Gear
The parts that shape your tone — instrument bodies, pickups, electronics, and how they all work together. Plain-English reference for players who want to understand what is under the hood.
Browse the topics below to learn how iconic guitar and bass designs sound the way they do, what pickup types exist, where they are placed, and what numbers like “DC resistance” actually mean.
Buying Guides
Neutral, non-affiliate buying guides for beginners — how to choose your first guitar, acoustic vs electric, and picks for acoustics, electrics, bass, and ukulele.
Beginner · first guitar · bass · ukulele
Guitars
How a guitar is put together, the major body shapes, and the pickups and wiring that give each one its voice.
Anatomy · body types · pickups
Bass
How an electric bass is built, the classic body designs, pickups, active vs passive electronics, and string types that shape bass tone.
P-Bass · J-Bass · pickups · strings
Mandolin
A-style and F-style bodies, tonewoods, floating bridges, tailpieces, strings, and acoustic pickups — how a mandolin is built and what shapes its tone.
A-style · F-style · tonewood · strings
Lap Steel
Body styles, open tunings (C6, A6, E13), tone bars, pickups, and strings — the original electric guitar and the country-and-Hawaiian instrument that started it all.
C6 · A6 · E13 · tone bar
Banjo
Open-back vs resonator, tone rings, heads, bridges, and tunings (5-string, tenor, plectrum, Chicago) — how a drum-bodied instrument turns into bluegrass, old-time, or jazz.
5-string · tenor · plectrum · resonator
Ukulele
Soprano, concert, tenor, baritone, and bass — sizes, tunings, tonewoods, strings, and pickups that shape the sweet, percussive voice of the uke.
Soprano · concert · tenor · baritone
12-string guitar
Paired courses add shimmer and tension — nut slots, bridge saddle, neck reinforcement, and pickup pole span all affect how a 12-string rings and stays playable.
Courses · neck tension · harmonic shimmer
Baritone guitar
Longer scale and lower tunings (A or B standard and common variants) change string tension and pickup response — how baritone sits between guitar and bass.
Scale length · low tunings · string tension
Bass VI
Tuned an octave below guitar on a guitar-like neck — bridges, string gauges, pickup pole spacing, and scale choices that separate Bass VI from a typical six-string bass.
String set · bridge · pickup spacing
Cavaquinho
Small steel-strung body with crisp attack — bridge, saddle, and top response for samba and choro rhythm work.
Four strings · high tension · bridge
Cello
Endpin, bridge and soundpost, bow hair and rosin, string gauges — acoustic anatomy behind growl versus singing tone in the bass clef range.
Bridge · soundpost · bow · strings
Charango
Tiny scale with paired courses, traditional bowl or modern wood bodies, tie-block bridges — what gives Andean music its bright, harp-like snap.
Bowl back · paired strings · bridge
Cuban tres
Three pairs of metal strings on a guitar-sized body — bridge intonation, tailpiece, and top bracing for montuno groove and cutting mids.
Triple course · metal strings · bridge
Double bass
Scroll and neck set, adjustable bridge, tailpiece wire — scale length and string mass drive pizzicato growl and arco projection.
Bridge · tailpiece · scale · bow
Irish bouzouki
Long scale with octave courses, flat back, and carved or flat tops — how string pairs, bridge, and tunings shape Irish session sustain versus chiming attack.
Octave pairs · long scale · flat top
Oud
Bowl back, tied fretboard, doubled courses — bridge, soundhole rosette, and string material choices behind classical Middle Eastern tone.
Fretless · courses · bowl back
Puerto Rican cuatro
Ten strings in five courses with a distinctive keyhole or figure-8 body — bracing, bridge, and wound strings tuned for jíbaro strum clarity.
Five courses · body shape · metal strings
Resonator guitar
Spider, biscuit, or tricone resonators, metal or wood bodies, and bridge designs — mechanical amplification and action height for slide versus picked tone.
Cones · bridge · slide tone
Sitar
Sympathetic strings, carved gourd, movable frets, jawari bridge buzz — the setup that creates sitar sustain and timbral color.
Sympathetic strings · jawari · gourd
Tenor guitar
Four-string CGDA tuning on a compact steel-string box — scale length, saddle compensation, and pickup alignment for jazz-era voicing or Irish backup.
CGDA · short scale · four strings
Viola
Larger air column than violin, heavier strings, chin and shoulder setup — bridge arc, soundpost, and bow weight trade warmth versus agility in the alto register.
Bridge curve · soundpost · bow
Violin
Spruce top, maple back, f-holes, pegbox versus fine tuners — how the bridge drives the soundpost for projection and why small setup changes alter response.
Setup · bridge · soundpost