Acoustic info.

Hi all,

I am new to this ng as well as guitar playing, having started recently at the age of 33 with a Vintage Les Paul-a-like and a Marshall MG15-CDR.

Anyway, I was thinking about possibly getting a steel string acoustic for taking with me when away from home etc. However I am slightly bewildered by the seemingly never ending range of sizes and shapes (let alone types of wood).

Does anybody know of any sites which explains the differences between the various body styles/sizes etc. preferably with pro's and con's of each type.

I have tried the FAQ for this group and also the websites of various manufacturers, but all they say are things like 'Dreadnought' or 'NEX cutaway' etc. without explaining what these terms mean.

Thanks for any info

Simon Hart

says...

Rather brief, but should get you started at least:

wood).

There are plenty, that's for sure!

type.

Well, I'd cut through all of that and just try and simplify it all for you.

At the heart of an acoustic guitar you have to really consider what it's made of. If you're buying at the very cheap end of the market you'll be getting an instrument that's made from laminated woods. I don't want to use the phrase 'plywood' as that's a bit harsh or emotive but that's what you're looking at. Now, a laminated guitar may sound just fine to you but I'd say that the construction material is going to make much more of an impact on its basic sound than minor variations in body shape etc.

I'd say it's important to pick an instrument that firstly *sounds good to you* and then has the features you're after. If this means that you get a guitar with no cutaway and a twelve fret neck then fine!

So, if you're in a guitar store and pick up a £150 guitar that has a cutaway, a nice looking top, some electronics etc. give it a play. Now pick up a £300 guitar which is made from solid timbers I'd hope you can notice the difference. The £300 guitar may _seem_ to have far less appointments but it will undoubtedly be the better _sounding_ instrument. It's up to you to pick a instrument that you're comfortable with... either may be right for you. Once you've got an idea of sound you like then picking out a guitar is much easier.

Having said all of that you're still going to want to know the differences between a Parlour, 000, OM, Dreadnaught etc then do treat yourself to this book. http://makeashorterlink.com/?X51964953 It will cover an awful lot of general guitar questions you might have (like this) and much much more.... it will be with you for *life*

NEX is a Takamine specific term. The trouble is that there is now so many terms its almost impossible to list them all but a few, going from biggest to smallest are Dreadnought, Jumbo, Grand Auditorium and Parlour. The better guitars have a solid top, with a choice of spruce or cedar - the latter tends to be slightly mellower in tone whilst the former has a little more sparkle. Best guitars have solid back and sides as well as tops.

If your looking for a decent sounding guitar that you can take on holiday, there are quite a few decent contenders in the 200 - 300 pound bracket such as Art & Lutherie, Seagull and Simon and Patrick ( all made by the same company in Canada) as well as (at a pinch) the Taylor Big Baby. Others worth considering are Yamaha (although opinions are divided on tone an playability of those) and Crafter.

If it's something you're going to lug around with you, obviously size is a consideration, but the trade-off is tone. Parlour guitars are tiny, almost toy like and have a much more restricted sound than, say a full blown dreadnought, but the latter will be difficult to get around with. The obvious contender then, would be the Grand Auditorium sized guitar which comes under numerous other titles ('Folk', Western, etc).

At the end of the day, its down to you but, if your travels include aircraft, you may have to invest in a decent case if you dont want to be presented with a pile of matchwood at the other end. Baggage handling staff seem to delight in destroying anything that looks fragile and isn't packed in a bomb-proof case.

Hope this helps.