For more than a century, we have been blessed with accessibility to this outstanding guitar, but now days it is not your fathers or even grandfathers guitar. There are many options available from most manufacturers that can make this selection procedure much more tedious. This article will give you guidance in this selection process and we will offer you advice as to how each option affects the guitars tone, volume, playability and appearance factors.
Please use the information you find here as a starting point in your educational process, prior to conducting a search for the perfect acoustic guitar to suit your playing style and playing requirements.
Body Size Variations of the Acoustic Guitar:
Body variations is probably one of the more intensive decisions that you will make. The body size affects the way a guitar is played, playing style, and probably one of the more crucial desirable features that affects intensity and tone balance. You will observe that commonly speaking, thinner bodies and bodies that are smaller in stature create thinner or heavier treble tones, with less bass response, and moderately less volume.
Guitar Body Change Options :
Augmentations to the guitar body can comprise the size and location of the sound hole and cutaway options, which permit the guitarist to more easily play on the higher fret positions. Tone and volume can be formed to some level by the size and placement of the sound hole. Even minor modifications can make important improvements.
Acoustic Guitar Wood Selections:
Guitar tone wood pertains to two distinct areas of the guitar body. The top plate, and the combination of the back and side plates are the two areas of consideration. You will find that a plywood product is used in guitars in the lower price range, to both be more cost competitive, and to give notable stability to the guitar. Although plywood and HPL plates give greater lastingness, you will notice that most often these guitars do not possess the same quality tone that solid wood instruments exhibit. Even though HPL and plywood is acceptable for use on the backs and sides of novice guitars, I would stay away from this construction for your acoustic guitar top plate.
The tone and volume of your guitar will be greatly affected by the wood variety that is used in its construction. Walnut and Mahogany back and side sets will make for a warmer tone, with balanced treble and bass and a very sweet tone. The Rosewood family of exotic wood tends to give a guitar more intensity, a brighter tone and in excess of emphasis on the treble notes.
Bracing Options for The Guitar Top Plate:
When it comes to bracing variations, you will mainly find this option on the upper end guitars. Bracing options you will see:
Typical X Bracing - This is the original bracing that Martin debuted in the 1920's. It is still the most common bracing option.
X Bracing Forward Shifted: This is the typical X bracing that is shifted forward out of its conventional position and is touted as an enhancement of the guitar tone and volume characteristics.
Scalloped Braces: With this technique anywhere from a few to nearly all of the top braces are scalloped to reduce their mass. The amount of scalloping is subject to on the manufacturer. You will notice this option available mainly on the re-issued vintage remake guitars. One item you ought to be made aware of is that the scalloping of the braces can reduce their structural strength.
Acoustic Guitar Neck Length Options:
Martin Guitars was the first to introduce the 14 fret acoustic guitar neck in the 1920's as practically all necks were 12 frets long up until that time. Although many manufacturers offer both 12 and 14 fret necks, the 14 fret necks are most common, with the 12 fret necks being preferred by fingerstyle guitarists.
Acoustic Guitar Options - Neck Width:
Fingerstyle guitar players commonly desire wider acoustic guitar necks with slightly wider string spacing, which is reminiscent of a classical guitar neck. The fingerstyle type of picking generally requires the use of open notes and this makes fingering the strings much easier.
Finishing Options:
Acoustic Guitar finish options will commonly fall into two options. Nitrocellulose Lacquer or simply just Lacquer, which is a solvent based finish and the water-base Urethane finishes. Each finish type has its loyal supporters, and for various reasons. The Nitrocellulose Lacquer is normally thought of as the vintage guitar finish, because it is very thin and allows the tone qualities to emerge more quickly. The Urethane is easier to apply and repair and is easier to give the deep crystal clear finish.
Acoustic Guitar Electronics Options:
More recently a number of Acoustic Guitar manufacturers have been offering electronics as an option for many of their guitars and others come with pre-installed electronics standard. The system of choice appears to be created by Fishman, but others such as Baggs are quality systems as well. Depending on your desired use and application, be sure to check out these systems to make sure that they will suit your purpose.
With all of these options and even more on some guitars, you can see that selection of an acoustic guitar to fit your expectations requires quite a bit of knowledge in and of itself. Hopefully this article will help you in this procedure.
