How an Electric Guitar Works

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Have you ever wondered how an electric guitar works? It's really quite simple and makes use of basic physics principals.
An electric guitar "senses" the vibrations / movement of the strings electronically. This electronic signal is sent to an amplifier which is used to power a speaker. The "sensing" is done using a magnetic pickup mounted under the strings which is essentially a bar magnet wrapped with thousands of turns of fine wire.
Moving a magnetic field within a coil of wire can be used to generate electrical signals. Indeed this is how a power stations work where turning magnets inside coils of wire generate current to power your home.
A similar principal is at work in an electric guitar where the strings vibration produces a corresponding vibration in the magnet's magnetic field which causes a vibrating electrical current in the coil.
There are many different types of pickups. For example, some pickups extend a single magnet bar under all six strings. Others have a separate pole-piece for each string. Some pickups use screws for pole-pieces so that the height of each pole-piece can be adjusted. The closer the pole-piece is to the string, the stronger the signal.
The pickup's coil sends its signal through a very simple circuit on most guitars. Components such as a variable resistor are added to the simple circuit to adjust the tone.

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