How a Electric Guitar Works

• Unlike their acoustic cousins, electric guitars come in an almost infinite array of shapes, sizes and colors. This is because electric guitars do not rely on their body design to amplify sound. However, the non-amplified sound that you hear when playing an unplugged electric guitar is created by the string vibrations in the same manner as an acoustic guitar.

How it Works

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  Magnetic "pickups" are what make electric guitars electric. If you look at the body of an electric guitar, the pickups are bars that sit below the strings, near where you would strum. These are usually plastic with metal plugs below each string---these metal plugs are magnets.
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  • Each pickup consists of magnets, usually made of aluminum nickel cobalt, (although some high-end pickups use more expensive magnets) with copper wire coiled around them. This creates a magnetic field around the pickup.

• Electric guitar strings are made of ferromagnetic nickel and steel. This means they are attracted to the magnetic field. In fact, each string is magnetized by the pickups and becomes part of the field.

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  According to the laws of physics, specifically "Faraday's Law," when a magnetic field is disrupted, it creates an electric field. When an electric guitar string is plucked or strummed, it does just this. The vibrating string changes the magnetic field, creating an electromagnetic field that sends an electric current through the copper coils of the pickup.

• The electric current runs from the pickups to the guitar cord, or plug. From there, the current goes to an amplifier, where it is translated and amplified

• Changes in the strings vibrations affect the electric current. As you move your hand up and down the frets, pressing down the guitar strings in different places, it changes the way in which the string oscillates, therefore changing the behavior of the current. The amplifier recognizes each change and creates a corresponding sound. When the strings are allowed large oscillations, it creates a deep sound. Short oscillations correspond to high-pitched sounds. This is why the sound grows deeper as you move your fingers up the frets (toward the tuning pegs), further restricting vibrations.

Distortion

• Distortion is often used with electric guitars, doing exactly what the name implies: distorting the electric signal. This, in turn, distorts the output sound of the amplifier.