More Anatomy and Construction Overview

I went over some diagrams such as the one on the right. I've been playing around with guitars for a number of years so I already knew most of the parts. I didn't know: bouts, heel, and saddle. Also, the head stock is also called, simply, the head. The rib I have heard referred to as a just a side. The top plate of the guitar, the one with the sound hole, is the sound board, and the bottom plate (the one typically made out of exotic woods -- ooooh!) is the back.

So a high level view of a guitar is that is made out of five parts -- a front plate and a back plate, two curvy sides, and a neck.

The Sound Board

The sound board is the more complicated plate. It has a sound hole, and a decorative rosette around it. That would be the circular inlay of artsy wood or abalone (pearly sea-shell) that you typically see. The soundboard is reinforced from the inside with braces that are specially shaped and placed for optimal tonal characteristics; they also give strength to the front.

The Back

The back is usually made out of two plates of a nice wood, joined together and also braced from the inside.

The Sides

These guys are bent into their proper curves using something called a bending iron, which is simply a hot, round section of metal pipe that you rub your sides against after soaking the wood and eek out the curves that you need.

The Neck

The neck itself consists of a number of different pieces joined together in special formation. I suppose we'll return to this in detail.