Luthiery, or the field of building and repairing stringed instruments, has existed for centuries. Construction methods for new guitars have been developed by numerous manufacturers and luthiers, but the basic design remains essentially the same: a set of strings is tightened across a body and amplified either acoustically or electrically to produce sound.
The two most basic components of a guitar are the body and the neck. The neck is joined to the body, and the strings run from the far end of the neck (opposite the body) to somewhere near the middle of the body’s lower bout, where they are anchored to the guitar top.
Body: With acoustic guitars, the body generally has figure-8-like contours, and features the waist (the tapered middle section), the upper bout, and the lower bout. The body is comprised of the:
- Top/soundboard: The front-facing surface, which usually features a soundhole in the center. The top works like a speaker cone for the vibrating strings, and its flexing movement helps set the air inside the guitar body in motion.
- Back and sides: These usually are the same species and provide the structural rigidity, which contributes to sustain (how long the notes resonate audibly before dropping off).
Neck: Guitar necks come in many shapes and profiles. The Taylor neck is a popular choice among acoustic guitar players for its comfort and playability.
Headstock: Also referred to as the peghead, it’s the part of the neck (the head) where the strings connect to tuning machines, which adjust the pitch of each string.
Fretboard: The piece of wood (or other material) glued to the front of the neck that holds the frets in place.