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'''The <u>tailpiece/bridge</u> is the part that connects the strings to the body.''' It is responsible for the guitar's action, intonation, sustain, and tone.
There are numerous types. The Fender ''Stratocaster'''s tremolo bridge is one of the more famous. It features individual adjustable saddles and a whammy bar. Some bridges are coupled directly to the guitar body, which claim to increase tone and sustain. Some are only attached to a few points, allowing the bridge to "float".
Also, see [[Choosing a Guitar]] and [[Setup/Adjustments]].
The '''Toggle Switch''' or '''Pickup-Selector Switch''' is usually the only switch on the front of an electric guitar. ''This is used to select which pickups are active.''
This can be wired in different configurations, but usually a 3 pickup guitar will feature a 5-way selector with neck, neck + middle, middle, middle + bridge, bridge as you move it from pointing towards the neck to the bridge. A 2 pickup guitar usually features a 3-way selector with neck, neck + middlebridge, bridge.
The switch does not ''have'' to be a toggle switch, although it ''usually'' is. It can also be a knob-switch, push-pull switch, or a set of buttons. Also, there can be multiple toggle switches on the guitar face, to allow complex selections between magnetic, piezo, and/or hexaphonic pickups, as well as the phase, serial/parallel, or coil tap wiring of magnetic pickups. In cases of ambiguity, you'll have to refer to the switch by its function; ie ''pickup-selector''-switch. If there's only one toggle switch, it's assumed that it is used to select the active pickup(s).
|Guitar Parts and Functions#Strap Pins|Strap Pins}}
There is typically a large hollowed-out section of the body between the pickups and the output jack called the '''Electronics Cavity''' that houses electronics, such as the potentiometers for the knobs, the pickup selector switch, connecting wires, and if necessary a battery. Sometimes it also encompasses the pickups and output jack. The cavity may be accessible from the face of the guitar if it has a large pickguard that covers it, like a '''''Fender''''' ''Stratocaster''{{TM}}. Otherwise, it is accessible from the rear and covered by a piece of plastic screwed into the body.
Also, see [[Choosing_a_Guitar#Electronics]].
|Guitar Parts and Functions#Capo|Capo}}
A '''Capo'''is a device that uses a spring or screw to clamp the strings against the fretboard at any particular fret desired, effectively acting like the nut. This simply raises the pitch of the strings when played without being fretted. It's useful to play in different keys, using the open position chord fingerings but with the root notes that fit the desired key. For example, if you know a song in C and want to play it in D, you would either have to learn how to play it using different chord fingerings or voicings, tune each guitar string up a whole step which takes time and may make the strings too tense to play, or simply put the capo on the 2nd fret.
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