selecting your pickup.
Let's hear some of the sounds of the Strat.
This is the neck pickup.
(guitar playing)
Here's the middle.
(guitar playing)
And of course my favorite the bridge.
(guitar playing)
Now the Strat with a five way switch
also allows you to select two pickups at once.
For instance the bridge and middle.
(guitar playing)
As well as the neck and middle positions.
(guitar playing)
Here's what happens when you roll down the tone.
(guitar playing)
And rolling back up.
(guitar playing)
The bridge is where the strings are anchored.
You can see them going
into little holes here in the baseplate.
And the anchor in the back on what's called the block.
The strings are flowing over what are called saddles.
The saddles allow you to set how high the string is
or how in tune it is.
That's called intonation.
On a Stratocaster the bridge is also a tremolo or vibrato.
What that allows you to do is
change the pitch of the notes you're playing
just by wiggling the little arm like so.
(guitar playing)
You can be subtle or you can get weird.
(guitar playing)
Not bad.
Some guitars such as the Telecaster,
the Lead II and III and basses like the
Precision and Jazz Bass have what are called fixed bridges.
That simply means that they don't move.
Also found on the body is the output jack.
Now that's where you plug in
if you're going to play through an amplifier.
On certain guitars like the Telecaster
it's on the side.
But on the Stratocaster it's on the front.
If you plan on playing standing up
by Jove you're gonna need a strap.
That's attached to the strap buttons.
One located on the upper horn
and the other on the back of the body.
All those parts working together,
well that's what makes up the guitar.
The instrument that we know and love.
For more information visit fender.com
and stay tuned for more videos.
(guitar playing rock music)