Comparison Epiphone Prophecy Extura vs Epiphone Les Paul Custom

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.

The general shape of the body of an electric guitar.

The solid body of an electric guitar can be molded into almost any shape; hollow cases do not give such freedom, however, even among them, the options in shape can be very diverse. However, there are certain standard forms. It is not uncommon for these shapes to be named after a particular "legendary" guitar model, such as the "Les Paul" or "Stratocaster" (after Gibson and Fender instruments of the same name, respectively). It makes no sense to describe each standard form — it's easier to find an illustration in our catalog or on the Internet.

The main, and often the only point, which is affected by the shape of the body is the appearance of the guitar. Also, convenience for the musician to some extent depends on this parameter — for example, some models allow you to play while sitting, resting the instrument on your foot, for others this method is weak or not suitable at all. But whether the shape of the body affects the sound of an electric guitar is a moot point. There is an unequivocal dependence only in semi-acoustic models, but for solid bodies there is no clear answer to this question: some musicians claim the superiority of some forms over others, but this moment is largely subjective. In addition, other parameters (types and number of pickups, bridge design, etc.) greatly affect the sound quality.

Now on the market there are guitars with this body shape: Les Paul, Superstrat, Stratocaster, Jazz Bass, Precision Bass, Telecaster, PRS Santana, Flying V, SG, however, there are also completely non-standard options.

The presence of a protective lining (pickguard) on the body of the guitar.

Such an overlay is located on the upper deck, most often made of durable plastic and differs markedly in colour, due to which it is clearly visible. Its main purpose is to protect the soundboard surface from pick strikes (for example, when playing with dynamic fighting), which could damage the varnished wooden surface. The specific shape and size of the fingerboard may vary, but anyway, it covers at least the surface below the strings (when looking at the guitar in the working position), and sometimes under the strings and even above them.

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.

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.

The scale is the distance from the nut to the bridge; in other words, this is the working length of the open (not pressed with a finger) string. The greater this distance, the more tightly the strings must be stretched to achieve the desired pitch and the greater the force required to press them against the fingerboard. However, some guitarists argue that even a small difference in length - less than an inch - already makes a significant difference in the feel when playing.

In addition, this parameter also affects the color of the sound. A longer length allows you to get a brighter, louder and more expressive sound, while a shorter length allows you to get a denser, “warmer” and smoother sound. Thus, all other things being equal, a relatively short scale length is better for playing chords, while a longer instrument may be needed to achieve the desired sound in a solo.

The most popular scale length options in electric guitars (not basses) are 24.75" (Gibson) and 25.5" (Fender). Indicators less than 22" are extremely rare, mainly in instruments with miniature 3/4" bodies (see "Size"), and the maximum value is about 28", longer instruments are practically not produced. But basses have a noticeably longer length ( otherwise the strings for them would have to be made too thick or tensioned too loosely): the shortest models provide a scale length of 30", but the classic value is 34".

Note that the design of the bridge often allows you to change the actual scale length (including for each string separately); This is done to ensure that the instrument plays accurately along the frets. Therefore, in the characteristics it is customary to indicate the default scale length, without additional adjustments.