Comparison Fender American Elite Jazz Bass vs Fender American Standard Jazz Bass

The type of tone block used in the construction of an electric guitar.

A timbre block is an “intermediary” between a pickup and a guitar output: a set of electronic circuits that provides signal transmission, and often also its processing (volume control, frequency correction, preamplification, etc.). In modern electric guitars, there are such types of tone blocks:

— Passive. Passive are called timbre blocks that do not require additional power sources during operation. Usually, such modules have the simplest design and functionality, adjustments are limited to changing the volume, as well as passively correcting frequencies (by “cutting off” the desired frequencies). At the same time, passive tone blocks are simple, compact, inexpensive and do not depend on batteries; and the necessary adjustments can be made on external equipment (anyway, the electric guitar will need to be connected to it). As a result, most modern instruments are equipped with this particular type of tone blocks.

— Active. The key difference between a passive tone block is that it needs its own power source to work. Most often, this role is played by a PP3-type battery installed in a special socket in the body of an electric guitar. The need for power is due to the abundance of additional functions: active tone blocks are able to amplify the signal coming from the pickups, suppress interference, and even match the output impedance of the inst...rument with the input of the amplifier. Yes, and the active method of tone control is more advanced than the passive one, it allows you to more accurately adjust the frequency ratio. On the other hand, active modules are noticeably more expensive, and without a battery, the tone block turns into a set of useless parts. However, such devices consume relatively little energy, and one battery lasts for quite a long time.

— Active/passive. Tone blocks that combine the capabilities of the two options described above. If there is power, such a module operates in active mode, and if there is no power, it turns into passive. Thus, the musician can enjoy all the advantages of the active tone block and at the same time not worry that the instrument will become completely useless due to a dead battery (although, of course, the tone block functionality is not so extensive in the passive mode). At the same time, combined modules are quite complex and expensive, and the real need for such versatility is rare. Therefore, this option has not received much distribution.

The number of volume controls provided in an electric guitar.

If there is only one knob, this means that the musician can only adjust the overall volume of the instrument. However, there are models that have several volume control knobs — usually there are no less of them than pickups (2 or 3), which allows you to separately adjust the volume of each pickup. And since the characteristics of the sound depend on the type of the used pickup (see "Pickup Diagram") and even its location, then by changing the mutual volume of the individual pickups, you can achieve different coloring of the sound. At the same time, the design may also include a general volume control, which allows you to adjust it in the classical way and not mess with the settings of each pickup.

The number of tone controls provided in the design of an electric guitar.

One tone control is responsible for the sound of the electric guitar as a whole; but if there are several such pens, they can have different formats of work. So, each knob can be responsible either for its own pickup, or for a separate frequency band. In the second case, a set of knobs plays the role of an equalizer that allows you to adjust the sound by changing the volume of low and high (sometimes even separately middle) frequencies.

Anyway, the presence of several tone controls expands the possibilities for changing the coloring of the sound by means of the guitar itself, without the use of additional equipment.

A type of pickup switch used on an electric guitar.

This switch is responsible for turning individual pickups on and off, and can also control coil cutoff (see above). Accordingly, the manufacturer chooses its type primarily depending on the number of pickups (see "Pickup Diagram"). So, 3-position switches are typical mainly for models with two pickups — they usually allow you to turn on each of them separately or use both at once. The 5-position controls are common on 3-pickup models with stratocaster or superstrat bodies (see “Shape (Appearance)”). Note that the specific combinations of pickups available in such instruments may be different, this point will not hurt to clarify separately. The most advanced option — a 6-position switch — is extremely rare, mainly in expensive custom class instruments.

A separate type of switch is the balance control, used mainly in bass guitars (see "Type"). They are not responsible for turning off individual pickups (there are usually two of them), but for changing their volume relative to each other. Roughly speaking, these are two volume controls for separate pickups, combined in one knob (of course, there are also two pickups in such instruments). In fact, the balance control in this case also provides a smooth change in timbre: the pickup near the bridge picks up high frequencies better, the pickup near the fretboard picks up lower frequencies, respectively, and the colour of the sound changes depending on which of t...hem sounds louder.

A type of cutout provided in the construction of a guitar body.

The notch is located at the point where the neck is attached to the body and can be single or double. The single cutout for a standard guitar hold is on the bottom, under the neck. It is designed to allow the player to comfortably use the higher (closer to the bridge) frets without the body getting in the way of the left hand (or right, in a left-handed instrument). In models with a double cutout, there is also a notch above the neck, it may be smaller than the bottom one. The top notch is provided mainly for aesthetic purposes, to give the instrument a distinctive appearance, but it can also be useful in fact — for example, if the player uses his thumb to hold the frets.

