A silent guitar is a type of guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 with a solid or chambered body that converts the vibration of the strings into electric current

Electric current

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...

 using a piezoelectric pickup. The body of the guitar does not amplify the vibration of the strings into audible sound. Thanks to this, musicians can practice with headphones without disturbing people around them, or obtain an acoustic tone under heavy amplification without feedback.

Full-size bodies

A successful early silent guitar with a full-sized body was the Gibson Chet Atkins SST

Gibson Chet Atkins SST

The Gibson Chet Atkins SST was a revolutionary design that combined the best of Gibson's acoustic and electric guitar technology. The SST was a solid body acoustic-electric designed by the late legendary country artist Chet Atkins. The steel-string model was introduced in 1987 and was discontinued...

. It appeared to have a soundhole, but it was in fact a dummy. It was employed by Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

, among others.

Small bodies

Reducing the body size of a silent guitar has little effect on the sound. The portability of a small bodied guitar, as well as the ability to practice silently, is an advantage to travelers.

Skeleton guitars

Some silent guitars are small-bodied instruments with a knee-rest of outer frame in the dimensions of an acoustic guitar so that they can be played sitting. These can be detachable to allow conversion into a travel guitar

Travel guitar

Travel guitars are small guitars with a full or nearly full scale length, as opposed to normally proportioned half and three quarter scale length guitars intended for children.Examples include* Höfner Shorty* C. F. Martin Backpacker...

.

Strings and tuning

Silent guitars are tuned

Guitar tunings

Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....

 in the same manner as traditional guitars, from low to high: E - A - D - G - B - E. Various models are available with seven, eight, and even 14-string configurations, although those are rare.

Manufacturers

Several guitar manufacturers offer silent guitars, including Yamaha

Yamaha

Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...

, Traveler Guitar, Warr Guitars, and Koopal.

See also

• Electro-acoustic guitar
• Semi-acoustic guitar
  Semi-acoustic guitar
  A semi-acoustic guitar or hollow-body electric is a type of electric guitar with both a sound box and one or more electric pickups. This is not the same as an electric acoustic guitar, which is an acoustic guitar with the addition of pickups or other means of amplification, either added by the...
  
  
• Hybrid guitar
  Hybrid guitar
  A hybrid guitar is an electric guitar with the ability to produce a signal with the tonal quality of an acoustic guitar in addition to a typical electric signal from a magnetic pickup, allowing a wide tonal pallette performers with a varied repertoire...