The two main parts of electric guitars are the strings and the pickups, which work together to produce sound. Guitar pickups turn vibrations from the strings into electronic signals, which are then transmitted through a guitar amplifier as notes.

While all electric guitars work in this same way, sound quality and tone can vary wildly depending on the shape of the guitar, its basic construction and what guitar pickups are actually used.

What determines how electric guitars sound?

Hollowbody electric guitars, for example, are known to produce a much rounder tone, making them a preferred instrument among jazz guitar players. These include the Gibson Dot electric guitar series. Solidbody electric guitars on the other hand lack the natural warmth of the hollowbody, but because they do not have the same acoustic features they offer much greater diversity and can be used to create almost any type of electric guitar sound.

Single-coil, humbucker and piezo are the most common types of pickup found on electric guitars, with the former typically used to produce rich, bright electric guitar sounds.

Humbuckers, which consist of two guitar pickups, offer a tone that is more rounded and smooth than their single-coil cousin, but are not as clean when it comes to high notes.

Meanwhile, piezos - which are non-magnetic and generate weaker signals than other guitar pickups - are regularly used to recreate the sound of acoustic guitars.