Distinguishing features include the violin-like f-holes which replace the circular sound hole of the traditional guitar. Often jazz guitars are larger in size than classical or acoustic guitars,and they usually have arched tops and backs, like a violin. This is said to improve their sound projection. Pickups are now built into the guitar, as are volume and tone controls.

The pioneering guitarist Les Paul was a technical as well as musical wizard. He is famous for multitrack recorded performances, and his developments on the instrument itself led to the extensive use of solidbody guitars with no innate acoustic resonance. Used for chords and lead in contemporary rock groups, the solid-body guitar has no sound until it is plugged into an amplifier. The electronic sound from pickups is processed in inventive ways for special effects, including deliberate distortion. The result is a new creation that has a fingerboard and strings but acoustically shares little with the traditional guitar.