Getting started: DIFFERENT TYPES of Guitars

There are various types of guitar and they all have their own particular sound. Playing different guitars in a music shop is a great way of familiarising yourself with each model's unique qualities but don't forget to take off any objects that could scratch the guitar. A music salesman will let you try as many guitars as you like but may not be too happy at the little scratch your coat button left. Your choice of guitar will usually be based on the type of music you wish to play and the aesthetic appeal of the colour and design.

Acoustic Guitars

The acoustic guitar is found all over the globe and this cultural adoption and historical evolution has led to many variations in design and purpose. The ukulele, which was based on the four-stringed braginho or cavaquinhos from Portugal is an example of an earlier small-sized European guitar being introduced to a different society; the word ukulele is Hawaiian for “flea”. There are two kinds of acoustic guitar: steel-string and classical. Classical guitars have a wider neck and use nylon strings. Steel-strings have a defined and sharp sound that is a distinctive component of a wide range of popular music styles; country and rock are two examples. The nylon strings of the classical guitar allows the guitarist to play complicated arrangements and barres with ease. Both types of guitar can be played using a plectrum (pick) or finger-style. The steel-string acoustic is sometimes referred to as a flat top. The word top refers to the face or front of the guitar. The front is also sometimes called the table.

The body of any acoustic is large and hollow; acting as a resonating chamber which amplifies the strings. Larger bodied guitars with bigger curves tend to have a deeper or heavier tone, while guitars with a smaller body tend to sound brighter. Acoustic guitars sometimes have cutaways, similar to the cutaway on the Gibson Les Paul shown in the picture below, which allows greater access to the higher frets but this also changes the tone. Acoustic guitars have a weaker sustain than electric guitars but master-built classical or steel-string guitars often feature very good sustain and excellent overall performance. There are many entry-level acoustic guitar models that are manufactured to a high standard that are entirely suitable as a first guitar for beginners. If you wish to buy something more expensive then it is important that the table should be made from a single piece of wood (not ply) and closely grained.

The timbre (pronounced tam - bre) of the acoustic guitar lends itself to a variety of tasks and roles. It's a songwriter's tool because of its portability and ease of use and its gentle harp-like arpeggios and rhythmic chordal strumming has always found favour in an ensemble setting. When the performance is in a personal setting or amphitheater, the acoustic guitar can be heard with no additional amplification because the resonating chamber of the guitar itself creates acoustic amplification. In some situations the acoustic guitar is not loud enough to be heard by all the people in an audience and amplification is required. An acoustic guitar can be amplified by placing a microphone several inches from the sound hole or by installing a pickup designed for acoustic guitars. The need for guitars that retain their acoustic qualities when plugged into an amp or PA has led to the invention of the electro-acoustic guitar.

Electric Guitars

The electric guitar is the workhorse of rock music and is also used extensively in blues, jazz and pop music. Electric guitars need to be plugged into an amplifier to be heard adequately. They are usually solid-body guitars but archtop electric guitars with hollow bodies are available which gives them some acoustic resonance (see below). The timbre of the electric guitar is not comparable to the timbre of an acoustic guitar. The pickups are vital to the sound of the guitar. The pickups and amplifier used with a solid-body electric guitar creates a sound that is metallic with a lengthy decay (sustain).

The design of the electric guitar is not determined by the need for a deep resonating body that acoustic guitars must possess and this had led to the development of contoured and thin electric guitars which can be more comfortable to play. The design variations amongst electric guitars allows them to produce a wide variety of tones. The two most popular basic shapes of the electric guitar are the Fender Stratocaster design and the Gibson Les Paul design. The strings of an electric guitar are thinner than the strings of an acoustic and closer to the neck; therefore less force is needed to press them down. The electric guitar is capable of producing sounds and effects that would be difficult on an acoustic. The ease of bending strings sometimes used in combination with a whammy bar has created some of the greatest modern guitar solos. Fret-tapping is an electric guitar technique that has led to a different way of using the fretboard; allowing chords and melody lines to be played that would have been impossible using the standard technique of strumming and fingerpicking.

The choice of amplifier is fundamental to the sound created and should be regarded as the second half of the guitar. See the Buying an Amplifier section for details. Seven-string electric guitars have a string above the low E string which is tuned to a B and lower in pitch than the low E. They are popular with guitarists who play metal music.

