The Parts of an Electric Bass Guitar

An illustration of the different parts of an electric bass guitar, named and fully described.

Tuning Heads - Sometimes called "tuners" or "machine heads". These are used to tighten or loosen the strings. Each tuning head controls one string on the bass. Tightening the string makes the pitch of the string higher, while loosening the string makes the pitch lower.

Head Stock - The head stock is just the top part of the bass. the piece of wood that the tuning heads are attached to. The whole section of the bass above the nut is referred to as the "head stock".

Nut - The nut is a thin piece of ivory, graphite or plastic that sits between the headstock and the fretboard. It raises the strings off of the fretboard and has a groove for each string that holds the strings in place. This allows the strings to vibrate freely, not touching the fretboard or each other when plucked.

Neck - The neck is the longest part of the bass. It is the part of the bass that you "hold" with your fretting hand (as opposed to your plucking or picking hand). The word "hold" is in quotes because your hand should be relaxed, sliding up and down the neck to and from the frets that you are playing, not squeezing. The neck itself is under tremendous pressure from the tension of the strings, when tightened. It is prone to bending or warping. To counter this, a "truss-rod" (a long metal bolt) is installed the length of the neck, mounted underneath the fingerboard (you can't see it). It can be adjusted when necessary in order to offset the tendency of the neck to warp or bend one way or another, thus keeping the neck straight and and the bass playing properly. The head of the truss rod bolt is usually underneath a little plate screwed into the front of the headstock, right behind the nut. When speaking of the neck, we are usually referring to the back of the neck (not shown) as opposed to the front of the neck, upon which is glued the fretboard.

Fretboard - Sometimes referred to as the "fingerboard", especially on fretless instruments such as the violin, cello or double bass. The fretboard is the wood attached to the neck that you can see from the front of the bass. When you press your finger on a string and hold it down onto the fretboard, the note that will sound if you pluck the string is the note that corresponds to the fret directly to the right of your finger (on a right handed bass). The fretboard is essentially a foundation for the frets and a support for your fingers while fretting. At no time will the vibrating part of a string ever touch the fretboard. The fingerboard on a fretless instrument is much more involved in producing the notes. On a fretless instrument, the point on the fingerboard where you press down the string is the exact point which determines the note that will be played. The string directly touches the fingerboard on fretless instruments.

Frets - The frets are skinny pieces of metal that are set into the fretboard at specific intervals, sticking up above the fretboard just enough so that the string can be pressed down onto it without the string actually touching the fretboard. The intervals which the frets are spaced correspond to "half notes". When tuned properly, pressing down the string, so that the string rests on a fret, will allow you to play a specific consistent note (or pitch) at each fret. The frets on a bass guitar correspond directly to the frets on a standard guitar. Knowing the notes one one will allow you to play the other fairly easily.

Fret Markers - These "dots", inlaid flush into the fretboard, are simply "markers" that allow the player to quickly see where he is on the fretboard with just a glance. They allow orientation of the fretboard notes, but are not a necessary part of the bass. sometimes they are also on the edge of the neck and sometimes they are not dots, but other, often intricate, designs.

E, A, D and G strings - The E string is the "lowest", fattest, string on the 4 string bass. It is the string that is closest to you when you are playing the bass. When tuned in the standard way, playing the E string without pressing it down onto any frets (the open position) will produce an "E" note. The A string is the next fattest string, then the D, then the G, which is the thinnest string, sitting the farthest from you when playing. The strings on a 4 string bass correspond exactly to the lowest 4 strings on a standard guitar, except that the bass is tuned an octave lower than the standard guitar. 5 string basses have a low B string, which is even fatter and lower than the E string, and 6 string basses add a high B string, which is thinner and higher in pitch than the G string.

Strap Button - A shoulder strap can be conveniently hooked onto this strap button and an identical strap button on the tail of the bass (just below the bridge), allowing you to play the bass while standing in a relaxed position.

Body - Just like a standard electric guitar, the body of an electric bass is simply a solid piece of wood, or fiberglass, graphite, Lucite, Plexiglas, or any number of modern materials. The body has a cavity cut into it in order to house the electronics, which is covered either by the pickguard, or a plate which is screwed into the back or front of the bass. The shape and material which the body is made of makes much less impact on the sound of an electric bass than the body of an acoustic bass. This accounts for the wild designs and materials sometimes used when making electric basses.

Pick Guard - The pickguard is the piece of plastic or other material that is affixed to the bass in order to protect the finish of the bass from getting scratched while playing with a pick. When you strum or pluck the strings with a pick (plectrum), the body of the bass directly below the G string can get scratched. Over time, the finish of the bass in this area totally wears away. Most pro players would regard this as a badge of honor, however for the player who treasures the look their instrument it can be an important concern. In cases such as the Fender P-Bass and many other electric instruments, the pick guard is more of an engineering solution than a finish protection device. It simply serves to cover the electronics cavity, allowing easy access to the guts of the bass by unscrewing it from the body. The entire electronics of many basses are attached to the pickguard, rather than the body, of the bass. This allows the electronics to be assembled separately from the rest of the bass. Some styles of basses do not have pickguards and many bassists do not use picks.

Pickup - While the body of the bass has less influence on the sound of the electric bass than it's acoustic counterpart, the pickup on a bass has almost everything to do with the instrument's sound characteristic. There can be more than one pickup on a bass and the position of the pickup on the body of the bass, i.e. closer to the neck or the bridge, will affect the tone. The pickup sits directly under the strings in the body section of the bass. It does not touch the strings at all, but it picks up the vibration of the strings when they are plucked. The little "circles" in the pickups are actually cylinder magnets or "poles" which are wrapped with very thin copper wire. Each pole is directly under a string. When a string vibrates above that magnetic pole, electrons are excited in the wires wrapped around it and an analog electric signal flows through the pickup and out the jack and through the cable and into the amp...etc..

Volume and Tone Controls - These do exactly what you would expect. One controls the volume of the bass and one controls the tone of the bass. On instruments with more than one pickup, you might have another tone control (one for each pickup) and either another volume control for the additional pickup, or an additional knob or switch that allows you to select between the different pickups or blend them together. The signal path on a bass is generally pickup > volume > tone > jack.

Bridge - The bridge is the part of the bass that holds the strings at the opposite end of the bass from the nut. Like the nut, it has grooves for each string and raises the strings above the fretboard so that they can vibrate freely and independently. Unlike the nut, the bridge can usually be adjusted easily in order to raise or lower the height of the strings over the fretboard and, most importantly, the intonation of each string. Accurately adjusting the intonation of each string is crucial to the playability of any fretted instrument. Most instruments should come from the factory with the intonation adequately set. It is a task which requires intermediate skill, but you can perform it yourself if you learn how. Check the other tutorials here at 2kool4skool.com for instructions on intonation and bridge setup. The same technique will work for guitars and basses and should work as well for the banjo, mandolin, mandola, ukulele, lute, vihuela, guitarron, bajo sexto, quinto, charango, cuatro, oud, saz, dobro, sitar, dulcimer, zither and other western fretted insruments.