HeadstockIt carries the six tuners. Each string ends here, wound onto the post of its tuner.
FingerboardThe player presses a string against it to pick the note. It is also called the fretboard. The neck itself is the wood behind it.
StringsSix steel strings over the pickups. The guitar turns their vibration into an electric signal.
TunersAlso called machine heads or tuning machines. Turning a key turns a worm gear, which winds the string on its post.
String treesEach holds strings down between the nut and the tuners. The strings then press on the nut and do not buzz or pop out.
NutA thin strip holding the strings up at the headstock. Made of bone, graphite, plastic or metal.
FretsThin metal strips that stop a string pressed down against the fingerboard. It stops at a fret, at the right pitch for that note.
Position markersThey show the player where the hand is on the fingerboard. They are usually simple dots set into the wood.
Body and bridge 6
BodyUsually wood with a hard finish. The guitar is quiet until it is plugged into an amplifier.
CutawaysThey let the hand reach the highest frets. They are cut out of the body. A body with two cutaways has two horns.
PickguardA plastic plate that protects the body from scratches. It can also cover the cavity that holds the wiring.
Strap buttonsThe fixing points for a guitar strap. Here one is at the bottom end of the body and one is on the upper horn.
BridgeEach string rests on its own small saddle here. This one is a tremolo bridge: it is hinged, with springs, so it can rock.
Tremolo armPushing or pulling it rocks the bridge. That bends notes or chords sharp or flat. Also called a whammy bar or vibrato arm.
Pickups and controls 7
Neck pickupTurns the vibration of the strings above it into an electric signal. Named for its place by the neck.
Middle pickupA guitar may have one, two or three pickups. The selector chooses which of them is heard.
Bridge pickupNamed for its place by the bridge, where the strings end.
Pickup selectorA switch that chooses which pickup, or pair of pickups, is heard. With three pickups it usually has five positions.
Volume knobTurns the pickups' signal up or down before it leaves the guitar.
Tone knobsTurning a tone knob down makes the sound darker and less bright.
Output jackThe signal from the pickups leaves the guitar here. A cable plugged into it carries the signal to the amplifier.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it for this part. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Electric guitar (headstock, machine heads with a worm gear, string guide, nut and what it is made of, neck, fretboard or fingerboard, frets, position markers, truss rod, body, neck and bridge pickups and how a pickup works, saddles, bridge, the spring-loaded hinged bridge and its whammy bar or vibrato arm, pickup selector switch, volume and tone control knobs, output jack, strap buttons, strings, pickguard). (2) Yamaha Musical Instrument Guide, the structure of the electric guitar: https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/electric_guitar/mechanism/ (head, tuning keys or pegs, neck, truss rod, nut, fingerboard, strings, position markers, frets, body, pick guard, bridge, end pin, pickup selector, pickup, pickup ring, volume knob, tone knob, jack, tremolo unit, tremolo bar; steel strings, and the signal going to an amplifier by cable). (3) Passages found by archive.org full-text search in Hugo Pinksterboer, Tipbook Electric Guitar and Bass Guitar: https://archive.org/details/tipbookelectricg0000pink (headstock, tuning machines also known as tuners or machine heads, nut, string trees or string guides and what they are for, fingerboard, position markers, strap button, cutaway and horns, pickguard, saddle, neck, middle and bridge pickup, five-way pickup selector, volume and tone controls and what a tone control does, tremolo arm, output jack). (4) Passages found the same way in Dave Burrluck, The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance: https://archive.org/details/playersguidetogu0000dave (tuners or machine heads, string trees, position markers, strap buttons as the fixing point for a strap, cutaways, neck, middle and bridge pickup, pickup selector switch with five combinations, six string saddles and a vibrato arm, output jack). Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain curves; no maker's guitar, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
An electric guitar has the neck of any guitar and a solid body that carries its electrics. Start with the whole guitar, then the headstock, then the pickups and controls on the body.
Read the full guide
Three views, headstock to body
Numbers 1 to 7 are the whole guitar: headstock, fingerboard, strings, body, cutaways, pickguard and strap buttons. Numbers 8 to 12 are the headstock end: six tuners, two string trees, the nut, the frets and the position markers. Numbers 13 to 21 are on the body: three pickups, the pickup selector, a volume knob and two tone knobs, the bridge with its tremolo arm, and the output jack.
How the sound gets out
The strings vibrate over the pickups, which turn that movement into an electric signal. It passes through the volume and tone controls to the output jack, and a cable carries it to an amplifier.
The neck is the wood behind the fingerboard. A metal truss rod inside it keeps it straight against the pull of the strings.
Pickups are named for where they sit: neck, middle, bridge.
Questions and answers
What are the main electric guitar parts?
The headstock with its tuners, the neck with its fingerboard and frets, and the body, which carries the pickups, the pickup selector, the volume and tone knobs, the bridge and the output jack.
What do the pickups on an electric guitar do?
A pickup turns the vibration of the steel strings above it into an electric signal, which goes to an amplifier. A guitar has one or more of them, named by position: neck, middle and bridge.
What does the pickup selector do?
It is a switch that chooses which pickup, or pair of pickups, is heard. On a guitar with three pickups it usually has five positions.
What is the tremolo arm for?
It is a bar fixed to a hinged, spring-loaded bridge. Pushing or pulling it rocks the bridge, which bends notes or chords sharp or flat.
What are string trees on a guitar?
Small metal guides on the headstock. They hold strings down between the nut and the tuners, so the strings press on the nut and do not buzz or pop out.