Introduction Guitars have helped create millions of amazingly successful songs and tens of thousands of bands over the last fifty years. Almost all of music in today's modern age has guitar incorporated into it somehow. Even classical pieces such as Beethoven and Bach have been remixed with electric guitars. What makes guitars so popular? There are infinite styles in both looks and sound quality. Electric guitars have use purposes ranging from beginning guitars, meant for those just beginning to learn electric guitar. They have cheaper materials like lower quality frets, pick ups, and bridges. The quality of the guitar can make a huge difference when the sound is being amplified and distorted. What exactly goes into making the "perfect" sounding guitar? People have different tastes when it comes to sound styles, which is why it's essentially impossible to create ONE perfect guitar. Some prefer a clean, crisp sound for more soft tunes, while others would rather crank up the distortion and shake the studio. Unlike acoustic guitars that rely on the shape of the body to get a nice sound, electric guitars rely on electric pick ups located under the strings on the body to capture the sound coming from the vibrations of the strings. This allows a wide variety and interesting customization to the guitar's body to give it a unique personality. Guitar's have personalities like people, and if someone finds a guitar that matches their personality, they are likely to buy it end enjoy it for a long time. Narrative I set out to look for new and creative custom guitars that are carefully hand crafted by the artists who design them. Mike, who is the general manager of Halo Custom Guitars said in an interview, "During highschool, I was always creating intricate drawings of electric guitars while I was supposed to be listening to my teacher." Significance of electric guitars You truly need a passion for custom guitar creation to pursue a full time career in the field. The market for custom guitars is growing steadily year by year, and to keep up with the demand, new electric guitar models must be produced at a fast rate. You can't mass produce any certain model, because it then loses its uniqueness and value. People have mixed feelings on whether or not you can make a living creating and modifying electric guitars. An employee named Jacob from a locally owned guitar store, Starving Musician, says "It's a good job, if you don't like money." He was one of many employees working at the store, which probably affected his pay. However, when I went to Halo Custom Guitars, it was a smaller store with much fewer employees. Mike said that he definitely though that it was possible to live comfortably from the income made from selling custom built electric guitars. About two months ago, a professional hockey player from the San Jose Sharks, Devin Setogucci, came in to pick up a custom from Halo. Mike got filmed by Comcast Sports Net because they were doing a report on Setogucci and his passion for playing guitars. This publicity hugely helped the business for his store, which brought in many more customers. Narrative When I started playing electric guitar, I did what most people do. I went to the commercial guitar shop, Guitar Center, and just bought the guitar that they suggested for me. I didn't even try it out because I didn't think there was a difference between the cheap guitar I bought and a nice custom one with different lead and rhythm settings, different pickup selection, and better quality parts. A year or so after I started playing, I got to play my friends $800 guitar and I immediately noticed the HUGE difference in the sound quality and tone. Two weeks later, I went and bought a new, considerably nicer Ibanez electric guitar. From that point on, I was hooked on exploring with different sound effects and pedals to produce sounds like those I heard in my music. There are many advantages to having custom built guitars. Not only do they make it easier to learn guitar, but they give you the satisfaction of knowing that you have your very own unique guitar to play on. What better way to play guitar than on a custom made guitar (Zagar). Use and creation of electric guitars date backs to the beginning of the rock and punk culture in the 60's and 70's. The style of guitars have evolved over the years into an intricate design of scales, arpeggios, riffs, and sweeps. In newer music styles, guitars have been syncronized in different octaves to enhance soloing and fast riffs. In the band Avenged Sevenfold, one of my personal favorites, the two guitarists: Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates often intertwine their notes in many of their solos to create variety in even simple material that is used in other songs. The Customization and Integration of Electric Guitars
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