Please use the information you find here as a starting point in your educational process, prior to conducting a search for the perfect acoustic guitar to suit your playing style and playing requirements.
Body Size Variations of the Acoustic Guitar:
Body variations is probably one of the more intensive decisions that you will make. The body size affects the way a guitar is played, playing style, and probably one of the more crucial desirable features that affects intensity and tone balance. You will observe that commonly speaking, thinner bodies and bodies that are smaller in stature create thinner or heavier treble tones, with less bass response, and moderately less volume.
Guitar Body Change Options :
Augmentations to the guitar body can comprise the size and location of the sound hole and cutaway options, which permit the guitarist to more easily play on the higher fret positions. Tone and volume can be formed to some level by the size and placement of the sound hole. Even minor modifications can make important improvements.
Acoustic Guitar Wood Selections:
Guitar tone wood pertains to two distinct areas of the guitar body. The top plate, and the combination of the back and side plates are the two areas of consideration. You will find that a plywood product is used in guitars in the lower price range, to both be more cost competitive, and to give notable stability to the guitar. Although plywood and HPL plates give greater lastingness, you will notice that most often these guitars do not possess the same quality tone that solid wood instruments exhibit. Even though HPL and plywood is acceptable for use on the backs and sides of novice guitars, I would stay away from this construction for your acoustic guitar top plate.
The tone and volume of your guitar will be greatly affected by the wood variety that is used in its construction. Walnut and Mahogany back and side sets will make for a warmer tone, with balanced treble and bass and a very sweet tone. The Rosewood family of exotic wood tends to give a guitar more intensity, a brighter tone and in excess of emphasis on the treble notes.
Bracing Options for The Guitar Top Plate:
When it comes to bracing variations, you will mainly find this option on the upper end guitars. Bracing options you will see:
Typical X Bracing - This is the original bracing that Martin debuted in the 1920's. It is still the most common bracing option.
X Bracing Forward Shifted: This is the typical X bracing that is shifted forward out of its conventional position and is touted as an enhancement of the guitar tone and volume characteristics.
Scalloped Braces: With this technique anywhere from a few to nearly all of the top braces are scalloped to reduce their mass. The amount of scalloping is subject to on the manufacturer. You will notice this option available mainly on the re-issued vintage remake guitars. One item you ought to be made aware of is that the scalloping of the braces can reduce their structural strength.
Acoustic Guitar Neck Length Options:
Martin Guitars was the first to introduce the 14 fret acoustic guitar neck in the 1920's as practically all necks were 12 frets long up until that time. Although many manufacturers offer both 12 and 14 fret necks, the 14 fret necks are most common, with the 12 fret necks being preferred by fingerstyle guitarists.
Acoustic Guitar Options - Neck Width:
Fingerstyle guitar players commonly desire wider acoustic guitar necks with slightly wider string spacing, which is reminiscent of a classical guitar neck. The fingerstyle type of picking generally requires the use of open notes and this makes fingering the strings much easier.
Finishing Options:
Acoustic Guitar finish options will commonly fall into two options. Nitrocellulose Lacquer or simply just Lacquer, which is a solvent based finish and the water-base Urethane finishes. Each finish type has its loyal supporters, and for various reasons. The Nitrocellulose Lacquer is normally thought of as the vintage guitar finish, because it is very thin and allows the tone qualities to emerge more quickly. The Urethane is easier to apply and repair and is easier to give the deep crystal clear finish.
Acoustic Guitar Electronics Options:
More recently a number of Acoustic Guitar manufacturers have been offering electronics as an option for many of their guitars and others come with pre-installed electronics standard. The system of choice appears to be created by Fishman, but others such as Baggs are quality systems as well. Depending on your desired use and application, be sure to check out these systems to make sure that they will suit your purpose.
With all of these options and even more on some guitars, you can see that selection of an acoustic guitar to fit your expectations requires quite a bit of knowledge in and of itself. Hopefully this article will help you in this procedure.
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To find out more about the great features of these wonderful guitars, please visit our article Acoustic Guitar, and for more interesting information on acoustic and classical guitars, be sure to visit our site: Ultimate Guitar OnLine.
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