Knowing how to choose the right guitar and the way to identify a bad one, will save you from many headaches, in addition to finger aches.
Acoustic guitar bodies come in basically an identical hourglass shape, with some variations, save for they do vary in size, color, wood-sort, style, and further features. You can even purchase an acoustic guitar so little that fits into a hiking backpack.
Guitars come in a incredibly wide range of prices, but with regards to instruments, normally, you get what you pay for, especially if you buy new. There’s a genuine difference between getting a bargain and buying cheap.
Save for whether you buy new or used may be determined by lots of personal factors counting your budget, and each has their unique pros and cons.
Buying new, gives you a warranty and, hopefully, a return period, if for some reason you’re not totally happy with your acquisition, or something goes wrong.
Under ‘usual' circumstances, a second user guitar can typically be purchased cheaper and has by now gone through its “break-in” period.
Commercially built guitars are mostly mass manufactured. “Custom-made” guitars are precisely that. They are custom built and tailored to your specifications by a highly skilled guitar maker.
Prices for a custom-built guitar vary considerably, determined by the skill level of the craftsperson you contract the job to, but, most of the time, they're typically quite higher than a commercially built guitar of “similar” quality. Each custom built guitar is exclusive and thus hard to match in price to a commercially built guitar.
FOR THE "TECHIES"
BODY: This is the part with the sound hole in the front. It's where the strumming is done, and it may vary in size. The particular size, shape, variety of wood, coating, and general build of the body also affects how a guitar will “sound”, whether it’s a rich and warm sound, or a thin and ‘twangy’ sound. {The body tends to be the part that too gets scratched, damaged, and typically banged-up the most.
NECK: This is the long piece extending from the body and ends at the ‘head’ of the guitar where the ‘Tuning Heads’ are, also referred to as ‘machine heads’. The strings travel from the ‘Bridge’ on the body, across the sound hole, across the ‘Fret Board’, that's attached to the front-side of the neck, and finally arriving in the tuning heads where they're wrapped about tuning posts. The tuning heads are then turned by hand, which then turns the posts, making the strings tighter or looser, thus affecting their ‘tuning’. Necks tend to warp and twist if not looked after, or if the guitar is left propped next to a heat source.
BRIDGE: The Bridge is generally located on the front of the body by the sound hole, and on the side of the hole opposite to the neck. The strings are ordinarily fed through the bridge first before they cross the hole and travel up the neck to the tuning heads. The bridge is like an anchor-point for the strings. Metal bridges are best, save for on most acoustics they are either rigid plastic or wood. Bridges tend to crack and split over a long period of time.
FRET BOARD: The fret board is glued to the front of the neck. This is the piece you force down the strings onto to create chords or play individual notes. As it’s glued on separately, a fret board is made of a wood that’s different from the neck.
Whenever a starter plays a guitar, initially their fingertips are incredibly soft and need to be hardened. A guitar with the strings too far above the fret board, also generally known as having a ‘high action’, will cause the player’s fingers to hurt so much that they're likely to put the guitar away in disappointment and possibly stop playing totally.
THE PRE-PURCHASE CHECKLIST
- Before buying a second user guitar, cost-compare against the cost of a new one, except the guitar is quite old. You can also balance its used price to other used prices by going to a web based auction and either trying to find the same or a similar guitar.
- Check the general condition of the wood for cracks, scratches, splits, dents, chips, etc.
- Also check the lacquer finish for cracks and splits.
- Check the neck/fret board for warping and twisting. You can do this by holding the guitar flat on its back, with the sound hole facing upward. Bring the guitar up to eye-level, with the neck running away from you and the edge of the body very nearly touching your face. Let your eyesight fly across the front of the body and down the fret board. You have to be able to notice if the neck is twisted or bowing.
- Tune the guitar, or have the vendor tune it for you.
- If you know the way to play about 5 or 6 chords then play them. In case you don’t understand how to play, ask the vendor to play them for you. This check ensures that the neck of the guitar is not warped, even though the fact that you couldn’t physically see it. If the neck is warped, and the guitar is correctly tuned, then a number of of the chords will sound good, but others will sound as though the fact that} the guitar is not tuned. If this happens, check the tuning again. If it persists, then don’t buy the guitar.
- Check the bridge of the guitar. If it’s made from wood or plastic, make sure it’s not cracked or splitting. The bridge must be rock-solid, as many pressure is exerted on the bridge by the strings.
- Check the tuning heads. Do they turn easily, or are they very stiff and hard to turn. Even with the high tension of the strings, a high quality guitar has tuning heads that are fairly simple to turn.
- Check the ‘action’ of the guitar. Are the strings a fair distance from the fret board? Are they simple or hard to press down at a mixture of points on the fret board?
- If you are purchasing the guitar for yourself, and you know how to play, even if you’re a beginner, then play the guitar.
- How does it feel?
- Is it simple or hard to play?
- Can you fit your hand around the neck/fret board comfortably to play chords?
- Is the guitar a snug size and shape for the body? Is it easy to carry?
- If you plan to play standing up, request a guitar strap.
- Do you like the sound, the color, etc?
- If you don’t play, have another person play it for you so that you could judge what it sounds like.
WHERE TO BUY
Purchasing a guitar at a physical retail music store allows you to ‘test drive’ the guitar and ask more questions up front. Buying on line or from a catalog may also bring you extra cash savings.
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