Guitars

1. Guitars By Brandon Juliano

2. The guitar is a plucked string instrument usually played with fingers or a pick. • The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings are attached, generally six. • Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with either nylon or steel strings Acoustic Electric

3. Type of Wood Used • Koa Wood • Mahogany • Alder • Solid Alder • Spruce • Solid Spruce • Canadian Sitka Spruce • German Spruce • Maple • Cedar • Brazilian Rosewood

4. Mahogany • mahogany carries a more mellow, soft and warm tone to it • Mahogany trees are native tropical or rain forest trees found mostly in Africa and Latin America. • The mahogany tree can grow to 150 feet tall, with a trunk nearly 6 feet in diameter.

5. Alder • Comes from the Alder Tree • Usually small trees that belong to the birch family • Alder wood is generally light and soft. • Its structure is even with straight fibers. • It is not very susceptible to shrinkage and remains stable after drying.

6. Maple • Maples are mostly trees growing to 10-40 meters (30-130 ft) in height • Some of the larger maple trees have valuable timber, particularly Sugar Maple in North America, and Sycamore Maple in Europe • Maple is a very popular wood for necks and fret boards. • Easily identifiable because of its bright tone, characteristic grain patterns and moderate weight. • Very strong dense and durable

7. Walnut • Comes from the walnut tree • The walnut tree is a member of the hickory family and grows to a height between 30 and 40 feet • Walnut can look excellent with oil finishes, and is moderately heavy, but still lighter than maple

8. How Its Made Wood Selection • The first step in making a guitar is selecting the woods • The top of the body, or the sound board, is often made of spruce or cedar because of their unique tons • The back and sides of the guitar are usually made of mahogany, alder, ash or walnut • Necks are often made of maple, mahogany, koa or rosewood. • Although they have an effect on guitar tone woods in the body and neck have less of an effect than the wood in the sound board

9. Body Manufacture • guitars are manufactured by cutting the shape of the top and back in the traditional figure-eight guitar shape • The sound hole or holes are cut into the top, or sound board. • The sides are then steamed to soften the wood. • The wood is then dried in a mold so it retains the traditional curves of the guitar. • The top, bottom and sides are then glued to an internal bracing system to give the guitar strength.

10. Neck Manufacture • Necks are either carved by hand or created with a computer-controlled cutter • Once the shape of the neck has been created, a fingerboard is glued on and shaped • Frets are inserted into the fingerboard. • Most acoustic guitars then need to have a headstock attached for tuners • Once the headstock is joined and glued in place the neck is ready to be finished

11. Finishing • Different finishes allow for more or less resonance. • Traditional finishes include nitrocellulose polyurethane • Many modern guitars use multiple layers of polyurethane giving it good durability

12. Assembly • Once the guitar is finished its time to join in the neck to the body • This is sometimes done with bolts, sometimes with glue • Certain guitar makers will use both bolts and glue • When the guitar neck and body are joined, the guitar's nut, tuners and bridge are installed

13. Setup • Once the basic guitar is finished, strings are attached and the guitar is set up • Set-up involves filing the grooves in the nuts and filing the bridge to position the strings at the desired height

14. Where To Buy • You can find guitars at any music store or any online music store • Prices differ for which type of wood was used to make the guitar • There are all kinds of different guitars some priced very high and some cheap

15. Sources www.ultimateguitar.com www.ehow/guitars.com www.howitsmade.com