How To Buy a Guitar, Guitar Buying Guide for Beginners
How To Buy A Guitar: A Guitar Buying Guide For Beginners by Billy Boissoneault
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Considering this is the first time you are buying a guitar, an acoustic guitar would be the ideal choice. Though, this isn’t as simple as it sounds because there are endless variations among acoustics too.
Some of the typical confusion among first-time buyers are, size of the guitar and the type of guitar.
The most common variants of guitar that people are familiar with are nylon string classical guitars, steel string acoustic guitars, and electric.
Both steel string and nylon string guitars have hollow wooden bodies, a wooden fret board with 20 frets, and 6 strings (though 8 and 12 strings are also widely popular among maestros).
Which Guitar Should I Buy?
Before you go to a store to buy a guitar, learning about them would be a wise choice. From type to size, there are multiple aspects you need to consider, and here are a few of them.
Steel String vs Nylon String
Being a beginner, a steel string acoustic guitar would be the ideal choice as it has a narrow fretboard that will be less strenuous on your fingers.
Though nylon strings are softer and easier on your fingers, but, the fretboard of a nylon string is wider than an acoustic which means more pressure on your dominant thumb.
Just a gentle reminder, be prepared to feel a great deal of pain at the tip of your fingers. This is where most of the aspirants lose their interest.
Finding the Right Size
Mini, Junior, Jumbo, Octavane, Parlor, New Porter, Redando, Dreadnought and what not, there are endless shapes and sizes of guitar available.
Does size matter?
If you are a beginner, yes. Size and shape (of the guitar) does matter.
Once you have mastered the art of holding a guitar properly, you can play a guitar of any shape and any size.
Guitars such as Jumbo and orchestra have a wider and deeper body so for a first time, it will be challenging for them to wrap their arms around the guitar and strum all the six strings smoothly.
The Tension of the Guitar Strings
A few acoustic guitars have a higher action, which means the distance between the strings and fretboard is higher.
This has a contradicting opinion among guitarists. While some argue that playing a guitar with higher action can damage the fingers of a beginner, some suggest that it helps the guitarist to build a better and stronger grip.
Though a wise choice would be to play the guitar before you buy it.
Why Choose Acoustic Guitar Over Electric Guitar for Beginners?
Acoustic guitars have raw and unfiltered sounds, wider necks, higher action. They are the ideal guitar for one to learn to hold the perfect shape. Despite their bulbous body, acoustic guitars are lightweight.
On the other hand, electric guitars have narrow and thinner necks, and weigh way more than heavier than an acoustic guitar. Here are a few more differences between electric and acoustic guitars.
Pros of Acoustic Guitars
- Affordability: Low price is one of the top advantages of acoustic over electric guitars and what makes it the best guitar for beginners. There is no additional expense required for acoustic guitar though once you master the instrument, you might want to explore the different dynamics.
- Unmasked Sound: Acoustic guitars have a raw sound so you can learn to play each note with perfect touch and pressure. Unlike an electric guitar, you can;t alter the tone, mask the tone, or control the volume using knobs.
- Mobility: You don’t need any additional gears with an acoustic guitar. This makes it a perfect choice as a travel guitar. You can take it wherever you want to.
As a beginner, you would like to carry your guitar to places and routinely, you might have to go to your guitar instructor. Acoustic guitars are lightweight because of their hollow body whereas electric guitars have a solid heavy body, and need an amplifier to output sound.
Pros of Electric Guitar
- Variations: Considering the knobs on the guitar are properly adjusted, you can bring out a variation of tones on an electric guitar. You can even use the whammy to moderate your playing even further.
You can attach your electric guitar with a processor or pedal(s) to create millions of tone variations, play a rhythm on loop and use it to play scales and solos.
- Thinner Neck: Electric guitars have a thinner neck and lower action. They are extremely comfortable on your fingers and can be played for multiple hours without causing lower strain compared to acoustic guitars.
When you play an acoustic guitar, your grip needs to be stronger than an electric guitar, causing more pressure on your wrist and fingers.
- Thinner Strings: Electric guitars have lighter gauge strings which makes it easier to strum for maximum output. Acoustic guitars on the other hand need heavier strings.
Since the volume is not adjustable on an acoustic guitar, you will need thick gauge acoustic strings to create the bass in the tone. It means you need to strum harder, and put more pressure while holding the chords or a note.
Other Types of Guitars Available
Guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the world. From western to classical, almost in every genre, guitar has always been a prominent instrument.
Eventually, apart from the three most popular types of guitar, moderations were made across the world by maestros and expert musicians. Such as:
Electro-Acoustic Guitar
Also known as a semi-acoustic guitar, the electric acoustic guitar has a bridge that imitates the timbre of an acoustic guitar. It can be played with and without plugged into an amplifier.
Ovation is one of the early manufacturers and one of the most popular electric acoustic brands.
Archtop Guitar
Popular among jazz and blues players, Archtop guitars are electric guitars with a hollow body and violin f-holes which create an acoustic and mellow sound.
Steel Guitars
Also known as lap guitar, Steel guitars need to be placed horizontally on your lap or on a stand to be played. Used mostly by slide guitar players. Even David Gilmour played steel guitar on the album “The Dark Side of The Moon”.
Resonator Guitar
Resonator guitars have a perforated steel plate in the middle of the body replacing the hole in an acoustic guitar. They were traditionally used to produce more sound, as the sound of an acoustic guitar used to get buried under the loud music of percussion and markas.
Bass Guitar
Bass guitars are one of the hardest guitars to play as they have heavy strings and a longer neck. Standard bass guitars come in 4-strings and 6-strings. Traditional bass guitars used to be gigantic and were a big deal to carry around. These days, electric and acoustic are the most popular types of bass guitars.
Ending Notes
As a beginner, you must choose a guitar that will help you to learn. Acoustic guitars are one of the most recommended guitars for beginners according to the best guitar teachers. With the variety in size and shape, anyone can find an acoustic guitar that perfectly suits their needs.
Check out more music related tips and guidance by clicking here.
Billy Boissonneault
Billy Boissoneault has been a music enthusiast and professional instrumentalist for the last 20 years based in Edmonton, Canada with having 26,000 lessons taught. He owns a music blog that runs under the name of the Guitar Instructor. Billy provides guitar classes in Edmonton for all ages and abilities both online and offline.