ACOUSTIC GUITAR ANATOMY

This page provides a basic overview of acoustic guitars

Elements of sound and playability

Yamaha proprietary pickup systems

When you hear an acoustic guitar up close and unamplified you’re hearing sound from virtually every part of the instrument: the top, back, sides, and even the neck and headstock – this is the sound most acoustic guitarists are aiming for when they play live.

When an acoustic guitar is amplified, the goal is to find the perfect balance between this natural tone, and what is practically possible. A microphone, or combination or microphones, will give the most natural tone but is far from ideal on stage due to feedback, problems from picking up other instruments on stage and the fact that the player cannot move away from the microphone.

Internal pickup systems overcome many of these problems, but are hard to make sound natural. Undersaddle pickups are the most common, but are often criticised for picking up mostly the sound of the strings – this makes them cut through a mix extremely well, but doesn’t give a natural acoustic guitar tone.

For more than 30 years, Yamaha has been developing proprietary pickup systems designed to combine natural tone and on-stage usability.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

CRAFTSMANSHIP

QUALITY CONTROL

ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS

ACOUSTIC GUITAR ANATOMY

ELECTRIC GUITAR ANATOMY