The difference between electric and acoustic guitars is the magnet used in the pickups

photo credit: Roadside Guitars

An acoustic guitar is generally hollow on the inside while most electric guitars are solid bodies – Yes I’m sure I’m stating the obvious here. So then, if an acoustic guitar uses its hollow body to resonate sound, how does an electric guitar produce it’s sound?

The answer: ” Pickups “.

As you know, pickups are nothing more than a little device sitting under your guitar strings, so how does the sound get received and transferred to your amplifier?

Another common question I’ve been asked via email is:

” How come guitars with passive pickups still work without the need of batteries? ”

Here’s a quick explanation ( without me sounding too much like a tech geek )..

An electric guitar pickup is made up of a coil of wire that’s wound around a magnet. The magnet then magnetizes the guitar strings. Since the strings are made of steel, a magnetic field from the magnet surrounds the string.

Now, when the string is picked, it vibrates up and down and following it’s motion is the magnetic field. This movement produces a current within the coil and this electrical current produces a signal that goes through your guitar’s circuit board and then to your amplifier. The result is pure music baby!

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Electric And Acoustic Guitars – The Electric Difference

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