The Guitar Resource » Joe

Choosing a Good Beginner Acoustic Guitar

Joe — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:11:00 +0000

As a beginning guitar player choosing that first instrument can be an overwhelming decision. There are a large variety of acoustic guitars to choose from, all at different prices, with many features. As a new player you want to choose a good instrument, but may not have the knowledge to know what is good and what is not.

If you have a more knowledgeable guitar-playing friend brining them along is always a good idea. Its good to get a second opinion, and they can play the guitar so you can hear what it sounds like out front. Here are some important features to consider.

Solid Top – If your budget can afford it, I highly encourage you to buy a guitar with solid top. Guitar tops are either made out of solid wood, or a series of laminations. Solid tops will sound better with age as you play them more, whereas a laminated top sounds as good as its every going to sound right out of the box.

Solid Back and Sides – Much like a solid top, a guitar with solid back and sides will have an overall better sound. The sound will continue to improve as the guitar is played over the years and the wood gets broken in. A guitar with a solid top and solid back and sides will usually cost at least $800, so something like that may not be in everyone’s budget. Laminated back and sides are certainly not bad, as a guitar’s top contributes more to the overall sound. If you are looking for solid back and sides be sure that the guitar description explicitly says so. Many manufacturers will say “Solid top with select back and sides”, which usually means they are laminated.

Tuners – Staying in tune is very important, and a good beginner guitar should have solid set of tuners that don’t slip. Tune a prospective guitar up to pitch and play it hard, strumming some chords and picking single strings. They should stay in tune. Check each tuner, turning the knob you should feel some resistance, they should not feel loose and slip.

Body Size – There are a lot of different acoustic guitar body sizes. Dreadnoughts are by far the most popular, but there are also mini jumbos, grand concerts, and parlor sizes, to name a few. Be sure to try several different sizes to see what feels best for you. Smaller guitars like grand concert and orchestra model sizes are often more comfortable for some people, who may feel that a dreadnought size is just to big.

Setup – While many guitars can be setup to fit the player, check to make sure that a prospective instrument plays fairly comfortably before you buy. It should be comfortable to fret all along the neck, and the strings should not be to far from the fretboard. Sight along the neck, it should be straight, with no twists. The frets should be seated snugly in the fret slots. A reputable music shop should give you a short approval period after buying an instrument, during which it can be beneficial to take to a competent repair person for a quick look. If you are really interested in a certain instrument the cost for getting it looked at can be a wise investment.

Pickup, yes or no? - I often see first time buyers for acoustic guitars asking what sort of acoustic electric they should get. I am of the mindset that if you want a pickup get one installed after you buy the guitar. Its better to spend that money initially on a higher quality instrument than a preinstalled pickup. Plus many preinstalled pickups include a preamp cut into the side of the guitar, which is going to make the instrument heavier and affect, tone, sustain, and volume. Sure, it might not be alot, but who wants a plastic box installed into the side of their beautiful wooden guitar? Just get an external preamp later on down the line. Some good companies for pickups include K and K, LR Baggs, Fishman, Mcintyre. You can find a good pickup for about $100.

So those are some points to keep in mind when buying that important first instrument. Now for the fun part, go out and play a lot of guitars before choosing the right one for you.

About the Author

Anton Emery is the Community Manager of http://www.RhythmStrummer.com. This site offers easy guitar songs for adult learners in a fun & patient atmosphere, taught by teachers who care. Students learn songs & technique lessons across a variety of genres, including Folk, Country, and Classic Rock- all with NO advertising.

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It Might Get Loud

Joe — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:26:13 +0000

Picture this - The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White together banging out music on the guitar and divulging their lives in respect to music. At least that's what directory Davis Guggenheim envisioned when he brought the trio together for a new movie called It Might Get Loud. Hell yea it will!

