Comparison Cort Z44 vs Cort CR50

Type of pickups used in electric guitar.

— Passive. Passive pickups are called pickups that do not use their own power supply. Such devices produce a weak signal, so guitars with passive pickups require an external preamp. In terms of sound, many musicians consider passive pickups to be more "natural" and dynamic, but this point is largely subjective. The unequivocal advantage of this option is the extensive features for experimenting with the technique of sound extraction. In addition, passive modules are much simpler and cheaper than active modules, and they do not require their own power supplies. On the other hand, these pickups are subject to feedback, which can be problematic in some situations. Yes, and sensitivity to pickups (and, accordingly, the likelihood of interference) they are significantly higher.

— Active. Pickups supplemented with built-in preamps to increase the level of the signal fed to the output of the instrument. Thanks to the additional amplification, many models have fewer coil turns than passive models, which reduces interference and provides a cleaner and more balanced signal. At the same time, the active module retains the upper frequencies better; this gives the effect of "brightness", "transparency" of the sound. However there is an opinion that this sound turns out to be unnatural, but this moment, again, is largely subjective. But from the unequivocal disad...vantages of active pickups, one can note the need for their own power source. One of the most popular options for this is a 9V battery, which is installed in a special compartment in the body of the guitar.

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 material from which the body of an electric guitar is made. For models with cutouts (semi-acoustic, see "Type"), in this case, only the material of the back deck and sides can be taken into account, and data on the top deck is given separately (for more details, see "Deck Cover Material").

Now on the market there are cases of such trees: red, maple, agatis, ash, alder.

It makes no sense to dwell on each of the materials found in modern electric guitars. Their variety is very large, however, unlike acoustic guitars, the body in this case does not play such a significant role in shaping the sound, and its material has a relatively small effect on the acoustic properties of the instrument (although the exact degree of such influence is a moot point). If you wish, you can find detailed data on a particular material in special sources, but in fact it makes sense to look primarily at the appearance of the instrument and its price category.

The material from which the soundboard cover is made is an additional overlay on the upper soundboard, which primarily plays a decorative role and gives the instrument a pleasant appearance. Do not confuse such a cover with a protective overlay (see above about it). And in semi-acoustic instruments with a hollow body (see "Type"), this paragraph may indicate the material of the upper soundboard, and a separate cover as such may be absent.

In general, the value of this parameter is similar to the material of the body (see above) — adjusted for the fact that the deck cover also directly determines the appearance of the electric guitar, and in semi-acoustic models it affects the sound more than the rest of the body. However, the main criterion for choosing this parameter may well be the aesthetic preferences of the musician.

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.

Profile of a fretboard mounted on an electric guitar.

The profile of the neck is called its shape in section, more precisely, the shape of the back of the neck. This parameter practically does not affect the sound of the guitar, but it directly affects the convenience of playing. Ideally, the neck should “fill” the hand, but not be too large — otherwise it will not be possible to clasp it to the right extent.

Profiles are denoted by the letters C, D, V and U — depending on which letter the neck resembles in the section. Profile D is the flattest, C is slightly more convex, with almost uniform curvature along the entire length, U is more voluminous, with a wider profile in the area of the lining, and the V profile in its classic form has the form of an angle with a rounded top. There are also modifications of these options — for example, "thin", which provides for a reduced profile thickness, or "modern", with slightly improved (theoretically) ergonomics.

The most popular profile types are C, U and their "modern" (modern) modifications. The C profile is almost semi-circular, the U profile is more voluminous, at the fingerboard its edges are almost parallel and only closer to the back of the neck are sharply rounded. The terms modern C and modern U refer to various improved versions of these profiles, their f...orm may be different.

In fact, the choice of neck profile depends solely on the guitarist's personal preferences, the characteristics of his hands and his preferred playing technique. Thus, there is no "perfect" profile shape — in each case, the optimal choice will be different. The perfect option is to try several types of profile "live", decide which one will be more convenient, and choose an instrument with a neck of the same or similar profile shape.

The width of the fretboard of an electric guitar at the nut. Closer to the body, the neck may expand somewhat, but this is not necessary, and the expansion angle may be different. Therefore, the main size is considered to be the width in the region of the nut.

This parameter has two meanings. On the one hand, a wide neck is inconvenient for musicians with small hands and short fingers — it can be difficult to reach the far strings in such cases. On the other hand, a larger width means a greater distance between the individual strings, which reduces the likelihood of hitting an adjacent string when pressed incorrectly and can make playing easier (especially if the guitarist has large fat fingers). However, these moments are not absolute, and the convenience of playing is a very subjective matter, depending on many features of the musician and the technique he uses. Also, don't forget that necks can have different profiles (see above), and instruments with different neck profiles will feel differently in the hands even with the same width at the nut. Therefore, the most reliable method of selection is to try out the necks of different sizes and profiles “live”, decide on the best option and choose based on this.

The smallest neck width at the nut in modern electric guitars is about 39 mm. This size is found mainly in bass guitars (see “Type”), which have 4 strings and a neck that widens noticeably towards the body (due to which it can be made rather narr...ow from above, especially since when playing bass, notes are rarely clamped near the neck itself) . Electric guitars (including semi-acoustic) are somewhat wider — from 41 mm, an indicator of 43 – 48 mm is considered average, and in the largest instruments, the neck can be up to 55 mm wide (however, such dimensions are typical mainly for instruments with more than 6 strings) .

The material from which the neck of an electric guitar is made.

The most commonly used in the manufacture of the neck is mahogany. and maple. Theoretically, the acoustic properties of an instrument are determined by all its details, and even more so, these properties are affected by the quality of the fretboard. At the same time, we note that this influence is not so strong compared to other characteristics of the guitar (type and number of pickups, scale size, body type, etc.). So in this case, it makes no sense to describe in detail each type of material found in modern instruments — especially since the same term (for example, “mahogany”) can denote different types of wood that differ markedly in working properties and overall quality. When evaluating the material of the neck, it is quite possible to proceed from the fact that the manufacturer selects it in accordance with the price category and the general specialization of the guitar.