Buying the Best Guitar (Part 1)

As a guitarist myself, the first guitar I played was an old, beaten up classical guitar and, as such, I place more importance on learning to play guitar than having the best equipment available. It’s not what you have, it’s how you use it. Nonetheless, when you go out to buy a guitar, you don’t want to be ripped off! So I’m going to attempt to lead you through the, sometimes very daunting, activity of buying a guitar.

What Do You Want to Play?

As always, start from the basics, what do you want to play? Obviously the reason you’re buying a guitar is to play the music you love, right? I wouldn’t suggest buying a guitar unless you know what music you like. So what is it?

If you want to play traditional Spanish music, or are a fan of John Williams (the guitar player, not the film composer from “Jaws” and “Jurassic Park” etc,!), you probably want a guitar that’s strung with nylon strings (known as a “Classical Guitar”). These guitars have a wider string spacing, which is great for playing classical music, but it also means a wider neck which will inhibit your fretting hand (which will make it more difficult to play rock or pop). Classical guitars also have a lower string tension (i.e. less strength is needed) and a higher action (distance between fretboard and string being bigger), again making it difficult to play more modern styles of music. These types of guitars, however, are easier to handle, and smaller than the others- they also produce a rounder tone.

If, however, you prefer players such as Pat Metheny, Turin Brakes, Bob Dylan, or you want to accompany yourself singing, you’ll almost definitely want a steel strung acoustic. These guitars are similar to nylon strung acoustics, but steel strings have a higher tension (slightly stronger fingers are needed). The guitar’s body also tends to be bigger to create a louder sound (which I’ve known some smaller people to have trouble with), and the strings are closer together- so these guitars are much better for acoustic rock or jazz and have a “folky” type sound.

Turn it up!

“…but what if I want to play with a band?” I hear you say. If you want to play guitar with other instruments (especially drum kits, but this goes for others too), you might notice that the guitar is, by itself, a very quiet instrument (compared to, say, the saxophone). This is where amplifiers come in. It is possible to buy steel strung acoustics that can be plugged in to amps, or you can buy pickups for them (I myself use a pickup that attaches to the sound hole), but if you really want to rock, you should buy an electric.

Electric guitars are played buy such bands as: Metallica, ACDC, KISS, Jimi Hendrix etc, and are the right choice if you like these kind of bands. The strings on an eletric are the closest together, and have less tension than those of a steel strung acoustic. The bodies are also normally smaller, because they don’t need to create their own volume.

The volume of an electric guitar is created by the amplifier (which you will also need to buy). The sound travels from the guitar, through a jack lead, and into an amplifier (where the sound is amplified, duh!). So you will need to buy a jack lead and amplifier along with the guitar.

So You’ve found the Right Guitar

You’re in the shop and have decided which type of guitar you want, what do you do? Do you just grab the first one you see? In the next post I’ll be explaining exactly what to look for so that you don’t end up buying a dud.

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November 28, 2009 at 3:35 pm | How to, Music News and Opinions | 3 comments

3 Responses to “Buying the Best Guitar (Part 1)”

1. Learn Guitar » Blog Archive » Chainsaw Guitar Tuition » Buying the Best Guitar (Part 1) says:

   28/11/2009 at 6:11 pm

   [...] See more here: Chainsaw Guitar Tuition » Buying the Best Guitar (Part 1) [...]
2. Chainsaw Guitar Tuition » Buying the Best Guitar (part 2) says:

   29/11/2009 at 12:29 pm

   [...] you’ve read the previous post and you have a pretty good idea about which type of guitar you’re looking for, but the shop [...]
3. Chainsaw Guitar Tuition » Buying an Amplifier (part 2) says:

   05/01/2010 at 3:14 pm

   [...] you should look out for in a good (or bad) amp. You may also want to check out my articles on buying the best guitar, if you are also thinking about buying a [...]

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