Taken from a Rolling Stone article: In the middle of the rock documentary It Might Get Loud, Jimmy Page picks up a Les Paul and tears into "Whole Lotta Love" while the Edge and Jack White watch, slack-jawed. "They look just like 13-year-old boys," says director Davis Guggenheim. "They were both like, 'Oh, my God, that's how he did it!'

If you're a guitar fan, rock fan or even just a music fan in general, I don't think you'd want to miss this one. Getting three rock icons of this caliber together, watching them rock out strings and lyrics together is something to look foward to... the film might not affect how you play - though it might affect how you listen.

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BYOG – Bring Your Own Guitar, Rock Revolution Says

Joe — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:46:05 +0000

Guitar lovers everywhere LOVE to rock out - at least that's what the sales figures of the Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour games. So when Konami announced their latest creation, Rock Revolution, won't come with guitar peripheral made specifically for the game - fans might be disappointed.

We say "might" because, while the new game is apparently designed mostly to work the drums... it'll also work with the competitors guitars. Yep, that's right... they won't give you a guitar and they expect you to have one from another game if you want to use it. Man, that blows. What's the deal?

Now I'm not a marketing genious, but when I think of rocking out (and most people I assume) it's with a guitar in my hand... how many people play air drums? Lol. You know what I do think though? Konami expects the game to flop and doesn't want to take the chance manufacturing a bunch of cheap plastic guitars they couldn't give away if they wanted to. Bravo. Bean counters - 1, common sense - 0.

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Mark Goffeney – The Armless Guitar Player

Joe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:21:40 +0000

Who says you need good hands to play the guitar? Not Mark Goffeney, a guitarist who was born without any arms. He serves as an inspiration to all those people who were told they couldn't do it, that with determination and a strong heart you can do anything. In Mark's case, it's the love of music.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This post was inspired by an article I read in Ability Magazine. It's pretty in depth about Mark's struggles growing up, finding jobs and working through his disability. It's a great story.

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What I Learned From Guitar World Magazine This Month

Joe — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:44:02 +0000

Guitar World Magaize

I just finished reading the issue of guitar world magazine and I wanted to share a few of the things I learned in this month’s issue.

I always learn a lot from Guitar World and this issue was no different. As usual, I learned something great just from reading one of the interviews. The interview was with jazz guitar virtuoso Pat Martino. And while the whole interview was enlightening, there was one part in particular that I liked. If you read my post on listening (click here if you haven’t), you know that I am a big advocate of listening to everything to make you a better guitar player. But Pat Martino made a comment that takes it even a step further and think it is such a great point. He says:

“As an improviser, you need to experience the moment—and that includes everything in the moment. Observe the people around you—the bandleader, the bartender—what they wear, how they deal with people, the simple continuity of their presence. As you do that, you’ll see how you affect them, and you’ll play and act accordingly. You need to study the reality of the moment, and that is very rarely about studying modes and intervals.”

Great stuff!

Another thing I learned was in the lesson “10 Things You Need to Do to Play Like T-Bone Walker.” I learned that T-Bone Walker was the originator of the “lazy” bend. I did a post on this technique titles “Bluesing your bends”. But the article had a bunch of other great blues playing tips.

I also learned a lot about guitar amplifier cabinets and how their construction affects your sound. We are all always trying to get the most of our tone and I think we sometimes overlook the small thinks like amp cabinet construction. This article helped break down how different types of construction affect your sound in different ways. A very cool article.

I also learned that cowboys can play jazz! (See the extended lesson “Wester Swing-Roping in the Rip-Roarin’ Riffs of Cowboy Jazz”.)

There were also a lot of other great lessons like Larry Carlton’s extended lesson on the blues, which was more advanced then you might think. And there was a great mini-lesson by Herbie Hancock on adding pedal tones to the highest note instead of the lowest note (the technique is called “pedal point”.)

All in all it was a great issue. For more information on Guitar Player magazine read my post “My Thoughts on Guitar Magazines”.

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