Comparison LTD EX Black Metal vs LTD EX-401

Electric guitar pickup layout diagram. The letters used in this diagram indicate the types of pickups:

- S - single. A single-coil pickup that looks like a narrow strip, often with a number of “buttons” (magnets) corresponding to the number of strings. Such modules provide clear and ringing sound, well suited for jazz, blues and other similar genres. On the other hand, the sound saturation from single-coils is not very high; they are poorly compatible with distortion and other similar effects, which is why they are poorly suited for “heavy” styles of music. In addition, such pickups are susceptible to external magnetic fields, which can degrade the sound.

- H - humbucker. A type of pickup with two coils, originally created to compensate for the shortcomings of single coils - in particular, to reduce the level of interference from external magnetic interference. However, in the end it turned out that humbuckers differ noticeably in the color of the sound: it turns out to be less expressive, but more dense and rich, making it excellent for playing “overload” (distortion, overdrive, etc.). A classic pickup of this type has two coils positioned side by side, making it noticeably wider than a single coil; and Standard class humbuckers generally look like two single coils installed close to each other. However, in addition to this, there are other design options - for example, a hamcanseller..., which has coils “on two levels” and is comparable in width to a single. Also note that there are humbuckers that can switch to single-coil mode (see “Coil Cutoff” for more details).

—J. A subtype of S-type pickups with one coil and an additional pole for each string. This variety first appeared on the legendary Fender Jazz Bass. J pickups have a versatile sound that suits almost any style of music.

—P. P pickups have two magnetized poles per string, but they have a unique feature: they are cut in half and wound in reverse. The advantage of this winding is the humbucker effect (see type “H”). The wide and long shape of the P pickup provides powerful and punchy sound in genres such as rock, metal, punk, etc.

- P90. A special type of single-spool single with a wider but shorter bobbin. These pickups are installed in the bridge or neck area of the guitar. Their distinctive feature is a characteristic “rock and roll” sound with warm, soft and rich timbres. Instruments with P90 pickups are often used in alternative rock, blues, indie, etc. styles.

The pickup diagram describes their types, number and relative positions. Our catalog uses a bridge-to-neck designation: for example, an HSS design means the guitar has one humbucker at the bridge and two single-coils near the neck.

This parameter determines, first of all, the overall color of the instrument’s sound. Thus, the above version of HSS will produce a sound that is quite clean and expressive, but at the same time a little denser and lower than on a purely “single-coil” electric guitar. There are many models available that are equipped with only one type of pickups. Moreover, the more pickups, the deeper and richer the sound, as a rule. In addition to all this, many other factors affect the sound of the instrument, so when choosing, you should not look only at the pickup circuit.

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 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.

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 radius of curvature of a fretboard mounted on the fretboard of an electric guitar.

The fingerboard is located directly under the strings, it is to it that the musician presses the strings when playing. If you look at the neck in cross section, its upper part with the overlay will have the shape of an arc; the radius of this arc is implied in this case. The smaller the radius, the more convex this arc will be, and vice versa, a large radius will correspond to an almost flat surface.

In general, it is believed that a smaller fingerboard radius is better for playing chords, and a more even, flat surface makes it easier to play technical passages with an abundance of special techniques such as bands. The average and, one might say, classic diameter value is 12", this is the most popular option among modern electric guitars. The smallest figure is just over 7", it is found in some guitars with Stratocaster bodies (both original Fender instruments and copies ). And the most flat pads have a diameter of 20" or more.

Note that there are often instruments with a variable fretboard radius — smaller at the headstock (where chords are played more often) and larger near the body (where solos are played by notes). In such cases, the radius at the nut is indicated.

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.