Types of Guitars
If you are a beginner wanting to play the guitar or if you are reading this article and found this while searching Google, chances are you are thinking of buying a guitar, but you are uncertain of what specific type would best meet your playing needs. Perhaps you have even gone to Amazon and was stymied by the many types of guitars are on sale.
To determine which type of guitar you should buy, you should take into consideration four specific factors. First, you need to know the action of the guitar. This refers to the string height of the guitar just above the neck. You should check if there are any buzzing or clanking noises along the frets.
Second, check out the guitar size. Whether you are buying a guitar for yourself or for a child, the guitar should not be too small so that it is uncomfortable to hold or two large that you are practically hugging it just to be able to strum. Third, you should check both the neck size of the guitar against your hand size. There are certain guitars that have wide necks so that it is difficult for your hand to grasp. Finally, you should know what type of music you will be playing.
There are guitars which are specific for a type of music.
With these four factors to keep in mind, let us take a look at the types of guitars…
Classical Acoustic Guitar
Classical acoustic guitars are characterized by their wide necks and nylon strings. This type of guitar is used when playing more traditional style music, so you will find your guitar playing limited in style. It is also not an ideal guitar for lead playing because of the absence of dots and inlays. Because of its wide neck, classical acoustic guitars are ideal for people with large hands. While the nylon strings make the classical a good suggestion for a child, it is better to purchase a customized one so that it will match the grip of your little boy or girl. Good examples of classical guitars are those that are being manufactured by Jose Ramirez Guitars and Armin Hanika Guitars.
Steel String Acoustic Guitar
Steel string acoustic guitars have smaller necks, smaller bodies, but have steel strings, which may be painful to play for kids and beginners. These guitars, however, are the best options for playing more popular, contemporary music. Make sure that you get a guitar of solid wood instead of a laminate to create a finer sound. Also, acoustic guitars made out of solid wood produce sounds that become beautiful and mellower with age. Good examples of steel string acoustic guitars are those that are being manufactured by Yamaha. The Baby Taylor is another excellent example.
Electric Guitar
Obviously, the electric guitar is the instrument of choice if you want to play rock, hard rock or heavy metal music. Compared to an acoustic, the electric guitar has a solid body and the strings are thinner and are much closer to the neck, so you don’t need to press the string down hard. To produce great sounds with the electric guitar, you need to plug it into an amplifier to create that characteristic metallic sound with a long sustain. If you are buying an electric guitar, you cannot go wrong with a Stratocaster or a Telecaster.
Hollow Body Electric Guitar
Unlike a regular, solid body electric guitar, the hollow body electric guitar, as its name, is hollow so that it is able to create better acoustic resonance. These guitars are best used when you want to play Blues and Jazz. Examples of good hollow body electric guitars are those manufactured by Ibanez, the Gibson 335, and Epiphone’s The Casino and The Sheraton.
Electro-Acoustic Guitar
Electro-Acoustic guitars are characterized by its specially designed piezo pickups which will allow you to create subtle acoustic guitar sounds which you cannot achieve with a pure electric guitar. In order to play this type of guitar, you need to plug it into an amp. A leading manufacturer of electro-acoustic guitars is Ovation.
Learn more about the various types of guitars today!
