Achieving a true electric guitar required a complete rethinking of how a guitar could work. Rather than have the guitar body amplify the sound, the body would merely be a platform that holds vibrating strings-similar to those on an acoustic guitar-and electronics. The body could even be solid, not hollow With a solid body, the strings make a very soft sound-softer s than the sound achieved in the rubber-band around-the-box experiment, and not nearly enough to amplify successfully through a typical microphone. Instead of a hollow sound box, the strings are placed just above tiny magnets, or ckups. When the strings vibrate, they create a weak, but precise disturbance in the pickup's magnetic field