An electric guitar can have any number of a range of extra features, accessories and gadgets used to adjust, distort and affect the sound that it produces. But one item is an absolute necessity: no electric guitar can be performed or make any decent sound without an amplifier. A good quality amplifier can make a huge difference, and if you are looking to buy an electric guitar, or perhaps move on from a basic starter model, then a good quality and flexible amplifier unit to match the guitar will make all the difference. After all, it is the guitar which produces the signal, but the amplifier which makes the sound. It would be the same as considering a choir and the conductor. Both are important, but no matter how good the conductor, it is the choir which ultimately make the sound, and have the greatest impact on the eventual quality of sound heard. Amplifiers that were created specifically for an instrument were first developed as part of the electric guitar development, and it was these instruments which first benefitted from any kind of external amplification. These early units were developed in the 1930s, and it was the advent of more advanced electrics that enabled amplification units to be built that were both economic and of good quality. Of course, the amplification of guitars had been around for much longer, but simply for acoustic guitars, with microphones set up. The combination of electronic amplification units coupled to electric guitars gave rise to a whole new sound of music, originally popularised by the steel stung sound of the Hawaiian guitar. Early amplifiers were fairly basic, and although they often had a range of controls, these didn't provide a wide range of controls to improve sound quality. Generally the early amplifiers were very good at boosting the treble signal, but the bass notes were poor, and the response was slow. As these early models developed, extra features were included such as reverberation effects and tremolo units. In fact, Fender introduced an amplification unit which included a tremolo effect, although through an error of misunderstanding this was labelled as 'vibrato', with the lever included on the Stratocaster guitar which actually produced the vibrato effect labelled as 'tremolo'. These incorrect labels stuck, however, and today the most popular way of referring to the tremolo effect is through the word vibrato, and the vibrato effect is usually referred to as tremolo. This is why music written for electric guitar has these words used quite differently from music written for other instruments. Many of these earlier models of amplifier could be reasonably easily overloaded, and some guitarists took to deliberately achieving this effect, creating a range of distortion effects. Indeed, it was Dave Davies, guitarist with the Kinks who first introduced a distortion effect which involved him connecting the output from one of his amplifiers into the input section of a second amplifier. This distortion effect created a unique, wailing sound, and was one which, whilst the designers at the time could never have imagined, was later introduced by many other performers and amplifier designers. Distortion effects today are so prevalent that it almost seems a requirement that a guitarist can produce such a sound within many genres of music.
In the world of electric guitars you may well hear a good deal about harmonics, but ask anyone exactly what is meant by harmonics, or how harmonics effects are produced, and more often than not you will be met with silence. Harmonics in the world of electric guitars are almost a science, and indeed when it comes to modern digital systems, and computer controlled manipulation of electric guitar signals, it is a science which requires a fair bit of understanding. The strings of a guitar can be said to be divided into lengths, with the frets underneath showing the dividing sections. Normally when a guitar is played the player frets or plucks the guitar string in the usual place, on the baseboard or above where the hollow part of the body might be on an acoustic guitar. Harmonics, at the simplest level, involves gently touching a string at any of the points along the length of the string at these dividing points. By touching the string lightly at these points, it vibrates, but not in the normal way. Instead of vibrating in the normal way it would do it you plucked a string in the usual area, the string vibrates in a completely different way, and produces a sound which is chime like, and which resonates not at the normal note, but resonating with he note that corresponds to the part of the string touched. When touched lightly on an open string in this way, the chime like sound produced is referred to as natural harmonics, whereas if the string is fretted then this creates a sound more commonly referred to as artificial harmonics. There are a variety of ways in which this harmonic effect can be created. One of the many ways to achieve a harmonic effect is by picking the string the usual way, and then very quickly touching the string with the thumb, very gently. This has to be achieved very, very quickly, and often the only way to really achieve it is to use a plectrum, and to hold it between the thumb and first finger so that only a very tiny portion of it is sticking out. Typically no more than about two millimetres should be revealed, and in this way the plectrum can strike the string, and the thumb can then almost immediately touch the string. In this way, the main note is silence immediately, but by touching the string only very lightly, the harmonic sound continues. This method is termed pinch harmonics, and takes a good deal of practice to accomplish correctly and smoothly, but is a good way of understanding how harmonics sound. However, there is more to this method than simply plucking and tapping a string - the key to harmonics is where to pluck the string. Simply doing this action over the centre of the body of the guitar will not achieve the effect. Along each string are nodes, which are referred to as harmonic nodes. Often these are not indicated, so it is necessary to learn them. This relies on a good deal of mathematics, and in fact much of the world of harmonics is mathematically oriented. As an example, in order to produce a harmonic note which is one full octave higher than a string played normally when, say, the third fret is pressed down, it is necessary to pluck and then lightly tap the string at a point halfway between the bridge of the guitar and the third fret which is pressed down. Plucking and tapping the string at other places along the string will produce entirely different harmonics, and so depending on the note you wish to play, you will need to pluck the string at different points along its length. However, for the beginner, there are several points which can be practiced which are all based around the bridge, and so an instructor would be able to teach you these in order to get you started. Those points further up the neck of the guitar become fairly challenging to play, as well as to remember.
Victor Epand has sinced written about articles on various topics from Shopping, Trucks and Interest. Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for