Often depicted in carvings c. 800 AD, the Norse hero Gunther (also established as Gunnar), played a lute with his toes as he lay dying in a snake-pit, in the legend of Siegfried. By 1200 AD, the four string "guitar" had evolved into two types: the guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, extensive fingerboard and several soundholes, and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the newfangled guitar with definite soundhole and a narrower neck.

Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, and fruitage inconsiderable safe without amplification. Electromagnetic pickups convert the vibration of the steel strings into electrical signals which are fed to an amplifier through a cable or radio transmitter. The right is frequently modified by other electronic devices or the natural distortion of valves (vacuum tubes) in the amplifier. There are two main Fender Custom Guitars types of pickup, distinguished and double coil (or humbucker), each of which can be passive or active.