Note that some variants of the body shape do not provide cutouts at all — this is simply not required. Flying B body guitars are an example.

The presence in the electric guitar of a system of through fastening of strings.

In the classic through fastening, the body of the instrument itself plays the role of a stop bar — holes are made in it, in which the strings are fixed (from the side of the bridge). The advantage of this design is the improved contact of the strings with the body, which allows you to achieve good sustain. However, in tremolo machines (see "Bridge") there is another kind of through fasteners — when the holes are located not on the body, but on the bridge; in particular, this option is typical for Vintage Tremolo machines. In such cases, the through fastening itself is only a design feature of the bridge, and the contact of the strings with the body depends on the features of the fastening of the "machine" on the body and can be different.

A method of attaching the neck to the body used in an electric guitar.

— Boltov. The most inexpensive and practical (in terms of production and repair technology) method of attachment: the neck is bolted to the body. Thanks to this, the assembly of the guitar is extremely simple, and the neck can be easily removed from the finished instrument for repair or even replacement with a new one. Note that although the bolt method is considered “low-cost” (and is found mainly in instruments of the corresponding level), it cannot be said that it is definitely worse than other options: guitars of this design have relatively weak sustain, but they give a bright, sharp tone with good attack. They can be used in almost any genre, but they are still considered the most suitable for heavy music.

— Pasted. A neck mounted in a recess in the body and secured to the recess with epoxy or other adhesive. This design does not allow for such a powerful attack as on bolt necks, but it provides excellent sustain and a pleasant coloration of the sound. And in general, the adhesive connection is considered more advanced, because. better reveals the acoustic properties of wood. On the other hand, such tools are more complicated and more expensive, both in production and in repair, than “bolted” ones.

— Through. The name of this method is due to the fact that the neck passes...through the body through and through, to the “lower” (from the side of the bridge) butt. Many instruments of this type, from the back, look as if two additional pieces were attached to the solid piece of wood from which the neck and middle part of the body were carved to give the body the desired shape and width (although the manufacturing technique is, of course, somewhat more complicated). It is believed that the neck-through mount maximizes the capabilities of the wood and allows you to achieve the highest quality sound, with a flat frequency response and excellent sustain. However, such designs are very expensive, and besides, they require extremely careful handling — especially since the repair of a through neck is at best difficult and expensive, and often impossible at all. Note that this option is used mainly in basses, electric guitars with a through mounting method are produced much less frequently.

The fret is the gap between the nut on the fretboard; each such interval is responsible for its own note (the interval between the frets is half a tone). Accordingly, the more frets, the more notes you can play on one string. However, keep in mind that the width of the gaps between the nut decreases as you get closer to the bridge, and if there are a lot of frets, playing at high frets can be difficult, requiring very high accuracy.

The most popular options today are 22 or 24 frets, they are found in most electric guitars of all types. In basses, there are also a smaller number ( 20 frets and 21 frets), because. the distance between the nut on such instruments is greater, and the necks, respectively, with the same number of frets, are longer than those of guitars.

In general, paying attention to this parameter makes sense, first of all, for professional musicians, for whom a vast “space for manoeuvre” is fundamentally important.

A separate category is fretless instruments, completely devoid of nut. Almost all of them relate to bass guitars; there are also electric guitars without frets, but very rarely. In such instruments, the role of the nut is played by the musician's finger, which presses the string to the fretboard. The technique of playing fretless guitars is noticeably mor...e complicated: firstly, to extract clean notes, you need a very precise position of the finger; secondly, this design reduces the volume of the sound and the duration of the sustain, and special playing techniques may be required to obtain the sound of the desired volume (and heavier strings for basses). On the other hand, the lack of frets gives the professional musician a number of additional options. For example, on a fretless neck, you can make very smooth slides, without stepping between notes, and the instrument itself is not tied to a standard 12-step scale, which can be very useful in some areas of music (experimental, oriental, etc.). Also note that the fretless bass guitar, both in sound and playing technique, is very close to the classical double bass, which is especially appreciated by lovers of jazz and other similar styles.

The type of truss provided in the design of the neck of an electric guitar.

The anchor has the form of an elastic metal rod installed along the neck and hidden inside. It reinforces the structure and prevents the neck from deforming from string tension. The truss rod can be made adjustable to suit the characteristics of the strings and compensate for the deformations that inevitably occur over time. The types of this detail can be as follows:

- Single. Anchor consisting of a single rod. The classic version used in most modern electric guitars, regardless of price category. Usually, the strength and rigidity of even a single rod is sufficient for normal applications and use.

- Double. Anchor, consisting, in accordance with the name, of two rods. It is distinguished by greater strength and reliability compared to a single one, in particular, it provides additional resistance to lateral deformations. On the other hand, the double construction is noticeably more expensive.