When you talk about guitars, you're talking about an instrument that has had several hundred years to evlove, through dulcimers and mandolins up to today's instruments. Anyone who claims to have THE definitive way to categorize these instruments is "full of it". The sizes and shapes and designs of these instruments are as diverse as the players who use them. Anyone who's seen Richie Sambora's 3-neck Ovation 6/12/mandolin combo or Pat Metheney's 42-string Pikasso (built by luthier extraordinaire Linda Manzer) will understand what I mean. Those of you who haven't, trust me. They come in all sizes and shapes and string numbers.
It's no surprise, then, that trying to describe these instruments
logically raises some subjective issues; it's tough to commit to a particular grouping or description for some of these strange and beautiful instruments. But this is a published document, and I have to commit to some sort of organization; either that, or I'll have to produce several concurrent versions to satisfy all points of view. I'm not willing to do that at this point (or, very likely, at any OTHER point). So I'm going to dig in and go for it. Let me know if it works or not.The realm of acoustic guitars is made up of a couple of different guitar types. I know this isn't exactly the right way to describe the differences, but it'll have to do for now. The way I see it, we have two general types:
There are some outside variations and types that I could (and probably SHOULD cover), but won't for lack of space and experience. Maybe that info will appear in some future update, but in the interest of space, I won't get into them.
Favored by both classical and flamenco players, Nylon-strung instruments are an important voice in the guitar community. Their sound is not heard as often in popular music, however, which is a shame. In the hands of a master, a Classical guitar can make even speed-jaded headbangers sit up and take notice. Generally speaking, a nylon-strung guitar's tone is rounder and softer than its steel-string counterpart. You typically see these instruments as solo performance instruments. Though they aren't often used for leads, the sound can be very effective as a mellower voice, and can be heard on a number of pop jazz and easy listening pieces.
In general, the nylon-strung guitars have a wider spacing than their steel-string counterparts. Depending on the size of your hands, this may or may not be a good thing. Personally, I have pretty big hands, so a classical guitar feels okay in my hands.
I have also found that the nylon strings to be a little easier on the fingers.
Within the steel string realm, there are 6-strings and 12-strings. As you probably know, the 12-string is basically a 6-string with the 4 lowest-pitched strings doubled an octave higher, and the remaining two doubled in unison. Not surprisingly, they tend to be a bit louder than their 6-string counterparts, since they're projecting sound with twice as many strings.
But all this talk doesn't do you much good as far as really HEARING the difference between steel and nylon string guitars. Like a critic describing wine, the words will only get you so far: no matter how much you read about the taste of a fine Sauvignion Blanc, they'll only be words. The only way you're gonna REALLY get the flavor of the wine is to TASTE it.
Same with music. You have to HEAR the different sounds to make up you mind which one is for you. You can do this either by going out and PLAYING the different types, or by listening to someone ELSE play. I'd like to offer a page describing some recordings (most in the pop/rock genre) that use the different types of guitars here. This should help you make decisions about what will sound right to you.
Except in the world of the surreal, Classical guitars basically use the a fairly traditional body style. Even the odd 7-string classical model I've run across adheres to the basic guitar body design. This means a boxy body and no neck cutaway. The body curvature is elegant, but not exaggerated.
In the steel-string world, a couple of different styles exist. Flattop+Soundhole vs Archtop+F-hole guitars. This distinction even holds true for the Ovation-style roundbacks. I've seen each of these available with or without a cutaway to facilitate upper fret access.
Further, within the realm of flattop guitars, there is a difference between the "traditional" body style and the dreadnought style. (We're ignoring the Roundbacks at this point - they kind of deserve their own mention).
If you do lots of leads, you might want to consider an instrument with a cutaway. I can tell you from experience that if you're not used to playing with one, having easy access to the upper frets can be a trip. But there's plenty of neck real estate between the body and nut; unless you do NOTHING but leads, you will probably actually use the cutaway less than you might think.
Most cutaways are relatively straightforward; the outside edge of the guitar's contour is scooped in towards the neck on the high-E side of the body, providing greater access to the upper frets on the higher strings (unlike a classical guitar where the neck will meet the body at the 12th fret). Some, however, are crafted to provide even MORE access. In particular, Washburn has been an innovator in this area. Some Washburn guitars, like the DC60E, feature the Stephen's Extended Cutaway
Parts is parts? Hmmmm.... Maybe. But all the components of a quality instrument ultimately contribute to it's sound. Consequently, a short treatment of acoustic construction materials is in order here. But though a guitar's construction materials contribute to its sound, unless you're a seasoned guitar player you probably won't have a construction combination in mind when you go out shopping for a guitar - you're just going to look for the guitar. Just for the purposes of completeness, however, I'll provide a nutshell of guitar construction materials and how they tend to affect the finished product. Remember, though, that the bottom line here is how the whole guitar sounds, not how the top or sides ought to sound in isolation. Barring some unfortunate accident, you probably won't get to hear how any of the individual components in your guitar sound.
