danoff
Ok, I'm an idiot... clearly.
My response to this is
- What's a tremelo? And how many types are there and what are the differences?
The tremolo is the bridge of the guitar. It has a "arm" that's referred to as a "whammy bar" that you use to bend down to lower your notes, or raise to make the notes go higher. The springs on the back allows this to happen. The springs and the tension of the strings keep the tremolo in place. It is not bolted or attached to the guitar in any way. There are a bunch of different types, but there are generally four types. Floyd Rose (and licensed by FR), Trans Trem, Bigsby and generic tremolos. The later two are non locking. That means, the nut does not clamp down on the string to lock in the position, or tension, of the strings. Look at the locking nut and you'll see three allan screws holding them down. One screw for two strings. Using non locking tremolos with cause strings to go out of tune, and if a string breaks, the tension is lowered and the strings will start to play sharp.
- I think I know what the nut is, but what's a "locking" nut.
Read above.
- What's the difference between H-H and H-S-S and H-S-H pickup layouts
H means humbucker. S means single coil. The first letter represents the bridge pickup and the so forth. The sound of the bridge pickups, no matter what kind of pickup is used, are very bright and thin sounding, while neck pickups are a lot warmer and fatter. So, by using a fatter sounding pickup, a humbucker, in the bridge evens out the sound and tone of the guitar. Adding a middle pickup to a H-H, or make it H-H-H or H-S-H, layout adds more output, signal, harmonics and evens out the tone and sound of the bridge and neck pickups.
- what's the alternative to "active" pickups and what's the difference?
Passive pickups use no electricity to function, while active pickups use batteries. There are very few guitar active pickups, but there a lot of bass pickups that are active. Active pickups come with a "programmed" sound and tone that passives obviously don't have. Going active lets manufacturers have more control over how a pickup sounds.
- What on Earth is an EMG Humbucking pickup and what other types are there?
EMG is a pickup manufacturer. That make mostly bar magnet pickups. They have a website with sound samples, and a better explanation of what they are. So does Seymour Duncan. Check them out for pickup details.
- Why on Earth would more frets not be better?
It doesn't mean better, just different. Some people see more frets as easier to play, and others do not. Whatever floats your boat... 24 fret guitars are two octaves. Some see that as easier to play. While 21 frets mean you'll need to bend like mad to reach the second octave, if you want to go there. Plus, more frets mean the frets are usually smaller. Meaning, more narrow. 24 frets in the same space as a 21 fret guitar means the frets in the 24 fret guitar will have smaller frets, and the 21 will have wider frets. This relates to playing comfort. You'll need to stretch your fingers more to make certain cords with the 21 fret guitar because, again, the frets are wider. 24 frets means less space to stretch and those with big hands or thick fingers might not play comfortably as say a 21 or 22 fret guitar.
I think there needs to be a newbie guitar thread where one can learn about these things. Perhaps there is a website where I can get educated on all of these fancy shamcy things.
I have a ton of websites related to guitar. I'm not sure what is a beginner friendly, but here are some, anyway.
This sight is the best, but could be a little overwhelming at first. Click on the link, and then choose the guitar body or the neck. Then, a list of items appears on the right. Click on each item to learn what that part is and where it belongs.
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/guitars.cfm
This one explains the difference in woods and other details...
http://www.carvin.com/wood_finish/
http://www.allparts.com/categories.php?cat_id=615&cat_name=SWITCHES
Here's a great pickup glossary from the Seymour Duncan website...
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/glossary.shtml
And from EMG...
http://www.emginc.com/guitar.asp
Guitar Glossary...
http://mediawebsource.com/guitar/glossary.htm
http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/Repairs.htm