Electro-acoustic guitars

Electro-acoustic guitars have pickups specifically designed for the subtle nuances of the timbre of the acoustic guitar. This allows electro-acoustics to be plugged into a PA and they are essential for many guitarists who rely on using the house PA when they gig. The Ovation range of electro-acoustics is a prime example of the departure in design from ordinary acoustics. Ovation guitars use under-the-saddle piezo pickups and a synthetic bowl-back. Purists were derisory of Ovation's innovations but professional musicians found that the synthetic bowl-back provided a tough construction that stands up to the rigours of the road. Ovation were the first company to provide on-board equalization and this is now a standard feature found on most electro-acoustics. Electro-acoustic pickups are designed to sound neutral with little alteration to the organic acoustic timbre. Another famous electro-acoustic brand is the Taylor guitar range. Taylor uses the traditional all-wood construction and the necks of these guitars have a reputation for superb action and playability.

Twelve-string guitars

The twelve-string is usually an acoustic though twelve-string electric guitars are available. Twelve-string guitars are not the same as double-neck guitars. Double-neck guitars are essentially two guitar necks bolted onto one body. Twelve-string guitars have the regular six strings and a second set of thinner strings with each string of the second set corresponding to the note of its regular string counterpart. The second set of strings are tuned an octave higher. The strings form pairs; so you still play the guitar in the same manner as a standard six-string.

Twelve-string guitars produce a brighter and more prominent tone and are harder to play than a standard six-string guitar. They are usually confined to niche roles, such as rhythm guitar. The additional strings require more pressure to press down and bending notes also requires an extra muscular effort. Twelve-string guitars are more expensive to buy than the standard acoustic or electric and may need more maintenance because of the strain the additional strings place on the neck.

Archtop guitars

An archtop is a hollow or semi-hollow acoustic or electric guitar which uses steel strings. The arched top creates a unique timbre and other elements taken from the design of the mandolin or violin also add to the distinctive tone of the archtop guitar. The body of the archtop guitar, whether hollow or semi-hollow, has a sound block in the middle and they also have violin f-holes cut into the table.

 Archtop guitars may be acoustic or electric and can look very similar with the only distinguishing feature being an electromagnetic pickup. One problem with archtop hollow-bodied guitars is that when played through an amplifier they tend to generate feedback. The semi-hollow archtop was developed to make feedback less of an issue. Archtop guitars have been particularly popular in jazz music because their thicker strings add tone.

Some solid-body electric guitars have a body shape which includes the arched top but the name is usually reserved for the hollow/semi-hollow body form.

Steel guitars

The steel guitar is unusual in that it is played horizontally, either across the players knees or on its own stand. There are two main varieties of the instrument, which are played using the metal slide, or 'steel' from which the guitar takes its name. The steel is held in the left hand, when used by a right-handed player. The two main variations are the lap steel guitar, which typically has six strings and the pedal steel guitar which can have more - sometimes two or even three separate sets; each tuned differently. Pedals and knee-levers are used to alter the tuning on particular strings whilst playing, which along with the sliding action of the steel, gives the pedal steel its distinctive voice which is most often heard in country music.

Resonator guitars

Often also called 'steel' guitars due to some models possessing metal bodies. The acoustic resonator guitar is distinctive in not having a regular sound hole. Resonator guitars have a large, usually circular—plate which conceals the resonator cone. The cone closely resembles an audio loudspeaker and is made from spun aluminium. The bridge of the guitar is connected either to the centre of the cone or to the edge by an aluminium 'spider' and the strings' vibrations are thus amplified and projected outwards through the perforated plate on the guitar's top. The most common resonator guitars have a single cone, although the original model has three. Resonators possess a loud, bright voice, making them easily heard in a large room or open air performance. They are popular with blues musicians and country players and can be played in the conventional style or with a metal or glass slide.

Bass guitars

The bass guitar has a longer scale-length and thicker strings than a standard guitar. These factors create a range of notes that are pitched an octave lower than the guitar. Often the bass is considered part of the rhythm section but there are some players whose skills are comparable to any other soloist. Acoustic and electric bass guitars are available but the electric bass is more common. The standard bass is the four string bass though five and six string basses are also manufactured. The four strings of the bass correspond to the lowest four strings of the guitar an octave lower.

Double-neck guitars

The double-neck guitar is basically two different kinds of guitar sharing one body. This design allows the guitarist to easily access and switch between either neck. Made famous by Jimmy Page, the double neck guitar typically will have a standard six-string neck and a twelve-string neck. Other combinations exist, such as a six-string and bass or a six-string with frets and its fretless version. Steve Vai has been known to play a triple-neck guitar. The double-neck guitar came about in the 1970s because of the changes in recording technology. The recording technology of the 1960s relied on only 4 tracks and multi-layered guitar parts, though possible, were not frequently used. The bands of the 1960s would usually have two guitarists and this achieved the desired affect. The invention of 8 track recording meant more freedom to create complex guitar parts. The guitarist could lay down the rhythm track using a twelve-string guitar and then record onto a separate track, the lead break using a six-string guitar. This left the problem of how a single guitarist could perform these parts live without stopping to change guitars and the double-neck guitar provided the solution.