Glossary Of Guitar Terms

action (of the guitar): This has to do with how high

the guitar strings sit above the neck and frets of the guitar. Most players prefer a rather low action, however a guitar set up with the action too low will produce a buzzing sound when it is being played.
alternate tuning: This is a way of tuning the guitar that is not the standard tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E.
bending a string: This is where the fretting hand is moving the string out from its natural position along the guitar neck. The effect of this movement is a raising of the note pitch. Strings can also be pre-bent so that the effect is a lowering of the pitch as the string returns to its normal position on the guitar.
box shape: This is a pattern of notes you play on the guitar. The pattern shows the notes of a scale and all the fingerings to play the scale on the guitar. Most if not all box shapes can be moved around to different positions on the neck.
bridge: The part of the guitar where the strings are attached to the body.
bridge pins: These are small round pins used on acoustic guitars to hold the strings in place at the bridge.
capo: This is a device that clamps down across all six strings at any fret you place it. It effectively moves the guitar nut to any location. It allows playing open sting chords (which ring out a beautiful sound) in any key on the guitar.
cutaway: The shape of the body of the guitar that allows the player to have easier access to the upper frets on the guitar neck. Sometimes referred to as a single cutaway or a double cutaway.
diad: A chord with 2 notes.
effects box: Small and usually battery operated box with foot switch for adding various electronic special effects to the sound of the electric guitar.
effects loop: This is a feature on an electric guitar amplifier that allows you to take the music signal out of the amp, put it through some effects processing, and them bring the signal back into the amp again.
amp head: In an amp stack, the amplifier part itself, without the speaker cabinet.
gain: The amount of volume the preamp section of the amp is set at. Also called drive.
headstock: Guitar part at the very top of the neck, where the tuning hardware is located.
humbucker: A type of pickup used on an electric guitar that uses a noise 2 coils for canceling and reducing of electronic humming noise.
locking nut: This is a nut that allows a mechanical locking of the strings so they can't move at the nut. This is helpful in preventing the strings from going out of tune, especially during heavy tremolo / whammy bar usage.
master volume: This is the volume control for the power amp section of the amp.
nut: The part of the guitar where the strings make contact at the top, near the headstock.
output jack: The place where the output signal leaves the electric guitar, and is carried by a cord to the amplifier.
Pentatonic Scale: This is a popular scale used in guitar playing of Rock, Blues, Country, etc music. This gets its name from the fact that it has 5 notes that are played for every octave.
plectrum: This is another name for the guitar pick.
potentiometer: This is another name for the tone and volume controls of an electric guitar.
saddle: Saddles are the pieces in the bridge that the strings sit on. The saddles are adjusted to control the intonation of the guitar.
single coil: A type of pickup used with electric guitars that uses just one coil, popular in the Fender Stratocaster guitar.
stomp box: Another name for guitar effects box.
strap pin: Small pin on the guitar body where the strap is attached.
string guage: This is the thickness of the strings on your guitar. Usually measured in thousandths of an inch. Popular string guage sizes for the first string (the thinest string) are .009, .010, and .011
tapped pickups: Tapped pickups have an additional output that uses less than 100 percent of the pickup's potential output. When a tapped pickup is used there is usually a switch for the player to be able to use at full or tapped setting.
triad: A chord with 3 notes.
tremolo / whammy bar: Mechanical device at the guitar bridge that allows the musician to change the pitch of the strings.
truss rod: This is a steel rod running through the neck and connecting to the guitar body. This rod helps balance the enormous force of the six guitar strings.
tuner: The mechanical devices located on the guitar headstock that are used to increase and decrease the string tension and tune the guitar.
tuning fork: A metal device that produces a fixed and set tone, like middle C, when it's tapped to set it in motion. Used for tuning a guitar or other instrument.