• There are several types of electric guitars from which to choose.electric guitar image by Blue Moon from Fotolia.com
  
  Many different types of electric guitars have been produced since their introduction into the mainstream music world in the 1930s. What started out as a simple guitar quickly evolved into a much more complicated instrument. Guitar manufacturers started adding and subtracting parts, altering the sound to create their own unique niche in the market. There are several different universal types of electric guitars, giving you many options to choose from as you search for your own sound.
  
  

Solid Body

• The guitar pickups under the strings come in many different variations.Tonabnehmer image by Jakob Sons from Fotolia.com
  
  Unlike the original acoustic guitar, the solid body has no holes for the sound to travel. Solid body guitars depend on electronic pickups, which are located under the strings on the guitar body, to capture the vibrations of the strings, sending them through the guitar's electronic body and into the the amplifier to produce the sound. Without an amplifier, the solid body sounds very tinny. This electronically driven method of producing sound introduces the opportunity for the guitar to plug into various pedals, completely altering the sound and giving musicians even more of a creative option for their music.
  
  

Semi-Hollow Body

• Violins originally advocated the f-hole, but guitar manufacturers quickly adopted the idea.full violin image by Sergey Goruppa from Fotolia.com
  
  Semi-hollow guitars are characterized by their combination of sound amplification in the body and electronic pickups. Guitar manufacturers usually create the sound hole as one to two f-hole(s) in the body of the guitar, instead of the acoustic guitar's single, circular sound hole directly under the strings. F-holes (recognized for their resemblance of the letter "F") supply a sense of tone to the guitar's sound, allowing the bridge of the guitar to sit closer to the center of the body. Semi-hollow guitars also offer the opportunity to plug into an effects pedal. Semi-hollow bodies can remain independent of amplifiers because the f-holes produce enough sound without sounding tinny, giving them a little more portability.
  
  

Electric Acoustic

• Electric acoustic guitars are very similar to regular acoustic guitars. The only difference is the electronic output that's installed on electric acoustics, allowing for more convenient amplification. Because its sound hole resembles that of a regular acoustic, it's possible to install your own pickup into the sound hole. This allows the guitar to better read the vibrations of the body itself. These guitars have no electronic pickups, and most people consider them more acoustic than electric. They maintain the ability to plug into foot pedals and amplifiers, but they utilize acoustic strings instead of electric.
  
  

Other Variants

• Outside of these three general electric guitar types lie even more variants of customization. Many guitar manufacturers make guitars with anywhere from seven to 12 strings and some with double necks. The seven-string guitar most commonly adds a low B underneath the low E string. Twelve-string guitars adds another set of the standard six strings, offering rhythm and harmony. People most often use double-neck guitars to incorporate the use of a 12-string for rhythm sections and a six-string for lead sections without having to change guitars.