The first thing you're likely to notice on a guitar is the top; it's really the "face" of the instrument. Spruce is probably the favorite wood for guitar tops, though if you look through any guitar catalog, you'll see tops made out of koa, pine, or cedar. If you browse any current catalogs, Sitka spruce seems to be favored by the more expensive instrument makers.
Well-made guitars tend to have solid wood tops (i.e., not laminated plywood); most of these tops are made from "bookmatched" pieces of wood. Look closely for the seam between the two (it should run right down the middle of the body, along a line parallel with the neck). You shouldn't be able to see the seam. A carefully matched top will look like one big, flat piece of wood.
The top is also what the guitar's bridge gets glued to. I'm sure we've all seen instruments with bridges that are only loosely attached to the body. Take a close look at the seam between the bridge and the top: there should be a tight seal there.
First we'll look at "traditional" guitars. You'll notice that most guitars tend to have a lighter- colored wood for the top, and darker woods for the back and sides. This is not simply because the wood is stained; most manufacturers use other darker woods for the backs and sides of their instruments.
Maple, rosewood and mahogany are popular woods for sides and back. I've read that mahogany is the richest-sounding (i.e., "dark") wood of these three. Maple is the brightest. Rosewood is touted as a good in-between timbre of wood.
Ovation guitars (including the Applause and Celebrity varieties) are a different breed. Their rounded backs are made from a space-age plastic called Lyracord.
One of the decisions you will have to make when you purchase your instrument is whether or not to buy one with a built-in pickup. This depends, in part, on how you're going to use the guitar. Anyone who has tried to take a mic'ed acoustic onstage knows of the potential headaches that come with trying to use a microphone to pick up a guitar's sound. In addition to requiring that you stay in roughly the same spot while playing, the microphone will be more inclined than some other pickup systems to feedback.
I'll try to detail a few of the benefits and drawbacks of various pickup systems. This should help you to understand what each offers, and help you make an informed decision about which one is best for you.
Some pickup systems use a microphone, generally mounted within the body of the guitar. Though a good microphone will have its sonic rewards (in terms of accurate reproduction of your sound), those of you who have had the experience of micing an acoustic for a moderately loud live performance can speak to the challenges that this brings. Though they may seem pretty loud at times, when you get right down to it, acoustics are really pretty quiet instruments. To make them audible through a PA system (especially if you're playing in an ensemble), you're going to have to crank that microphone up pretty loud. A high-gain microphone onstage is a feedback problem waiting to happen. Even if you can get your guitar mic up loud enough to be heard, you have to hope that the other instruments won't be louder at the mic than you are.
These pickups are among the easiest to use. Since they mount under the bridge of the guitar, they are relatively low-maintenance. They are the easiest to ignore, too, if you ever find yourself in an ad-hoc jamming situation (i.e., you don't have to worry about taking the pickup out so you won't trip on the cord). The fact that they generally require no other gear or processing means that if the jamming turns to recording, you're good to go. In general, piezo transducers are fine pickups for acoustic guitars; broad bandwidth, fairly dynamic.
Piezo pickups are not without their limitations, however. Critics have suggested that the piezo pickups lack the "breath" of a microphone. In some ways, their signal response is too even and broad to suggest a realistic acoustic sound. Some piezos can make your acoustic sound more electric than acoustic.
Soundhole pickups (like the Dean Markley brands) offer you the ability to mount a pickup in your soundhole when you need it, and the ability to pull it out when you don't.
One advantage of these is that you can probably run down to your corner instrument dealer's place with your guitar and actually try a few of these out. That way you'll know EXACTLY what you're getting.
A caveat: make sure the silly thing will actually FIT in your instrument. If you can, bring your instrument down to the shop and try it out. I brought one home for my 12-string once, and nearly drove myself batty trying to wedge it into the soundhole. It was just BARELY too big to fit into the soundhole; i.e., it was too big to be useful!! ARRRRGGGHH!!
Probably the best of all worlds, hybrid systems also represent some of the more expensive systems. These usually incorporate some sort of piezo pickup system with a microphone in or on your guitar somewhere. Some of these use separate outputs for the microphone and piezo pickups; some have place a balance control somewhere on your instrument so that you can play with the blend of outputs. From the reviews I've read, these systems can make almost ANY instrument sound "more like an acoustic".
The downside of these systems is that they tend to be more expensive than single-pickup systems (and this makes sense: you're buying TWO pickups, after all!). Most of these systems require physical alteration of your instrument to install them. If you're planning to buy an instrument that has one of these pickup systems pre-installed, then there's no problem. But if you think you may add one of these systems to your instrument later on, you may have some challenges; you can't very easily run down to your dealer and give 2 or 3 of these systems a try on your instrument (without potentially defacing it). But if you go to a relatively well-stocked dealer, you should be able to "test drive" a couple of instruments with these systems in them. Compare the sound of the instrument both plugged and unplugged, and you'll start to get a handle on how it would sound on YOUR axe.