Comparison Parksons ST170 vs Parksons ST150

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 material from which the body of an electric guitar is made. For models with cutouts (semi-acoustic, see "Type"), in this case, only the material of the back deck and sides can be taken into account, and data on the top deck is given separately (for more details, see "Deck Cover Material").

Now on the market there are cases of such trees: red, maple, agatis, ash, alder.

It makes no sense to dwell on each of the materials found in modern electric guitars. Their variety is very large, however, unlike acoustic guitars, the body in this case does not play such a significant role in shaping the sound, and its material has a relatively small effect on the acoustic properties of the instrument (although the exact degree of such influence is a moot point). If you wish, you can find detailed data on a particular material in special sources, but in fact it makes sense to look primarily at the appearance of the instrument and its price category.

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 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.