amateurguitar

So all excited about learning the guitar, fully charged up, great but wait you also need to have a guitar before you begin. Now, there are loads of options available in the market, and its very important you get the right guitar before you start. This section contains information about the various guitars available in the market and also which one you should go for.

Electric v/s Acoustic Guitar: The eternal debate

The acoustic/electric dilemma has haunted and will continue to haunt amateurs because of the very simple reason that there is no simple answer to it. Ok don’t get confused. The thing is both the acoustic and electric guitars have their good points and comparatively bad points. The choice of the guitar mainly depends upon a few factors and the guitarist’s (thats your) personal liking.

The acoustic guitar is the conventional 6 string, hollow guitar and the electric guitar is the narrow one with additional knobs to adjust the sound. Well, personally if you ask me I would prefer the acoustic any day for a beginner, the vibrating sweet sound you get after strumming it can hardly be matched by an electric. Moreover, you can carry and play the guitar anywhere without having to worry about the electric cords and amplifiers. The electric guitar on the other hand is slightly easier to play, and can produce different sounds. But then it requires amplifiers and other optional equipments (processor, pedal etc etc, you’ll learn about them later) to be connected to it thus making it somewhat confusing to use. The budget for the guitar is another issue. Almost all electric guitars are more expensive than the acoustic ones, not to mention the additional cost of the amplifiers and cords. Thus, for a beginner I would suggest start with an acoustic guitar, and then gradually after you have learnt enough (and also have enough money) you can always buy an electric guitar.

Acoustic Guitar Options

Now there are also several types of acoustic guitars available in the market. The two most common ones are the round hole and the f-cut. The round hole one is the conventional guitar with a round hole in its body and is usually much thicker, while the f-cut guitar is the one with f shaped cut in the body and is generally thinner and sleeker. In the round hole guitar the sound is generally bass heavy, is more vibrating and is considered to be sweeter and louder. In the f-cut guitar, the sound is high on treble and is less vibrating. The f-cut guitar sound may not be as sweet or loud as compared to the round hole, but it has an advantage of being sleeker and thinner which makes it easier to play. Since the f-cut sound is high on treble thus it is considered to be more suitable for playing scales and solos while the round hole with its bass heavy sound is ideal for playing chords. Now, both the guitars have their inherent advantages and disadvantages, both cost nearly the same and the choice completely depends upon your personal liking. If you want something easy to start with, and can compromise on the sound then go for the f-cut, but if you think you can start with a slightly more difficult guitar but with good sound then go for the round hole.

Round Hole types: (The Cutaway Body guitar)

The round hole guitar is further of two types: the normal thick jumbo without a cutaway and a round hole guitar with a cutaway body. The pictures of the two types of guitars are shown in order to understand the difference better. The cutaway guitar has a cut at the lower end of the neck towards the body. This cut allows the guitarists to play the lower notes (ie the lower part of the guitar neck), which is not possible (or extremely hard) with the guitars without a cutaway. Thus, if you go for a round hole guitar I personally would suggest one with a cutaway body.

Also along with buying a guitar don’t forget to buy lots of plectrums or picks (the small plastic/nylon things with which you will play the guitar). These plectrums have a high tendency to get lost so make sure you have a number of them handy. So now that was all about the types of guitars. Hope all that info helps you make the right choice. If you have any doubts or suggestions feel free to leave comments. Adios!

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