Whether you’re a beginning guitarist or an experienced musican, if you’ve been getting that “buy acoustic guitar” urge in your mind, you’ll want to make sure you do your research and not just make an impulse buy. Unlike electric guitars, acoustic guitars produce sound all on their own and come in a wide variety of flavors. They all sound different based on the build type and material used, so these are a couple things you’ll want to consider as you shop around, as well as a few other factors.
Differences of acoustic guitars
As you look around, you’ll notice some major differences among the different guitars. Most acoustic guitars have 6 strings, but you’ll also find ones with 12. Then there are also electric acoustic hybrids – these guitars are primarily acoustic, but also have added electronics inside that allow it to be plugged into an amp for more volume. These guitars will not sound like a standard solid body electric, however.
It’ll be helpful to pinpoint which of the major types of acoustic guitar you want, so you don’t waste your time looking at the wrong ones. Besides the differences already mentioned, here are a few more factors to consider in order to help narrow down what you want.
1) Comfortability in playing. Make sure you feel the neck of a prospective guitar and make sure it’s not too big or small for your hand. The neck will be seeing a lot of action from your hand, so you want to make sure it’s a good fit!
2) Quality of the wood. This will have the biggest influence on the type of sound the guitar will make, as you get different sounding timbres with different types of wood. Play around with guitars made of different materials so you can get a feel for what sound goes with each wood type.
3) Tuning machines. The tuning machines of an acoustic guitar come in 2 major kinds, either open or enclosed. Enclosed is more preferred, but tends to be more expensive. Open is cheaper, but are more prone to wear and tear since they’re exposed, and often get out of tune more easily.
Buy acoustic guitar new or used?
You might think the obvious choice would be to buy a brand new guitar, but keep in mind that a guitar isn’t necessarily of lesser quality just because it’s secondhand. Some guitarists actually prefer to play a guitar that’s been “broken in” because it’s easier to play and gives off a warmer sound that’s less “mechanical” sounding than a brand new guitar. Also, a used guitar may be a better fit for your budget since you can find these in pawn shops or on websites that sell used guitars.
When it comes down to it, you’ll want an acoustic guitar that sounds good to you and is enjoyable to play. So keep these factors in mind and remember to have fun shopping around!
